What the Bible Shouldn't Rule
By Mary Clay Berry

Sunday, February 13, 2005; Page B07

A recent news story in The Post about weekly Bible classes for public elementary school students in Staunton, Va., and the challenge some parents have brought against the practice, reminded me of my own experiences with religious education in public school. From 1946 through 1948, I went to an elementary school in rural Kentucky. One morning a week, school began an hour late so that students could attend Bible school at local churches.

Bible school was voluntary, although, according to the town newspaper, 99 percent of the students attended. My mother, the daughter of a Congregational minister, refused permission for me to go the first year. As our family had recently moved to Kentucky, I was a newcomer at the school and young for my class. I felt uncomfortable enough not to want to be singled out; not going to Bible school did just that. At the beginning of sixth grade, I begged my mother to allow me to attend. I thought I would seem less odd if I did what my classmates did. My mother relented, and I went to Bible school one morning a week.

Bible school was innocuous, as I remember it, but toward Easter we were asked who would like to join the Christian Church. Everyone raised his or her hand except me. I looked around, then raised my hand, too. The rest of Bible school consisted of preparing us for baptism. My reasons for wishing to be baptized were similar to my feelings about Bible school: I wanted to be accepted.