Considering efforts in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and elsewhere to put the Bible on public-school syllabi, and the objections thereto, Mark Bauerlein reflects on how his discovery of the Bible as a graduate student contributed to his own education:

Much of the American literature I was reading opened up. Snatches of biblical language reverberated in Emerson, Thoreau, Dickinson, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman. Whitman had the oracular confidence of the prophets, Thoreau sounded like Jeremiah as he sought to “wake my neighbors up,” and Lincoln couldn’t write for very long without drawing on biblical imagery and cadences here and there. The more I knew the Bible, the better I could understand the Americans.

A Bible-less curriculum sustains gaps in [students’] knowledge that will hurt them when they go to college. It isn’t neutral. It’s harmful.

Considering the current state of Israel-Arab relations, Ghaith al-Omari writes

First and foremost, no ceasefire will be possible without the release of Israeli hostages and commitments to disarm Hamas and remove it from power. The final say on these matters rests with Hamas commanders on the ground in Gaza, who have been largely impervious to foreign pressure so far. At minimum, however, the United States should insist that Qatari and Egyptian mediators push Hamas’s external leadership to accept these conditions publicly, which could increase pressure on the group’s Gaza leadership.

Washington should also demand a clear, public position from key Arab states regarding disarmament. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas endorsed this position in a June letter to Saudi Arabia and France, giving Arab states Palestinian cover for endorsing it themselves.

Some Arab states have already indicated a willingness to play a significant role, but they will have little incentive to commit resources and personnel to Gaza unless Israel (1) provides guarantees that it will not occupy the Strip indefinitely, and (2) removes its veto on a PA role in Gaza’s future, even if only symbolic at first. Arab officials are also seeking assurances that any role they play in Gaza will be in the context of a wider effort to reach a two-state solution.

On the other hand, Washington must remain mindful that current conditions between Israel and the Palestinians are not remotely conducive to . . . implementing a two-state solution.