WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
Dearly beloved, this article runneth over with italicized biblical references. Let not your heart be troubled; we have links from each phrase to its scriptural origin posted for you here: http://on-ajc.com/XDgcKZ. Can we get an amen?
Before we throw stones at the DeKalb County schools system for the dustup over a "David-and-Goliath" reference that offended at least one district employee recently, should we extend an olive branch? The aggrieved employee, who sounds like he or she is not one to suffer fools gladly, apparently found the reference to be something of a thorn in the flesh.
“Many of us were shocked to see that our ‘theme’ includes a direct reference from the Christian Bible,” the employee said in an anonymous complaint to Atlanta Journal-Constitution education columnist Maureen Downey following a system conference where the theme for the school year was announced: “Improving Growth and Achievement: A David for Every Goliath.”
Not to put words in their mouths but the powers that be evidently thought the reference would be on the straight and narrow. The anonymous employee found it to be more like a fly in the ointment.
“This is unacceptable, especially in a district that is so incredibly diverse culturally, racially and religiously,” the commenter said.
A house divided against itself cannot stand of course, but far from being at his wit's end, DeKalb Superintendent Michael Thurmond responded in the twinkling of an eye. The reference was a secular one, he said, based on "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants" by Malcolm Gladwell. Conference attendees received copies of the book.
The Old Testament passage in which young David triumphs over the giant Goliath has become cultural shorthand for prevailing against long odds. Thurmond, who is Christian, suggested that Gladwell is a man after his own heart for his non-biblical usage of the theme. "Goliaths are the challenges we each face in our work and everyday life," Thurmond said.
Can it be a potential double-edged sword for a school system to use biblical references? Is best to demand an eye for an eye or adopt an eat, drink and be merry attitude when it comes to potential controversy? We went the extra mile and sought some expert opinion.
Brent A. Strawn, professor of Old Testament at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, said secularized biblical phrases are everywhere. (OMG, anyone?)
“You can hear Bible references on sitcoms,” he said. “While their origins are in sacred text, they also are just part of the Western canon of literature. When people say ‘Jesus Christ!’ or ‘Oh my God,’ these are biblical phrases that have been profaned. This is hardly proselytizing.”
Emory alum Timothy Beal, now a professor of religion at Case Western Reserve University, has studied the intersection of Scripture and pop culture.
“Biblical idioms pervade our everyday speech,” said Beal, author of “Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know.” “Something like David and Goliath can be a familiar image that people get and don’t even know it’s a biblical phrase.”
Atlanta Freethought Society President Rick Pace isn’t put out by David and Goliath references.
“While I feel schools shouldn’t endorse religion or prayers, I have come to understand one must pick their own battles,” he said. “The phrase ‘David and Goliath’ is not something I have much disdain for. As a sports fan, I have heard that phrase used so many times I can’t keep track. Much the same way ‘Cinderella season’ is used.”
Ed Buckner, past president of both American Atheists and the Atlanta Freethought Society, also wasn’t troubled by the David and Goliath allusion but would be concerned if it was part of a pattern.
“It’s very important for leadership of any (public) school administration in America to not imply any position in regard to religion,” said Buckner, co-author of “In Freedom We Trust: An Atheist Guide to Religious Liberty.” “I don’t want to eliminate religious allusions that don’t necessarily imply religious belief. I think we have to stop short of being hypersensitive about this. People ought to be culturally literate enough to understand biblical references.”
But public schoolteachers shouldn’t be in charge of teaching Bible literacy or promoting any religions, he said.
“By God, I have a serious problem with that,” he said.
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