Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters issued a directive on Thursday mandating that all public schools in the state incorporate the text of the Bible “as an instructional support” in their curriculums. Walters’ mandate, which is already drawing complaints and stirring up questions of constitutionality, will require all secondary school classrooms to have a copy of the Bible, and orders teachers to use it as an academic resource.
At a meeting of Oklahoma’s Board of Education on Thursday, Walters called the Bible “one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country.”
“The Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our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.“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone. 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.”
Oklahoma kids will learn that the Bible and the Ten Commandments are foundational for western civilization. The left is upset, but one cannot rewrite history. pic.twitter.com/iZKhv9tKoc
— Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) June 27, 2024
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As Walters indicated, Oklahoma state law allows for Bibles and other religious texts to be kept in classrooms for use as instructional materials. Under the new requirement, every classroom in the state for grades 5 through 12 will have to provide a copy of the sacred text.
“Every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom,” Walters declared.
It was not immediately clear under what context scripture is meant to be taught or what instructional standards would be put in place surrounding it.
Almost immediately after Walters’ announcement, religious rights groups promised to fight the mandate on constitutional grounds.
“This is blatant religious coercion that should have absolutely no place in public schools – in Oklahoma or any other state,” Interfaith Alliance told CNN. “True religious freedom means ensuring that no one religious group is allowed to impose their viewpoint on all Americans. The vast majority of people of faith in this country reject these dangerous, intimidating efforts to force a Christian nationalist agenda into our schools, our courts, and our government.”
The new legislation in Oklahoma comes just over a week after Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed a bill requiring every public school classroom in the state to display a printout of the Ten Commandments. This too has been met with threats of constitutional lawsuits from rights activists.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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