Ryan Walters, Oklahoma Public Schools #fundie #wingnut

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma Public Schools #fundie #wingnut bbc.com

Oklahoma orders schools to teach Bible 'immediately'

Oklahoma's top education official has ordered schools in the state to begin incorporating the Bible into lessons, in the latest US cultural flashpoint over religion in the classroom.

A directive sent by Republican state Superintendent Ryan Walters said the rule was compulsory, requiring "immediate and strict compliance".

The rule will apply to lessons for all public school students aged from around 11-18.

It comes a week after Louisiana's governor signed a law directing all public schools in that state to display the Ten Commandments.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Walters described the Bible as "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," he added.

Mr Walters, a former public school history teacher, was elected to his post in 2022 after campaigning on a platform of combating "woke ideology" and eliminating "radical leftists" from Oklahoma's education system.

17 comments

"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." — Sinclair Lewis

My wife did teach English and noted that her students were woefully ignorant of biblical themes and characters. But that was trying to explain literature in its use of borrowed icons.
Not as history.
This is (at least for now) unconstitutional.

…and it will be struck down. And the Repubicans can justify their victim fetish again.

Film at 11.

@shy #200637
I think that’s misatribbuted. Great quote tho.
Also how is this not a violation of the first amendment?

The foundation of your nation is nowhere in the Bible, your founders were quite emphatic on that point. Insisting it’s in there to establish a falsehood as the root “fact” from which you draw all further conclusions and getting children used to substituting a constructed narrative with no factual basis into any point of uncertainty or even when the facts plainly contradict what you want them to believe is the only point of this. It makes it easier for when you inevitably invoke the Bible to convince people to let you do things the Bible doesn’t actually say you should be doing. Often things not just the law you flagrantly ignore but the Bible itself says are wrong.

This same practice of manufacturing a root falsehood is the exact reason when asked about the Constitutional legality of this move Republicans first frame the situation as a teacher “choosing” to put up the commandments when choice doesn’t exist. The reason all discussion of why it’s wrong to do so opposition to the commandments of honoring they mother and father or forbidding murder rather than “Thou shall have no Gods before me” and the state sponsoring a single religion - and a single interpretation of a religion - was one of the reasons the “pilgrims” romanticized in American history fled to America in the first place. The reason the worst men imaginable frame sexual assault as their victim “changing their mind” fasely implying pre-existing consent. The reason all talk of non-heteronormative, non-gender-conforming issues is portrayed in relentlessly sexual language and framed as something forced on people by others - changed from their “natural” state - and spoken of only in terms of the power parents should have over children. The parents choices are in so many words the children’s “choices” even when the child says otherwise.

The root falsehood simply replaces all further facts. And in the case of being a “Christian nation” aforementioned commandments about not killing are suddenly a lot more flexible because of the root falsehood.

It’s the same tactic. Over, and over, and over, until the time you were a civilization of laws and individual rights is suddenly and frighteningly over. And then that’s when you go to work making new root falsehoods to apply to the past to make it more palatable.

Dare I hope that some will maliciously comply by working Amos and Micah into their social studies curricula?

1Samuel 18
[1] And it came to pass...that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
...
[3] Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

1Samuel 20
[4] Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.
...
[17] And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
...
[41] ...and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.

Whew! Is it getting hot in here?

If they are required to teach the Bible, they should also have a comparative religion class where they teach the Qur'an, Baghavad Gita, etc. Not likely to happen with this lot.

Considering how many nonChristians know the bible they should hope it gets knocked down

They should take those bibles and burn it in a pile in front of schools as a protest.

“It’s not like we’re forcing kids to read or learn the Bible” they told us…..

@Titania #200663

I think it would frustrate them infinitely more to use a Christian bible that is not in line with their preferred interpretation, like the Mormon version. It complies with the letter of this unlawful demand and the harder they try to justify saying it’s the “wrong” bible and how much it alienates even the broad category of Christianity the more they try to dance around the fact their broad language is to distract from their plan to gradually delegitimize all but the most specifically politically convenient interpretation the more they tip their hand and hopefully piss off every individual church that no longer has the luxury of assuming themselves in the preferred citizen class. They may not be particularly self aware but if the right framing is used, that Republicans are banning Christianity in classrooms if it isn’t the Christianity they specifically want, it might just stick.

Even a simple difference in a single passage like “forgive our tresspasses” compared with “forgive our debts” can be a source of SEVERE conflict. Take that dog whistle out of their mouth and let them articulate what they’re REALLY getting at. See how that goes over with people who thought they were comfortable and safe interpretting the whistle to mean what they wanted to mean.

Will they learn how Joshua slaughtering cities? God commanding killing others? Maybe Matthew? Maybe how Jesus was refugee

If you’re in Oklahoma and struggling to fight back I admire you. If you’re in Oklahoma and hoping or planning to escape I have equal respect for you too.

@Anon-e-moose #200639

actually its’ worse its’ very likely Republicans are doing this so the Far-Right Supreme Court can more or legalize this action of theres

So that's not an education official, more a clerical fascist, running on and imposing its theocratic state mythology indoctrination...

Edit/Adding:
Of course, it's one particular Christian cult, so will be problematic with other Christians in that state. For instance, I was quickly moved from Catholic to Protestant by my JW parents when they learned that the Catholic system here (that no longer exists) included rituals.

Then, as someone who was raised in an ultrafundamentalist cult, I already had a "scriptural" indigestion from the 5h of church a week and all the imposed additional "study" at home. School was an escape from that yoke for me.

Also, if you have to forcefully impose it, it's evidence for the fact that your doctrine is not natural and its tenets non-universal, questionable. Also evidence that your faith is weak. It is implausible that if your God existed, he would have chosen you to do his work, when your unacceptable behavior is a good reason for people to dissent and reject your system. You're tainting Christianity for evil.

In another part of the article he's quoted using Sharia as a scarecrow to justify imposing his own theocracy (typical of fascists pushing fear mongering of a takeover as justification for their own totalitarianism). Respect the necessary separation of church and state of the constitution and there can be no Sharia or other theocracy imposed, also reducing the risk of religious conflicts. Impose your ideology and you will be in conflict with other religions as well as other Christian denominations and secular intellectuals, science, etc. If you achieve local "purity", you will be isolated with the related consequences. Your children will feel alienated from the world and you will oppress them to prevent their escape to greener societies. Those who escape will teach the world about your abuses.

Edit: The Sharia fear mongering falsehoods was from another article about Chip Roy, finally.

@Titania #200663

That's what I was fortunate to have in highschool, a general moral and religion course surveying the great religions and their history, tenets and practices, without a conflict of interest or taking a side. In a diverse school too, so it was very appropriate...