Oklahoma educators who refuse to teach students about the Bible could lose their teaching license, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said in an interview with NBC News on Friday.
Walters issued a memo Thursday instructing all Oklahoma schools to teach students in grades five through 12 about the Bible’s influence on the nation’s founding and historical American figures. Schools will also be required to stock a Bible in every classroom.
In an interview with NBC News, Walters said if a teacher refuses to follow the Bible instruction mandate, they’d face the same consequences as one who refuses to teach about the Civil War. The punishment could include revocation of their teaching license, he said, a process that requires a vote by the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which Walters chairs.
“Any teacher that would knowingly, willfully disobey the law and disobey our standards — there are repercussions for that,” Walters said. “So we deal with that on a case-by-case basis, but yes, teachers have to teach Oklahoma Academic Standards and this is absolutely going to be part of them.”
Walters’ new rule on incorporating Bible instruction was immediately criticized by civil liberties and religious groups. The Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations both said in statements that Walters is inappropriately promoting Christianity in schools.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State also weighed in. “Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children,” the group said in an email, adding that it is “carefully assessing options.”
The education department had been working on guidance on using the Bible in classrooms for nine months, Walters said. The agency focused on the Bible because it “is the book that’s under assault,” he said.
A spokesperson from the Oklahoma attorney general’s office said in an email that existing law already allowed teachers to use Bibles in the classroom during instruction and that, “There is no legal authority for a memo from the Superintendent to require content.”
Walters said he feels confident that his order will survive legal challenges because of the justices then-President Donald Trump appointed to the Supreme Court.
“He’s helped provide a path for us to be able to do this as states,” Walters said of Trump. He added that if Trump wins a second term in November, “it will help us move the ball forward, even more so than this.”
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On our historical Figures? The bible is old old it knows nothing about our history. Its a work of fiction they are using for their own gains. Was Washington in the bible? NO. Franklin? Adams? Any of them? NO Our history is 200 some years old. The bible is supposedly thousands. They had no idea about Africa,Asia, nothing. This is a false narrative. IT HAS NO HISTORICAL REFERENCE TO ANYTHING BUT THE AREA IT WAS WRITTEN IN.
The Bible is never outdated. it is the LIVING WORD of God Everything kwe are seeing now is in that Bible. Names are not needed, but the events are all
there even the ones that have not happened yet.. You need to try and read it sometime.
For we Americans, all religions are evil FOREIGN psychotic mass murderous mental illness that fuels all the unneeded wars! Religions and their evil should have been left back in the ‘old countries’…
The church/mosque/synagogue is the place where the bible/Quran/Tanakh should be taught in depth–not in the schools. If the religious institutions do a good job teaching, there is no need for in depth teaching in the school (just significant/relevant references–not conversion instructions) . It would certainly be nice if the leadership did more than just lip service as it relates to our written religious word–they would rather preach hate and discontent.
You have zero clue what you’re talking about. The Bible is by far the most historically accurate book ever written. Please do your homework before you sound so ignorant!!!
The requirement is that the Bible’s influence on our founding fathers and how it shaped our republic. It is a valuable tool to put the foundations of our country into perspective. We were founded as a Christian nation. Jewish and Islamic faiths should be recognized and respected but should not be allowed to erase history.
Stop lying, USA was NOT founded as a “Christian nation”! NONE of the evil in the BuyBull is in our Constitution! NONE! ZERO! No religious terrorism! In fact, USA is first country to make religious terrorism mass murdering illegal! Which pisses off the evil religics… who love endless religion-fueled-wars… like the 3 new unneeded wars Jokementia Bribery has going on now…
The country was founded by those fleeing from religious repression instituted by certain Christian denominations. That is why the First Amendment was added to the Constitution. All religions must be treated equally and the government must not mix in. Freedom of religion cannot exist without freedom from religion.
It’s about time at least one state is getting back to the way we were.
The Bible originally was the main text book in schools.
Kids learned science, how to read, history, etc from the Bible.
The teachers didn’t say a thing of protest when they were made to teach Communism and Transgender stuff. Not a word was in the news or anything about that being FORCED.
Now the Bible is making headlines being brought back in schools.
It’s bad enough that the US DC govt is who approves and has written all the
school books as it is the way THEY want them to read. The Founders would have screamed about that. Especially since DC puts out totally false history for the kids to be brainwashed with. TRUE history is behind lock and key or destroyed, and forbidden out , by order of Communist Lincoln. Got to keep that king worshiped and on his throne in DC ! DC would crumble if the Lincoln truth ever came out and what he really did and was ! The Lincoln War was not at all how kids are taught it was.
Religions hate science… it would be OK if schools taught that all religions are evil FOREIGN psychotic mass murderous mental illness that fuels all the unneeded wars!
USA fought for freedom from the religion-backed King of England…
USA Constitution says “for the common good”… not “for the good of the King”…
Lincoln/Civil War I freed the slaves… including the slaves held by so-called ‘Native Americans’… those slaves became full fledged free members of the tribes if they wished and got tribal land to live on…
Lincoln was a Christian… but an advanced thinking American one…
Well it was Father Georges Lameitre who came up with The Big Bang Theory. Louis Pasteur was Catholic and came up with the rabies, anthrax and chicken cholera vaccines as well as Pasteurization for milk. There’s Catholic Priests who are scientists today.
Plus:
The Catholic Church has been credited with founding some of Europe’s first universities in the Middle Ages. Many Catholic scientists have also made significant contributions to the development of modern science.
According to Wikipedia
So your argument doesn’t hold water dear.
The state of Oklahoma is selecting a particular religion for children and for teachers to instruct. This is a blatant violation of the anti-establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Well I don’t see why they that are Jewish would argue because the first five books of The Holy Bible is from the Jewish faith as well as The Book of Psalms. If all the other religions and atheism is taught in schools then why can’t The Holy Bible? They are not separating church and state with teaching those beliefs. They just don’t like when Christianity fights back. We are fighting back against Slow Joe’s agenda of being trampled on by a cafeteria catholic who doesn’t follow his faith. I’m Roman Catholic too but I do my best to follow my faith.
I am so happy they are putting the Bible in the school that the best thing ever.the children need to know about God