In Oklahoma, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is at it again.
The man who has made controversial statements about Black history, who promotes a Christian nationalist agenda for curriculum and who demands teachers have Bibles in their classrooms and teach from them has established an Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism.
And from that office Walters on Thursday, Nov. 14, emailed all school superintendents in the state a “Mandatory Announcement” linked to a video titled “Prayer for the Nation.” Walters demands all Oklahoma schools play the video for all their students and send it home to their parents.
In the video he wants shown to all students, Ryan Walters bows in prayer for Donald Trump. (Screencap)
In this video, Walters blames the “radical left” and “woke teachers unions” for “attacking” religious liberty and gives a prayer supporting President-elect Donald Trump. He encourages students to join in his prayer.
As with every other attempt Walters has made to inject Christianity into classrooms, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups immediately fought back.
On Friday, Nov. 15, the coalition sent a letter to every superintendent urging them not to show or disseminate Walters’ prayer video. The letter warns promoting the video to students and parents would violate both the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 2 of the Oklahoma Constitution.
Also, the groups say, Walters has no authority to require local school districts play any video for students.
“Requiring students to watch a prayer video violates students’ religious freedom, including their Establishment Clause rights,” the letter warns. “It is beyond dispute that, at a minimum, the Constitution guarantees that government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in religion or its exercise.”
Americans United CEO Rachel Laser added: “Superintendent Ryan Walters is willing to throw every public school kid in Oklahoma under a bus in order to kowtow to President-Elect Trump. Walters is abusing the power of his office to advance a Christian nationalist agenda and impose his personal religious beliefs on other people’s children. Not on our watch. The separation of church and state guarantees that families and students — not politicians — get to decide if, when and how to engage with religion.”
In line with the redefinition of religious liberty espoused by many conservative evangelicals, Walters continues to insist conservative Christians are oppressed by liberals who want to silence them from spreading their beliefs.
Thus, the new Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism “will serve to promote religious liberty and patriotism in Oklahoma and protect parents, teachers and students’ abilities to practice their religion freely in all aspects,” a news release said. “The office will also oversee the investigation of abuses to individual religious freedom or displays of patriotism. Guidance to schools will be issued in the coming days on steps to be taken to ensure the right to pray in schools is safeguarded.”
Trump said last week in a video that he will bring back prayer in all public schools — a practice outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962 as violating the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty for all people and all faiths.
Both Walters and Trump see the equation differently, though.
“For decades, our nation’s public schools have tragically been ground zero for the erosion of religious liberty across our country,” Walters said. “The radical left never misses a chance to co-opt the teacher unions and their minions to indoctrinate our children against traditional values of faith and family, seeking to attack any display of faith or religion or patriotism. It is no coincidence that the dismantling of faith and family values in public schools directly correlates with declining academic outcomes in our public schools.”
Oklahoma schools, under Walters’ leadership, rank as the 50th worst in the nation, outpaced only by neighboring New Mexico.
The way back up in the ranking, Walters believes, is to bring back prayer in schools and teach lessons from the King James Bible.
Related articles:
Trump pledges to bring back prayer in schools and offer ‘school choice’ everywhere
Ryan Walters cites states’ rights in call to end U.S. Education Department