
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 24, 1994                   TAG: 9408240036
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By THOMAS C. FISHER JR.
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LET GOD IN ON PUBLIC-SCHOOL GOALS

``A REVERENCE for the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.'' No equivocation here, just a simple statement of the truth. Anyone seeking knowledge and learning must keep in mind always a reverence for the Lord who Jews, Christians and Moslems, for centuries, have been taught by the Old Testament is the inspirational source of all knowledge and learning.

However, in a full-page article on the July 31 Commentary page entitled ``A Roanoke Valley school strategy,'' an outline of educational strategies for the Roanoke Valley makes no reference to the Lord, nor does it seek his blessing or direction. It describes Roanoke Valley 2000 as a community group sponsored by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the school systems of Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem.

Numerous public bodies, including all of our governing bodies right up to and including the United States Congress, open their meetings with prayer in which they seek guidance and inspiration from their deity. Public schools, on the other hand, have almost succeeded in removing any reference to our Judeo-Christian-Moslem heritage.

Singing traditional Christmas hymns at Christmas time has been denied, school administrators have mandated that no prayers be said at school functions, and requests by students for permission to say a prayer at their graduation have been denied. (This action is in defiance of the First Amendment, which specifically states that government shall not interfere with the free exercise of religion by its citizens). I was a member of a school board that supported our superintendent's decision not to accept any more Bibles from the Gideons. We reversed our decision after long debate.

Numerous persons interested in public education believe strongly that public schools will not be able to achieve their goals, no matter what cooperation there is in other areas, unless a reverence for the Lord can be restored to the public-school atmosphere. It can be done, and within the law.

In fact, it has been done. For many years, a Fleming teacher held a Bible class. And at Northside High School in the late '70s, following instructions from the School Board of which I was a member, a class on Bible literature was established.

A course could be based on giants of the Old Testament - Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Sampson, David and Soloman. A person can hardly be said to be well-educated unless acquainted with the attainments of the above. Or there could be a course on literature, short stories, poems (for example, Psalms, the Song of Soloman, Proverbs and so on). And some day, when we feel on firmer ground, the life of Paul of Tarsus could be included, the great teacher and missionary, a man of physical toughness and brilliant eloquence.

The opportunity for our young people is there. I hope that Roanoke Valley 2000 will seize upon it and include the opportunity in its plans.

Thomas C. Fisher Jr. of Roanoke is a former Roanoke County School Board member.

by CNB