The measure will affect students between 10 and 18 years old
Republican state superintendent Ryan Walters, the highest authority in the state of Oklahoma (United States) in educational matters, ordered public schools this Thursday to incorporate the Bible into the classes of students between 10 and 18 years old, a measure that comes shortly after that the state of Louisiana would require the ‘Ten Commandments’ to be displayed in all classrooms, from high school to university, starting next year.
“The Bible is a historical document necessary to teach our children about this country. Every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and they will be taught from the Bible,” Walters said, according to the US television network CBSNews.
In that sense, he has asserted that the measure is “mandatory” and that all educational centers must comply with it “immediately” and “strictly”, and is part of an offensive by state authorities against books on race, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Organizations such as the Oklahoma Education Association or the association Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have criticized Walters’ decision, considering it a form of “abuse of power” and “indoctrination.”
“Public schools are not Sunday schools. This is textbook Christian nationalism: Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children. Not on our watch,” said the president and director. Executive of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Rachel Lase.
For its part, the Oklahoma Education Association has expressed that, while teaching about religion and the Bible in a historical context is permissible, “teaching a religious doctrine” is not, since public schools “cannot indoctrinate students with a particular religious belief”, and that it is a violation against the country’s Constitution.
