Just four days ago I published a post about how the state of Louisiana had just enacted a law mandating that the Ten Commandments be prominently displayed in all public school classrooms grades Kindergarten through 12th grade and in all state-funded universities, making Louisiana the first state in the nation issue such a mandate.
Today, on my iPhone’s newsfeed I just saw this headline:
Oklahoma state superintendent orders public schools to teach the Bible in grades 5 through 12
Oklahoma’s top education official ordered public schools today to incorporate the Christian Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12, the latest effort by conservatives to promote the Christian religion in secular, public school classrooms. The order sent to districts across the state by Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters says adherence to the mandate is compulsory and immediate and strict compliance is expected.
“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in a statement. “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.”
The directive drew immediate condemnation from civil rights groups and supporters of the separation of church and state, with some calling it an abuse of power and a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
“Public schools are not Sunday schools,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in a statement. “This is textbook Christian Nationalism: Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children.”
The directive is the latest salvo in an effort by conservative-led states to target public schools: Louisiana has required them to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms, while others are under pressure to teach the Bible and ban books and lessons about race, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
I know that a lot of Christians believe that the United States either is or should be a Christian nation. But the fact is that the United States is a secular nation and it says so in the very first line of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
Requiring public schools to teach the Christian Bible is tantamount to the promotion of the Christian religion above any and all other religions, as America’s national religion. Will the next step be to ship Jewish kids, Muslim kids, and children having been brought up in non-Christian households to “Christian Indoctrination and Reeducation Camps”?
Can we count on the far-right, Christian fundamentalist majority on the Supreme Court to find that such an order is in clear violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? I’m not holding my breath.
This, That, and the Other 
Nobody has ever been able to prove that anything in the Bible is actually true, other than things like there being a city in Israel called Jerusalem.
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That should be the first lesson: Bible Lesson Number 1: None of this is true. It’s all bullshit!
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To be fair, forcing it on children in schools is more likely to turn them off the whole thing.
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:::smh:::
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Most of these folks have no clue what the Bible says. I doubt most of them can actually read well enough to get through it. I think a campaign of maliciously going along with them might be a good idea. I don’t have the skills to do this, but envision a series of educational YouTube Shorts with one of the Ten in a clear, legible font, followed by an image or short clip of a GOP member breaking it with an overlay, also in a clear, legible font saying BROKEN.
Also, encourage kids to talk to their parents about adultery, killing (as in police killings, and “stand your ground laws”), theft (like not paying your workers), lying and so forth. It might also be a good idea to bring some of the Sermon on the Mount discussion of hypocrites into the discussion: posting of the Ten Commandments and public prayer would not have been up his alley. There are also some pretty…well not PG passages in the Old Testament. These are how the Bible wound up on the no-go list in some places with obscenity laws. Plenty of examples in there of broken commandments.
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I like your idea of the YouTube or even TikTok video clips. I wish I had the talent to create something like that.
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First of all, I doubt they will implement based upon an order. Second, my doubt doesn’t mean there’s no possibility someone will try. Third, I’m not in favor. Fourth, I don’t know how to engage with you on this after the previous similar topic (to which post you linked back). Gavin Newsom summed up Trump, tonight, as “lies and deceit” — in the wheelhouse of one of the commandments you blew off as “soft.” And, as I said in a comment under one of your other subjects tonight, one of the strong clips involves Trump’s adultery.
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Massive DRAMS Between Michelle Obama and the Bidens
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“What I care about is: did you pass paid family leave or didn’t you? He didn’t,” says the host, Cenk. And we know this, among other things that were left in the dust after the promises. I don’t think paid family leave was brought up at all in the debate, either. “… Mr. Family Man…” doesn’t recognize one of Hunter’s children as his grandchild until shamed publicly over it — while he says, publicly, that he’s proud of the son (the father of the shunned grandchild out of wedlock).
https://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/3052910/child-care-question-debate/ Per affordable childcare, meanwhile…
… it took a petition to even get the question in front of the candidates at last night’s presidential debate in the first place. National nonprofit organization Moms First delivered nearly 15,000 signatures to CNN ahead of the event, demanding that the issue of child care be included in the line of questioning. This morning, Founder and CEO … Reshma Saujani, expressed her disappointment over the utter lack of discourse.
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The Bible is not history. The 10 Commandments are good rules for life on the whole but Confucius and Buddha had some good rules too.The Bible was written by many people over many, many years so any part based on actual events couldn’t possibly be accurate. Plus the way these people, a friend of mine calls them RWNJ’s, inerpret it to suit themselves.
I don’t want to belittle anyone who finds comfort in their religion, whatever it is, (Scientology excepted because I think it’s a cult). However, I am coming to believe that organised religion does more harm than good.
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I think you’re right aboutborganized religion.
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Did you know that the Bible is on the list of banned books? It has all the same content they are claiming the other books have. By the way, did you see the debate? We are in such trouble we need to fresh call candidates for president and where are they?
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I only watched part of the debate. It was too painful to watch.
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That is crazy! Where is the separation between church and state. Unfortunately there are no earthy “new worlds” to go to in an escape for religious freedoms this time.
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I am now officially so appalled by everything I can’t even think about it. Is this MY country? It doesn’t feel like it. I don’t think I’ll live long enough to feel it change — IF it changes.
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I feel the same way, Marilyn. This country is no longer recognizable.
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0q0NNnn_kCE
Countdown With Keith Olbermann – Biden-Trump Debate Post Game Show
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