Two days after the Oklahoma Supreme Court swatted down an attempt to use public funds to support a Catholic charter school, the state superintendent of public instruction mandated all public schools have a Christian Bible in the classroom and teach from it.
Ryan Walters is no stranger to controversy as head of the state’s public schools. Much of that controversy has to do with his embrace of a strident form of Christian nationalism that seeks to advance evangelical Christianity over all other faiths.
At a State Board of Education meeting June 27, Walters declared all public schools will be required to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in their curriculums, effective immediately.
He called the Christian Bible “one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country.”
“It’s crystal clear to us that in the Oklahoma academic standards under Title 70 on multiple occasions, the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our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,” Walters said in mandating every classroom in the state from grades 5 through 12 have a Bible and that all teachers must teach from the Bible in the classroom.
Charles Foster Johnson
“The Oklahoma state superintendent missed his American history school lesson on the separation of church and state,” replied Charles Foster Johnson, a Baptist pastor and head of the national pro-public education coalition called Pastors for Children. “For him to use the public school as a vehicle for his own religious views is an egregious breach of everyone’s religious liberty.
“This man is dangerously bereft of qualification for his position,” Johnson added. “The best thing he can do for Oklahoma public school children is to resign.”
The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also condemned Walter’s edict as a “clear violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause.”
“Although we and the American Muslim community recognize the important historical and religious significance of the Bible, forcing teachers to use it and only it in their curriculum is inappropriate and unconstitutional,” said CAIR-OK Director Adam Soltani.
Adam Soltani
“We adamantly oppose any requirements that religion be forcefully taught or required as a part of lesson plans in public schools, in Oklahoma, or anywhere else in the country. As the Constitution outlines, religious freedom allows for the academic instruction of religion in subjects such as geography, social studies, and history.”
“This is textbook Christian nationalism: Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children,” said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Rachel Laser
“Public schools are not Sunday schools,” she said. “Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters has repeatedly made clear that he is incapable of distinguishing the difference and is unfit for office. His latest scheme — to mandate use of the Bible in Oklahoma public schools’ curriculum — is a transparent, unconstitutional effort to indoctrinate and religiously coerce public school students.”
Laser tied Walters’ dictum to a wider trend.
“Christian nationalism is on the march across this country,” she said. “It’s not just happening in Oklahoma; we’re seeing it from Texas to West Virginia, from Florida to Idaho. Just this week we filed a lawsuit with our allies to stop Louisiana from requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments — something legislators in other states, including Oklahoma, have also proposed. Christian nationalists and their lawmaker allies want to replace school counselors with religious chaplains; allow teachers and coaches to pray with students; teach creationism in science classes; and ban books and censor curricula that feature LGBTQ people and racial and religious minorities.”
Paul Raushenbush
Interfaith Alliance President Brandeis Raushenbush likewise condemned the Oklahoma action.
“This is blatant religious coercion that should have absolutely no place in public schools — in Oklahoma or any other state,” he said. “It’s just the latest example of Christian nationalist officials brazenly attempting to tear down all healthy boundaries between religion and government — flouting the Constitution and forcing people of diverse faiths and beliefs to abide by their theology.”
At time of publication of this article, no national organizations or spokespersons for conservative groups had issued statements in support of Walters’ action. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
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