According to recent reports, Oklahoma’s top education official ordered public schools in the state to incorporate the Christian Bible into teaching in grades 5 through 12. The faith-based initiative is the latest in an effort among conservative states to promote Christianity in public institutions.
Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters sent the order to superintendents across Oklahoma, emphasizing that the mandate is compulsory and requires “immediate and strict compliance is expected.” Walters argued that the Bible is a necessary book that should be taught to children for numerous reasons.
“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters expressed in a statement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction.”
Predictably, the move has faced backlash from activist groups in opposition to “Christian Nationalism” and the purported forcing of Christianity onto children in the public school system. “Public schools are not Sunday schools,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in a statement. “This is textbook Christian Nationalism: Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children. Not on our watch.”
Walters shared a video on Facebook where he outlined the statewide order he would send to superintendents. According to the state superintendent, Oklahoma statutes and laws clearly demonstrate that the the Bible and its teachings serve an important role in the state’s public schools.
“We’re going to make an important announcement today regarding the Bible and the Ten Commandments. My staff has been looking at Oklahoma statute. We’ve been looking at Oklahoma Academic Standards, and as crystal clear to us at any Oklahoma Academic Standards under Title 70 multiple occasions, The Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system,” he said.
Walter further expounded upon why the Bible, aside from being the divine word of God and the ultimate instruction for humanity, is a critical document that has been the foundation for many historical moments in American history, making it relevant to be taught in the classroom.
“And as frankly, we’re talking about the Bible, one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country. We also find major points in history that refer to the Bible, that reference the Bible. We see multiple figures when talking about the Federalist Papers, constitutional conventional arguments, and Martin Luther King, Jr, who use it as a tremendous impetus for the civil rights movement and tie many of those arguments back to the Bible. It is essential that our kids have an understanding of the Bible and its historical context. So we will be issuing a memo today that every school district will adhere to, which is that every teacher every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom to ensure that this historical understanding is there for every student in the state of Oklahoma, in accordance with our academic standards and state law,” he added.
Featured image credit: Joshua Keller, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gutenberg_Bible,_New_York_Public_Library,_USA._Pic_01.jpg