The state of Oklahoma wants to mandate the teaching of the Bible in the state’s public schools

On Thursday, the 27th of this month, the main education authority in the state of Oklahoma in the United States decided that Public schools should include Bible teaching in classrooms. The initiative is seen as the latest effort by conservatives to bring religion into classrooms, drawing immediate condemnation from civil rights groups and advocates of church-state separation, who They called the measure an “abuse of power” and unconstitutional.

As reported by O Globo newspaper, via the Associated Press, the Republican supervisor Ryan Walters Send an order to all districts in the state of Oklahoma, to establish Bible teaching is mandatory, with “immediate and strict compliance.”

In the current situation, Walters He stated that “the Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural reference” and that without its basic knowledge, “Oklahoma students cannot adequately contextualize the founding of our nation.”

He added that every teacher, in every classroom in the state, will have a Bible in the classroom and will teach from the Bible. Walters During a press conference.

religious education

Oklahoma state legislation permits Bibles in classrooms, as well as teachers’ use of this book in teaching. However, it is unclear whether the supervisor Walters It has the authority to require schools to use it because state law states that school districts have the sole authority to determine instruction, curriculum, instructional materials, and textbooks.

+ The Bible has been removed from schools in the USA due to its “pornographic” content.

This announcement comes one week after the Republican governor of southern Louisiana signed a measure requiring this Requires display of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms From public schools. However, this measure faces a legal challenge due to the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits the promotion or preference of one national religion over another.