Not a candidate diary.
In one of the West Texas school districts (Ector County), since 2005, students were taught "the story of the creation, the life of Noah and his ark" according to the Bible as literally accurate historical descriptions. I don't think it made any news then.
However, now New York Times covers the story because several brave parents with some help from ACLU (Moreno v. Ector School County Board) sued the district and forced it to settle.
I think it is rather depressing that in these days, even such a small (and somewhat ambiguous - see below) victory of law and reason over [I don't even know what to call that thing] has to be regarded as important news and covered by the New York Times.
My favorite quote from New York Times article...
When the Ector County district approved the council’s curriculum, the suit said, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, Shannon Baker, celebrated the decision in an e-mail message, which read in part, "Take that, you dang heathens!"
The course was called "The Bible in History and Literature" (if only!) and was taught in two high schools in Odessa, Texas, using the King James version of the Bible as the main course material. According to the ACLU coverage of the lawsuit,
The course, created by a private organization called the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS), has been deeply criticized by Bible scholars for its lack of accuracy, ignorance of scholarly research, and biased promotion of a particular religious interpretation of the Bible.
The settlement between the school district and the plaintiffs is only a partial victory, because (NY Times)...
Public schools can teach the Bible if done in a neutral way. It cannot be taught as it would be in a Sunday school class, legal scholars said. As part of the settlement, the district agreed to use a new curriculum developed by a committee of local educators.
So it's up to these local educators to develop the new curriculum...
Another thing that sticks in my craw... and nobody really reported on that - the "Evangelical" (note the "...") interpretation of the Scriptures was the only one offered to the students in a predominantly (more than 60%) Hispanic district.
Anyways, as they say in Odessa after which the Texas Odessa was named, "In Kiev you may be a minister, but in Odessa, you're just barely a putz."
In conclusion, a completely gratuitous quote from teh Lolcat Bible (Revelation 14)...
WTF! A angel sez 2 evryone, "Oh hai, I haz ur gospell!" "U screwed, iz judjmentt timez now. U wershippz Ceiling Cat or else. Kthxbai."
Anothur Angel! Oh noes! Sez "Babylon fellz down, hooked up wit Satan. U drinks teh wine f teh adultereez now. No I don't knows whut it meanz. Ask teh Babalyn wher u getz it. thxbai."