Foxy,

Short answer. No. religious education is religious education … your proposal is religion by stealth. Clearly you are now wandering into Anthropology ( under grad. area.)
and at that level probably.

Long answer,
To me your reasoning is flawed if aimed at lower levels of education.
In the first instance it assumes that our culture is fixed....it isn't.

It assumes that 'our' culture should be taught (reinforced) in an education system (NB. I distinguish between Civics and culture particularly (religion) the two are different).

I would have been amazed if the bible potted wisdoms and phrases hadn't permeated the the common language. Clearly that was the intention of the authors and subsequent
religious editors. Historically it was about religious power and dogma.

Having said that these terms have lost most of their original intentions and are arguably stand alone to day. By your standards we should study Franklin's “Poor Richards Almanac“ there are numerous term (potted wisdoms) there that in various forms are used today i.e. if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas.
Is PRA literature? I'm not convinced.

Like wise terms like “Cock up” is an old archery term meaning that the flight was set with a feather bit (flight) pointing up resulting a short distance.
“Going off half cocked” a malfunctioning (unexpected) musket.
“One for the road” was a rhum (old spelling) for a condemned person outside the pub on the waggon on their way to be hung, while the guards had one.
“on the waggon” meant the condemned person he didn't want a drink.
Are they interesting ? yes 'cultural' literature No.?
In short you are over emphasising/ projecting.
There are hundreds of English bibles.

Sorry foxy, but you need better arguments to convince me

Dear David F

as you wish or choose.

People are free (thus far) to assess information and make choices.

While we have that freedom.. let's enjoy it.

Hopefully, we will make the wisest choice based on the best information.

david f,
Please identify the teachings currently taught in the Temples of Apollo, Dionysus, Hercules, Mithra, Adonis, Attis, Phrygia, Osiris and Isis and Horus, Baal and Astarte. Where are their current centres of worship and teaching in Australian culture? Obviously the Roman World in the third century quashed them all and as a compromise to the citizens corrupted Christianity by syncretism many of the Roman festivals.

Why did Christianity become predominant in Roman history in the 3rd Century when it only had a few thousand followers? What changed the Culture?

Looking foward to your answers!

Bruno Bettelheim who I've cited previously
tell us:

"Plato - who may have understood better what
forms the mind of man than do some of our
contemporaries who want their children
exposed only to 'real' people and everyday
events - knew what intellectual experiences
make for true humanity. He suggested that the
future citizens of his ideal republic begin
their literary education with the telling of
myths, rather than with mere facts or so-called
rational teachings. Even Aristotle, master of
pure reason, said: "The friend of wisdom is also
a friend of myth."

Bettelheim tells us that:

"As with folk tales of every culture - they have
their store of legend. Indeed, most families treasure
their private and local legend. "Tell me about..."
demand the youth of the clan, tribe, nation."

"So exploits are passed down, gaining accretions of
incident and heroic detail with each new generation.
In the fullness of time the actual historic events
become clouded, and, sometimes, as in the case of the
Arthurian legends and Bible stories, become tinged with
the supernatural. For even before the birth of Arthur,
Merlin the prophet and messenger had foretold the coming
of one that was greater than he."

"Originally transmitted orally, in mime or dance legends,
and hero tales provide a sense of cultural identity,
and unlike fairy tales they can be specific of place and
person. Time is seldom exact but an historic era can
be specified or implied."

The story of Samson the Israelite, that I mentioned in
a previous post is almost a prototype of the hero tale.
Like so many heroes, Samson's pride in his own strength,
his hubris, was his undoing, but the legend testifies
to his courage in the end.

The ultimate personal triumph of the hero is never as
important as the relentless pursuit of his quest, or
the successful completion of each successive task.

All races and cultures have their national heroes,
and it would seem certain that those from the heroic
past will continue to outlive if not outshine the
modern stars of rock and roll.

cont'd ...

Most parents
want to surround their children with a
sturdy sensibility, a world view, and they
want it to be different from the "Me"
mentality of modern culture.

Television is not part of the solution.
Even if television offered twienty-four hour
of uplifting intelligent fare each day,
a sound bite on moral courage just does not
penetrate. The medium delivers information in
a flash - and then it's gone.

Stories found in books, by contrast, seep into
our very being. We all have books that have lifted
the fog for us, caused the Great Aha!, and literally
changed our lives. The printed word is pondered,
and it is received only when the mind is fully
engaged. Like no other medium it has the power to
stay with us!

In my own case I learned from biographies that even
great individuals start out as everyday children -
letting all children know that life's possibilities
are without limit.

Then as I've already mentioned there are the role
models in legends and historical stories and fairy
tales. Cinderella enchanted not because she got the
prince but because she was cheerful and dignified even
in unbearable circumstances. King Arthur showed what a
noble deed looked like - and that there is such a thing
as duty and sacrifice, and so on.

Great literature is not didactic, though it almost
always instructs. Literature that strains to
instruct almost always fails.

This is not to damn all books that are written in the
realistic mode. A vast number of realistic books
are written without a social agenda or the need to be
explicit or titillating, and they are marvellous,
humourous, powerful, disturbing, illuminating,
everything one might want in a good read.

But, it does make sense to be aware of what your
children are reading, and to make sure that the best
books - including - classics old and new, are available
to them.

Our role as parents as I've stated before - is not to
protect our children from the truth, but to protect
them from something less than the truth.

Childrens immagination is fantacy their stories are full of it; it is the seed of new inventions like flight, the combustion engine the mobile phone etc, etc.

Nothing is impossible to the dreamer - it just takes immagination and research on how it might become reality. To restrict people to known reality stunts their immagination and retards social development.