Oklahoma’s state superintendent on Thursday directed all public schools to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, in the latest conservative push testing the boundaries between religious instruction and public education.
The superintendent, Ryan Walters, who is a Republican, described the Bible as an “indispensable historical and cultural touchstone” and said it must be taught in certain grade levels.
The move comes a week after Louisiana became the first state to mandate that public schools display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, which was quickly challenged in court. The Oklahoma directive could also be challenged and is likely to provoke the latest tangle over the role of religion in public schools, an issue that has increasingly taken on national prominence.
Next month:
This court finds that, without any question of interpretation, church and state, including publicly-funded education institutions, must be separated. We also find that, with the evidence considered, the teaching of the Bible does not violate the separation of church and state. Teaching of religious texts may, for educational purposes, be added to school curriculum when said curriculum does not mandate teachings containing subjects contrary to the interests of national security and economic prosperity.
Cue 382 additional lawsuits regarding every other religion that has ever existed getting their own representation. I’m going to need a full semester class on Zoroastrianism.
Ah, but you see, that’s where the national security and economic prosperity conditions come in. Can’t be having alternative teachings encouraging terrorism and communism, you know?