Keystone-SDA
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June 28, 2024 – 03:06
(Keystone-ATS) Oklahoma’s top education official ordered public schools in the southern U.S. state Thursday to teach the Bible, a controversial move that threatens to fuel the culture wars fracturing the United States.
“Every teacher, every classroom in the state, is going to have to have a Bible in the classroom and teach from the Bible,” Walters said at a news conference, announcing a memo that all school districts will have to follow.
“The Bible is a historical document that is necessary to teach our children the history of this country, to give them a full understanding of Western civilization, to give them an understanding of the foundations of our legal system,” said the Republican lawmaker.
The ten Commandments”
His decision comes barely a week after the governor of Louisiana, also a Republican, promulgated a law which provides for displaying the “ten commandments” in all classrooms.
The law was immediately challenged in court by an association that claims it is unconstitutional and violates the separation of church and state. The measure announced in Oklahoma is also likely to end up in court.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the establishment of a national religion or the preference of one religion over another. But in recent years, the Trumpist right has increased its identity-based discourse aimed at bringing Christian values back to the center of public debate.
A member of the southern “Bible Belt,” Oklahoma recently attempted to fund a private religious school with public funds, which would have been a first in the United States. The project was rejected this week by the local courts, but the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
