I'm a good New York Jew... I know from gefilte fish, bar mitzvahs, and getting good grades. But not a whole Gehenna of a lot about Christian fundamentalism. So I was a bit surprised when I did a little Google search on "No Child Left Behind," our esteemed President's education initiative. Seems the term "Left Behind" refers to "those poor souls who don't go to Heaven when Jesus returns."
Can Bush really guarantee that teaching kids to read will save their souls? If so, maybe he has a Jewish mother after all.
| George W. Bush | Religion
Yes Left Behind is a huge a freaky phenom. There is even a god-awful movie about it starring Kirk Cameron which I have yet to actually view. Perhaps I'll go put it in my lending queue right now.
Comment #1 :: link :: September 25, 2002 9:00 AM :: homepageThe same day your post went up, Liz, I heard Daniel Schorr mention on All Things Considered that the Bush phrase "No Child Left Behind" was actually borrowed from the motto of the Children's Defense Fund, which is "Leave No Child Behind." As for whether the Bush people intentionally altered the phrase to echo this Christian concept, or whether the CDF intended that echo, I have no idea.
In answer to your question, though, if you can't read, you can't read the Bible, now, can you?
