The Bible is increasingly being used as texbook in American classrooms.

It looks like a scene out of Sunday school: Students in a southern Orange County, Calif., classroom huddle over Bibles, as teacher Ryan Cox guides them in analyzing the relationship between God and Satan.

"If God is supposedly omnipotent, if he exists and is all-powerful, why let the serpent in the Garden" of Eden, Cox asks. "Why let him hurt Job? Why let him tempt Jesus?"

As the number of these classes increases, civil libertarians, religious minorities, and others fear that Bible lessons cloaked in the guise of academics might provide cover for proselytizing in public schools.

"Theoretically, it can be taught in an appropriate manner, but it takes the wisdom of Solomon to do it," said Mark Chancey, professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

I would suspend my opinion on this subject until I had seen a copy of the curriculum in most cases, but knowing what I know about our current government this just seems like another sneaky way to promote a certain agenda while denying that that is what you are doing.

I would happily send a child of mine to take a comparative religion course. If it were taught by the same intelligent dispassionate people who taught mine in college.

By the way I am having a new t-shirt printed up this week. This is what it will say:

I am not saying it is not a good book. I am simply pointing out that nobody has to meet every Sunday to have Harry Potter explained to them, now do they?

I am interested in what kinds of responses this shirt might inspire.