Oklahoma, Texas push forward with Bible curriculum requirements in public schools

Oklahoma’s Superintendent of schools, Ryan Walters, followed up on his troubling edict earlier this month that all public schools must include the Bible in their curriculum with detailed guidelines issued July 24 by the Oklahoma Department of Education. The guidelines mandate that every classroom must contain a “physical copy of the Bible” and the Ten Commandments as a resource, alongside the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The standards issued by the Superintendent call on teachers in every grade from 5th through 12th to emphasize the historical, literary, and artistic significance of the Bible.

The guidelines state that the Bible is “not to be used for religious purposes such as preaching, proselytizing or indoctrination” and that teachers “must not promote or favor any religious beliefs.” But that may be a difficult safeguard to enforce given the specific implementation grade-level strategies the document requires. In high school, for example, students are expected to engage in “discussions on the ethical and philosophical ideas presented in the Bible and their influence on Western thought.”

Education Week’s Evie Blad reports on the opposition to Walters’ vision of such a Bible-centric curriculum:

Groups including the American Academy of Religion and the American Historical Association have both condemned Walters’ directive, saying in statements that it “shrinks rather than expands religious literacy” by presenting a narrow view of the role of Christianity in the nation’s founding. Others have criticized Walters for singling out the Bible without mentioning other religious texts and for assembling a committee to review Oklahoma’s social studies standards that includes evangelical activist David Barton, who rejects the notion that the U.S. Constitution protects religious pluralism.

In addition to the obvious substantive objections, there are also questions surrounding whether these guidelines are binding. As many have pointed out, school districts in Oklahoma have exclusive authority over their own curriculum under state law. Still, Walters states that the guidelines are mandatory and must be implemented immediately in the 2024-25 school year.

Statements made by Walters about the guidelines suggest that his focus may be as much about politics as it is about education. The Hill’s Lexi Lonas reports:

“The radical leftist mob has tried to rewrite history in Oklahoma,” Walters told The Washington Examiner, which first obtained the new guidelines. “It stops today, and Oklahoma schools will refocus our kids’ education so they know the value of the bible in its historical context. The woke radicals will not like it. They will not believe it. However, they will teach it in Oklahoma.”

Meanwhile in Texas, the state education agency (TEA) is offering school districts a financial incentive ($60/student) to incorporate its curriculum that include Bible teachings in K-5 reading and language arts classes. The Texas Tribune reports:

A first-grade lesson about the Liberty Bell would teach students a story in which “God told Moses about the laws he wanted his people to follow — laws that were designed to help ensure that the Hebrew people lived in peace in the freedom of their new land.”

 

There’s also a fifth-grade lesson on Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper that challenges students to consider “how the disciples may have felt upon hearing Jesus telling them about his betrayal and death.”

As BJC Communications Director Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons warns in the Texas Tribune piece, efforts to push the Bible into the grade school curriculum are aligned with Christian nationalism-laced initiatives that equate good citizenship with Christianity.

Texans are invited to post public comments on the proposed TEA curriculum through August 16. For step-by-step instructions on how to do that, you can follow these instructions.  A public hearing will be held in Austin from September 10-13. BJC and its North Texas Christians Against Christian Nationalism coalition are working with others to ensure standards promote legitimate educational purposes, not Christian nationalism.

While all eyes are understandably focused on the national election right now, these stories are good reminders that what happens in state legislatures and agencies has an enormous personal and immediate impact on religious freedom. Christians who believe in religious freedom for all should continue to speak out against Christian nationalism at every level of government.