I just wish that I had had this teacher in high school. She sure knows how to capture the imaginations of students (AND get them to READ!):
http://www.magicvalley.com/news/localstate/index.asp?StoryID=11928

Interesting story. She has more "courage" than I do, but I understand that when you publicly destroy a sacred text (especially in front of young people), you risk inflaming a lot of emotion.

You recall how angry some of us got when Moore "desecrated" F451 by ripping off it's title to promote a liberal attack piece. I certainly understand persons getting upset when you publicly rip up a copy of the Bible. On the other hand, it was an object lesson that will definitely be remembered by those kids, and, I think will cause the kids to read F451 with more emotional commitment than they may have otherwise.



[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 09-12-2004).]

Holy moly! Yes, I can see where that would get a reaction out of people. I don't think tearing up, say War and Peace, would get anything close to the reaction the teacher was trying to get!

Sorry, I can�t go along with you all on this one.

Sure, these were high school students and quite possibly more than capable of handling the situation. But some of us take the Bible and what it has to say quite seriously; I�d venture to guess some of those students are those kind of people as well. To risk twisting a knife in their stomach simply to provoke a response for a reading assignment seems, to me, irresponsible at best.

Why not simply talk about the Bible or some other book that might be important to the students and discuss how they�d feel if it was destroyed right before their eyes? A bloodless solution? Fine. But I wonder why the teacher didn�t choose the Koran or some other religious text to make the point. Ah, now you begin to see where I�m coming from.

Funny, isn�t it, how in this age of multi-culturalism and sensitivity, Christians are usually excluded from this simple courtesy.

Best,

Pete

Sorry. I didn't mean to imply that I think it's fine that the Bible was torn up like that. I take all the sacred texts seriously -- not just Christian and Jewish. I just meant that, given the reaction I had to Michael Moore's "desecration" of F451, the tearing up of the Bible would certainly arouse emotions and form an indelible image.

One of my daughter's teachers showed parts of the movie "Glory" to their class as part of a Civil War unit in history. I thought the movie was great, but is rated R. I didn't let my kids watch R movies until they were 17. The teacher acted without getting parental approvals. My daughter and two other girls walked out of the class when the teacher refused to give them an alternate assignment. I raised the issue with the principle the next day when the teacher mocked my daughter and her friends for doing exactly what their parents taught them to do, and then continued to show the film -- even though it was an unresolved issue.

In this case, the irony is that IF the teacher had asked me in advance for permission, explaining the context of what was being shown in the film and why, I probably would have granted permission.

I do not automatically concede all authority to teachers. Tearing up a Bible in a public school was -- at the least -- insensitive and in bad taste.

My point was that it was a strong way of getting the students to think about the emotions of what they would be reading about in F451. I doubt the students in that class will forget what they saw, and I do think their reading of F451 will involve more of an emotional investment than might otherwise have happened.

Mr. Dark,

Whoops. My apologies. A closer read of your original post reveals you made the very same point you just elaborated on. Didn't mean to include you in my sweeping generalities.

Best,

Pete

The principal of the school says Christensom (interesting last name) is a "great teacher":
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/3725089/detail.html

Anyone who uses "shock technique" as an introduction, better be able to take the heat. She sounds like a veteran teacher and probably has a great follow-up and discussions. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and listen to the debates in her classroom.

Also, how many of the other books mentioned in F-451 would high school students relate to?? Plato, Thoreau, Shakespeare, Jefferson??

After all, Montag started this when he showed Mildred the Bible:

"Montag showed her a book. "This is the Old and New Testament, and..."

"Don't start that again!"

"It might be the last copy in this part of the world."

(This teacher will no doubt be fodder for Bill O'Reilly.)

Teachers are terrified to be innovative and challenging for fear of being sued, losing their jobs, etc. I applaud this teacher, from what I know so far. My high school experience was tedious and boring: copying outlines from the chalkboard and then being tested, outlining chapters for an "absent" football coach, diagraming endless sentences.

If only I had discovered Bradbury in high school and been "fired up" by an excellent teacher.

[This message has been edited by Green Shadow (edited 09-13-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Green Shadow (edited 09-13-2004).]

At least ripping the Bible still HAS shock value in this country!

As I recall, I simply threw my copy into the dustbin.

Gothic,
Stalin would have approved heartily with your action.

Gothic. If you remember the passage in Bradbury's novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, that's what the devil, Mr. Dark exactly did while confronting Mr. Halloway in the library. He took the Bible, said it had no power over him, and threw it in the waste basket. It seems you two have something in common.

How DOES one get rid of a Bible? I have one that's seen more than its fair share of days and it's all raggedy (well, I have had it since I was 4 and I'm 43, now!). I just can't see throwing it into the garbage! Then again, I can't see throwing ANY book into the garbage!

In the Orthodox tradition, when sacred objects (icons, blessed articles, etc.) must be disposed of ,they are burned.

Striking. Thanks for reminding me of that crucial passage, libRArY.

I have the following books on my shelf (in this particular order):

...A Tale of Two cities. Therese Raquin. Justine (or the misfortunes of virtue). The Bible. The Holy Quaran. The Torah. Modern Chess Openings. The Kama Sutra...

Cheers, Translator