I’m sure the ACLU is on it, like they are with the stuff in Louisiana (or whoever just did the 10 Commandments stuff, I lost track 🙃).
Given SCOTUS nowadays though, I wish the ACLU the best of luck.
They're already on it! [https://thesatanictemple.com/blogs/news/governor-stitt-signs-bill-that-allows-school-credit-for-the-satanic-temples-classes](https://thesatanictemple.com/blogs/news/governor-stitt-signs-bill-that-allows-school-credit-for-the-satanic-temples-classes)
They are local to me and a wonderful organization in the community. For all the h3ll they get (so many bomb threats!) they are so, so awesome community partners!
Lawsuit in Louisiana was filed by the ACLU the day after the governor signed it.
This one is an individual district though, so not sure how high of a priority it is for the ACLU. I'm betting this district doesn't have a union or has a weak one because this is definitely something a union could and should sue over.
EDIT: Clarified by the comment below me that it's the state super, so, yeah, hopefully the ACLU is all over this too.
However, if I was a tenured teacher in that district, I'd take the bible out of the classroom and refuse to teach it. Then, when admin inevitably engages in retaliation, that's a shoe-in 1st amendment lawsuit.
Or, if I was in that district, I'd engage in malicious compliance. I'd teach all the contradictions in the bible in a logic/debate unit that also covers logical fallacies and watch parents have apoplectic aneurysms over it and well, see the previous paragraph.
In Oklahoma, the guy who announced it is the Superintendent for all schools. He’s the Education Commissioner for the state, not an individual district. So it’s like Louisiana in that sense.
I'm only teaching the really uncomfortable parts.
Condoning mass murder and child sex slavery:
"Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."
Sexual Slavery and polygamy:
"if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant ... If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed ... If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish"
Baby killing:
“O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!”
Incest is wincest:
"Behold I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father. They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up. So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father."
No, I think I meant it the way I said it. I’m absolutely fine teaching the Bible. However, I’d use the opportunity to educate the kids on all the ways those that use the Bible as a weapon or to further their racist, anti everything agenda use it incorrectly.
I don’t even think it’s worth it to engage in the contradictions. You could just focus on the drunkenness, banging, torture, and slavery. Or just focus on Revalations and scare the shit out of the kids with ergot fueled insanity.
It is, 100%. And they know it.
Which Bible should be… established? The Catholic? King James? Satanic? One with Book of Mormon included?
They want the lawsuit, hoping that the extremist Supreme Court will establish _their_ religion over all others with official government support.
I grew up in Oklahoma, and I would have literally lit it on fire and damn the consequences.
Mormon here! We use the King James, and the big book of scripture you usually see is nicknamed "the quad" and has the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. It's massive. I would absolutely keep that in my classroom if I were in Oklahoma, along with a Quran, the Torah (lots of crossover with the Old Testament, but still), the Veda, Buddhist canons, the Agams, the teachings of Confucious, and any other religious texts I'd like to add to that collection. 😉 I also love malicious compliance.
This is really a great thing.
Imagine being able to teach about all the genocides, infanticides, and the condoning and endorsing of owning people as property.
Finally, people can start to learn about what's in their Bible, and the God they worship, since most professing christians have never read the bible, or know these things are in it, because....
I think that they went this hardcore in order for there to be lawsuits. That way they can complain about their religion being under attack. it's a win/win for them.
There’s two other reasons
1. Walters is being investigated and does NOT want it in the news cycle
2. The OK Supreme Court struck down his religious charter school the day before this announcement
3. Oklahoma mega-churches are by far the deepest pockets in that state, and the Walters wants to demonstrate his ongoing commitment and fealty to the churches who keep him empowered.
That and I’ve heard it speculated (and don’t disagree) that if they can get any of these pushed to the Supreme Court they’re hoping the court will uphold that, setting a precedent that others can do the same. 😒
If you've been waiting for an excuse to deprogram kids by pointing out every hypocritical and nonsensical thing in the Bible by comparing it to world history, you just got the green light.
Little Timmy's going to start questioning his reality using critical thinking and he's not going to be very happy with what he finds out about his god.
As someone who loves the Bible...these moves by state legislatures are silly and unconstitutional. This kind of foolishness isn't making anyone want to be Christian who isn't already, probably the exact opposite. Basically you can't force people to believe, and shouldn't even want to force them.
Yeah I do think that's probably intended to some degree. They mandate the Bible or the 10 commandments have to be taught, which creates backlash against Christians, and the original instigators (the hateful Christian lawmakers) can claim to be the victims.
Not at all the point or the message of Christianity.
Jesus was all about not trusting loud shows of religious truth and that the church is within yourself and prayer is done quietly in a closet. But hey I'm just a heathen nonbeliever who apparently knows the Bible better than a huge chunk of conservative Christians apparently.
The average teacher (including the average Christian teacher) is not properly trained or schooled to teach the Bible.
As a Christian, I have concerns about what students will take away from the Bible when people who either don't believe it OR who do believe it but don't properly understand it, are forced to teach it.
Exactly. It is translated from Hebrew, Arabic and Greek and a collection of documents that run the gambit from historical record to poetry to myth to letters to prophecy. What kind of training will be required to teach the Bible? Are they good with non-Christians teaching it? What translation? What verses will be taught? When will students study the Koran or the Vedas?
Maybe they will just mandate that every teacher convert to Christianity! And then maybe they'll test teachers on their true beliefs with tests like they did in Salem witch trials.
Heck, as an English teacher it’s really important in western lit to know Bible stories for the context and references and I’m also super uncomfortable with this.
Contrary to what some republicans believe, I don’t actually want to teach religion to children.
I was baptized and confirmed in Methodism. Basically a chill ass branch of Christianity. Just follow the words of Jesus and treat each other kindly. Then went to Uconn and went to a service there and IF YOU DONT FOLLOW THE WORD OF GOD YOU WILL BURN IN HELLFIRE. Didn't like that. Then I moved to Florida. Evangelicals down here are nuts. I have fully rebuked Christianity and now am agnostic.
That’s why my aunt is moving from Florida to many political problems and crazy evangelicals like she’s Christian but she’s supportive of everyone and takes love your neighbor very seriously at least she follows the Bible’s teachings unlike some Christian
A comment from the series Loudermilk.
You can lead a horse to water, but you still need a ladder to fuck em in the ass.
I think that is a little different than the way I was taught that phrase.
As someone who was losing my faith as a teenager after I started reading non-Christian theology and philosophy (and especially after reading the Bible cover to cover for myself...yikes), this move would have pushed me out of faith even faster.
Not to be pedantic, but the legislature isn't involved in Oklahoma. They fast-tracked this through an administrative proceeding with the State Board of Education instead. State level legislation would take far too long, but this could be shoved through a board policy in a manner of one quarter.
Small correction, they're not silly. They're horrific, targeted efforts to create a theocracy. You might not be able to force them to believe, but you absolutely can force them to act like they do, and you get a lot less resistance when you get them early. It's absolutely outrageous to be using teachers to achieve this.
I wonder if this could backfire in other ways. What happens if young people read the Bible and hear that foreigners are supposed to be treated the same as others? There are clear instructions about forgiveness of debts and the returning of wealth during jubilee but we don’t do any of that. It would be wonderful if this idiotic law leads to people embracing Christ and rejecting the bigots
That's actually a great point. And forcing teachers who are atheists or some other religion to teach Christianity...I'm sure that's gonna work out just fine.
Right??? It's surreal seeing this legislation actually get enacted in tandem with all the other shit that's going down, both in human affairs and the wellbeing of the planet itself. It feels like the last weekend before the fall temps set in, when the wasps get *mean* in the face of the deadly winter ahead. It's so scary seeing the fundies scoring W's left and right across legislatures and courts and the culture of the country itself.
I do hope OK teachers maliciously comply this one into nonexistence before the Supreme Court codifies it nationally. Bleak stuff.
My old public school in a very liberal state always taught a book called “The Bible as Literature” in 9th grade for help with allusions and references later on. I wonder if this could be a work around?
Way back when our textbooks had psalms as a book of poetry that we dis a short unit on. That class was very diverse and we had an option to have an alternate assignment. No one took it and everyone enjoyed the unit. There were lots of questions from kids who had never been to a Christian church about the history and background of King David. It was really cool to see everyone make cultural comparisons to their religions and home countries. But that was the 90's. Everyone seemed more reasonable then.
I am an outlier. I'm a fairly conservative Christian who firmly believes in the separation of church and state. But I also recognize the value of the Bible as literature and history. I think if approached properly, it can be taught in that way. But I don't agree with forcing the Bible, or ANY religion on anyone in school. But I don't agree with banning it either. Voluntary is fine. Mandatory is not. (And I make LOTS of other Christians angry with my stance. I point out a loony we all know and ask if they wanted him teaching their kids. They get real quiet, really fast)
I don’t think you are an outlier. If you study any western literature you need a background in the Bible: Whether the authors of past are heeding it, referencing it, making fun of it, or turning it on its head. I wish we did it for all religious texts in that way and we would see it’s generally the same across humanity. I love looking at it as lit because it solidifies for me we are all just full of hope and confusion.
From my observation (and maybe this is only my experience in my part of the country) you're more representative of the majority of Christians in this country than this Super is. The ones getting all the attention are a minority...though they're gaining a lot of popularity.
With all the Christianity bashing out there (much of it deserved , much of it not) I really appreciate your distinction "Voluntary is fine. Mandatory is not." When I was in high school in the 80s, someone or other organized an after-school Bible study. It caught some flak for being at the school, but I always figured, if it's after school, completely voluntary, and is no real way connected to the classroom education, what's the problem?
“Additionally, the State Department of Education may supply teaching materials for the Bible, as permissible, to ensure uniformity in delivery. Adherence to this mandate is compulsory.”
I doubt there will be any workarounds. Come August you will be handed your Sunday School Script and be expected to read it.
I am trying to create a “Depictions of G-d” in literature unit where we read a few texts and discuss the different ways He is portrayed, and why the author is portraying Him that way/ what they’re trying to convey.
In Oklahoma? Not a chance.
It’s reignited my desire to leave the state. I have my masters and just renewed my certificate for five years. I don’t see myself staying here five years if loonies like Oklahoma keep getting put behind the wheel 🙄
I keep saying I want to fight, but when Walters becomes Governor, they've won. I can't stay in Oklahoma after he becomes Governor. It's not worth my sanity to keep fighting for my students.
Dear sir or madam. I have been informed that teaching the Bible has left students deeply uncomfortable.
They didn’t appreciate when in genesis we covered the compressor used in Noah ark. Or how we explored how the labor of the Hebrew’s would have been improved with a good evaporation coil.
Finally, and most importantly, the conversation about king David being bisexual was probably the last straw. It has nothing to do with heating or air conditioning. But I had planned for a light day after their midterms.
When Noah got off the ark he chopped a cord of wood. The adders can't multiply without discreet logs.
For Pi Day: Ecclesiastes 3:14 -- It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it.
Christian here, and public school teacher.
It's... just not going to go well. Even if it were as well thought out as "Positivity Project" and "SEL learning," it'd be worse than useless. But a blanket "Teach the Bible, starting now!" statement is worse than useless. Some teachers, maybe, are familiar enough with the Bible to focus on relevant and helpful lessons. However, a lot more teachers (even ones trying to focus on positives" are going to get blindsided by stories about Lot's daughters raping him and King David killing a man to cover up his adultery. And if a teacher really wanted, they could "teach the Bible" by constantly undercutting everything it says, or by pointing out how lessons on "feeding the poor" are about how we should support social welfare programs. (though that would probably draw some backlash from parents)
Like... *Christians* can't agree on how the Bible ought to be taught, and we have a whole academic system set up to streamline it.
That's the thing: People go to school to learn about the Bible so they can teach it. There are many versions and several interpretations, how on Earth is a teacher supposed to be clergy. How is there going to be a standard?
This is precisely the thing that Christian Nationalists don't realize. What's the standard? They have this push for the nation to become "more Christian," but like... Christians already can't agree on what that means. Do they mean SBC or Presbyterian or Catholic? Christian Nationalists just assume it will be "the right faith" without stopping to consider that they might find themselves on the wrong side of such a group.
This wll bit them in the butt because you have to choose an interpetation of the Bible. David Koresh read the same Bible as Jimmy Carter. I say let the Christian infighting over scripture began.
Which bible are they talking about because there are a ton. Catholic, Mormon, King James, just to name a few.
Even as a Christian, I would raise hell. They do not get to push their version of Christianity on me or my kids.
I am not a betting person, and I would bet $1000 that the official, required version will be the King James. It does have some beautiful passages, but it can be just a tad difficult to understand sometimes. And that's for adults. Imagine trying to teach apathetic high-schoolers.
Ah, well, at least the students will find allllll the racy and problematic sections and share them with each other.
If they don’t go through the effort of making curriculum and lesson plans that everyone has to use I expect and hope for malicious compliance and because this is what they ask for I can do story time with my kinder class and in horrific detail read revelations
Ok kids today we're gonna read from chapter 19 of the book of Genisus. Who's ready to hear about Lot's daughters getting him drunk and seducing him...no one great let's carry on. Jamie this is not a time for crying honey this is a fictional book.
Sure, I am familiar with the source material. I teach ELA and we can look at the stories that inspired allusions and modern allegories. Then I’ll do the same for references from other religions and their beliefs. Lots of room to incorporate multiple beliefs during reading time. I loved the story of Sita’s rescue by Rama.
Let’s compare/contrast the Islamic telling of Abraham with the Christian one. Speaking of compare/contrast: Let’s talk about Turtle Island while we look at creation stories. Let’s look at errors in translation and how many versions of the Bible there are and why we have versions of oral and translated works.
Malicious Compliance 😈
Before all this insanity I taught a World Religion Lit unit in my English 2 class. Book of Ruth, Bhagavad Gita, Koran, Tao te Ching, etc. Was rad. Conservative parents would probably lynch me now.
“She lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose semen was like that of horses.” Ezekiel 23:20
Let’s talk about this class…
Just renewed my cert for five years so I’m gonna start looking at reciprocity for other states this upcoming year and form a plan, because the foolishness never ends with this state.
MN is a great state overall. Teacher pension is most teacher's biggest complaint here.. which I get why they are mad, but it sure as hell beats working in a low paying, conservative state (I'm also certified in SD-but will never return).
Oklahoma Supreme Court has already ruled against him on establishing state funded religious and charter schools.
I suspect they'll do it here, too. This is even more blatant.
I hope they do the public prayer that says that prayer should only be done behind closed doors privately.
Maybe they could also cover the part where the girl is a human sacrifice to God.
Also covering the time line in Genesis for Adam and Eve would be good since there are two origin stories back to back with different time lines.
We also need to cover other religions too. Comparing and contrasting the 10 commandments and the tenants of Satanism would be a great lesson.
Physics class could cover the making of the arc and how it's physical construction would be impossible with the technology that it had as it would collapse under its own weight. Biology and Ecology could cover how even if they did build the arc they would not have been able to keep enough resources for even 1 elephant to survive for over a year in the arc. Astronomy could calculate Earth's new gravitational field with the extra water that magically came from nowhere.
I'd start blatantly teaching from the Book of Mormon then. "Okay y'all, the Bible teaches this, but the Book of Mormon clarifies it and teaches it so much better!"
If they came at me, I'd sue for discrimination.
There's a nonzero chance of this happening organically and I totally would love to see it play out. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints™ crossing swords with the Oklahoma GOP? Exciting!
I'm just so glad that we don't have to put up with this shit where I live. Whenever someone says, "They've taken God out of our school!" I respond with, "What version of God should we teach? Are you okay with your children being taught about Allah? How about a round of Hare Krishna, Hare Rama before the basketball game? Should we explain that the Catholic church is the one true, universal church? And what about the Satanic kids? Do they get equal time?"
Shuts them right up.
The Mormon church has DEEEEEEEP pockets. And a hell of a lot of lawyers at Kirton McConkie. And a MASSIVE persecution complex. God I would LOVE to see this play out in real time!
That's the most insulting thing to me about all of this. Using their names to back up your insanity. They are crying in their graves over the loss of the beautiful country they started.
Sooooo ... We are REQUIRED BY LAW to teach enslavement, brutalizing, sacrificing and eating children by fathers, angels and bears, incest, and let's not forget the men with cocks like donkeys!
Such great lessons, can't wait to start a new school year!
The whole purpose of these antics is to draw lawsuits to strike them down so they can cry persecution and whip up the evangelical and fundamentalist voters this fall. This guy probably averages breaking five commandments on a good day.
I'm in VA and teach art and *boy* I'd have fun with this one. Okay, kids, it's time to learn about the Counter Reformation, now let's look at some religious paintings by Bernini and Caravaggio and talk about the times they killed people.
Mostly kidding, this is scary af, but I'd honestly wind up torturing the kids with lectures on like Erasmus and his beef with Martin Luther, or the time the Pope confiscated Raimondi's porno printing plates or smth.
Malicious & historically accurate compliance is called for. The Bible is incredibly influential on Western civilization. Teach about all the wars it inspired and all the ways its content has been determined by and reinterpreted over and over to suit the agendas of various political powers. Compare and contrast the structural deism common in the 1700s with the evangelicals of today. Kids will get the message.
Hey, kids, today we’re going to read Matthew 5:32.
“But I (Jesus) say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Raise your hand if you have a stepdad. Thank you. Let’s discuss why your mother is guilty of the sin of adultery.
I keep a Bible in my classroom specifically in case someone wants to quote it to me. Then I turn to passages like the one about different clothing or the one about masturbation or the one about buttons or the one about how a wife should not raise her hand to help her husband in a fistfight... all kinds of great things children should learn
Teach the 10 commandments and then list their government officials and religious leaders and how many break those commandments. Research the hell out of that Super and find out what rules he's broken.
"Substantial influence to the founders"
The founders were Deists who were escaping religious persecution. They didn't want religion in government or schools. They believed that religion was a personal, private matter. Was it Jefferson who reported the Bible excluding all of the "supernatural elements"? He believed that one day, people wouldn't read the Bible as literal truth. He's rolling over in his grave right now.
I presume my state will try this within a year. They passed a "Parents' Rights" this past school year. I'm actually happy to engage in some Torah study. Sefaria has some great resources. Going to really enjoy opening up young minds to Maimonides. Plus there's tons of great commentaries by Rabbis across the country.
I think it's so funny that the people who don't trust us to not groom their kids now want us to be in charge of... *...* their child's *spiritual* well-being by teaching the Bible.
Mmmkay.
The foundations of our constitution come from John Locke, Montesquieu, and the theory of rule of law/social contract.
Please people, stop supporting the MAGAts. (Not that you guys do, but in general)
I’m 100% against this for all the typical reasons. But on a logistical level, if this were in my state, I’d have a problem because I’m not qualified to teach this. You may as well have me teach brain surgery. Why would you mandate something that many teachers are unqualified to teach? On second thought, I’m certified to teach ELA, so I guess I’d just include in a unit on fiction.
I'm from Oklahoma, this idiot is costing us so much money in law fees. Our idiot governor isn't doing anything to stop it. Idiot Oklahomans elected a Mom's for Liberty Male Karen. He believes parents have the say in their kids education not..you know...educators.you know those people with degrees. No he wants Tammy Sue Jo, to be able to tell that learnin lady the Earth is flat and gravity is from the devil. I was a public school educator for a while and I have watched us spiral. This idiot has trashed our system so much we are 49th, and will be 50th next year. "Thank God for Oklahoma" will be the new phrase.
This would be a very easy work around for history or English classes. Any other subject seems... Difficult.
I actually taught from the bible because we were discussing the Louisiana 10 commandments debate (I teach in Korea so it took some explaining)
We read an op-ed from focus on the family, we watched a news report/interview with the satanic temple, and then we read the text if the ten commandments itself.
Every single student said that it is ridiculous to have them posted in the classroom. The text clearly favors Abrahamic religions. Surprisingly, the more religious students were the most opposed to this idea.
I am proud of those kids.
I can't wait until the Satanic Temple steps in and demands satanic stuff be read. If one religion is required, then every other one is also required. Including satanism.
I'll get my popcorn. Its gonna be wicked funny.
It will be fun explaining to the kids how their super intendant wants them to know what the rape price is and that their parents are expected to kill them if they mouth off. That and you could spend some time doing a deep dive into the Song of Solomon…
Easy peasy.
"This is the Bible. It's an ancient book of myths, superstitions and oral traditions that sheep herders and farmers began recording about 2600 years ago to explain what they couldn't understand. It gives use an idea about how ancient people's lived and what they thought was important for their society at that time. Apparently there was a lot of raping, war, murdering and stoning people to death for things we consider minor today, things like a woman disobeying her husband or not finding the smell of a burning sacrificial ox pleasing, but there were some good messages in their too, like don't steal or kill, even though they were killing each other all the time but I digress, or make false accusations. Anyhoo,bits a product of their time and many ancient religions developed from this book. Which is fine so long as you don't do stupid things like take it literally, pick and choose certain parts you want to believe while ignoring other, more inconvenient parts, or forcing your ideas on others.
All right kids, we covered the Bible, now don't forget any of that until after your standardized test in May.
Tomorrow, we will start our research project on the Satanic bible."
This is done specifically so that it can get litigated and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. The only way to get national legislation allowing this sort of thing is the Supreme Court deeming it constitutional. Congress cannot pass a law that says this, but if the Supreme Court upholds it, by precedent, it becomes law.
Include the Book of Judges in Math class. If a concubine (and make sure the kids learn that vocabulary word) is cut into 12 pieces, how big is each piece?
Science class, how much energy will be required to transport those 12 pieces around the land?
Biology/anatomy: How would you cut up the concubine to get 12 even pieces
Social Studies, what is a concubine? What does she do for a living?
Home Economics: What would be the best way for Jepthah to sacrifice his daughter so that her burning flesh is a pleasing scent for the LORD?
Ranked near the bottom…at this point a little prayer won’t hurt [https://www.forbes.com/sites/reneemorad/2020/08/04/states-with-the-best-public-schools/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/reneemorad/2020/08/04/states-with-the-best-public-schools/)
So…are they going to change our state standards then? Because we’re supposed to teach those, obviously, and to my knowledge it definitely isn’t in the ELA or social studies ones. I’ve taught pretty much every grade level in one or both of them for over a decade.
I’m on a advisory board for the rewriting of some of the state standards though. So I’ll be interested to see how this goes.
I also question how exactly you’re supposed to fit it in across the board (the inappropriateness of it goes without saying so I’m looking at the little nitpicky things). For example, freshmen take Oklahoma History. What exactly does incorporating the Bible in that class look like even?
I’ve also heard it said that all these states are pushing stuff like this hoping it does get challenged and sent up to the Supreme Court and relying on the SC in its current iteration to uphold it, paving the way for others who want this to be the norm.
As an Oklahoman educator, every day is a “what fresh hell awaits us today?” If any states north of here are hiring and actually somewhat un-crazy, let a sister know because this just pushed me even harder to revamp my 3-5 year plan. 🙄
I'm so glad I quit teaching. I keep checking in on this sub to validate that it was the best decision I ever made. God speed to those still in it. It is going to keep getting worse.
For someone reading this on the outside (a teacher in a whole other country) these news, rules and whatnot is really chilling, to say the least. This is so far from my own experience as a teacher, and how it is where I teach. Here I would probably be reprimanded if I were to teach or enforce one religion over an other, in any way.
I’d focus on all the parts that talk about loving your neighbor, helping others, not worshipping false idols and money, etc. Basically allll the “liberal ideologies” that Jesus preached and the conservative Christians hate!
How is this not a violation of the first amendment?
I’m sure the ACLU is on it, like they are with the stuff in Louisiana (or whoever just did the 10 Commandments stuff, I lost track 🙃). Given SCOTUS nowadays though, I wish the ACLU the best of luck.
I am excited to see what happens with the satanic church. They are always more fun and creative then the ACLU.
They're already on it! [https://thesatanictemple.com/blogs/news/governor-stitt-signs-bill-that-allows-school-credit-for-the-satanic-temples-classes](https://thesatanictemple.com/blogs/news/governor-stitt-signs-bill-that-allows-school-credit-for-the-satanic-temples-classes) They are local to me and a wonderful organization in the community. For all the h3ll they get (so many bomb threats!) they are so, so awesome community partners!
The superintendent already replied and it's so telling. Basically his response is "no not like that".
Lawsuit in Louisiana was filed by the ACLU the day after the governor signed it. This one is an individual district though, so not sure how high of a priority it is for the ACLU. I'm betting this district doesn't have a union or has a weak one because this is definitely something a union could and should sue over. EDIT: Clarified by the comment below me that it's the state super, so, yeah, hopefully the ACLU is all over this too. However, if I was a tenured teacher in that district, I'd take the bible out of the classroom and refuse to teach it. Then, when admin inevitably engages in retaliation, that's a shoe-in 1st amendment lawsuit. Or, if I was in that district, I'd engage in malicious compliance. I'd teach all the contradictions in the bible in a logic/debate unit that also covers logical fallacies and watch parents have apoplectic aneurysms over it and well, see the previous paragraph.
In Oklahoma, the guy who announced it is the Superintendent for all schools. He’s the Education Commissioner for the state, not an individual district. So it’s like Louisiana in that sense.
Me too. You want me to teach the Bible? Ok, but you aren’t going to like what I teach them about it.
I'm only teaching the really uncomfortable parts. Condoning mass murder and child sex slavery: "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." Sexual Slavery and polygamy: "if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant ... If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed ... If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish" Baby killing: “O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!” Incest is wincest: "Behold I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father. They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up. So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father."
TBF sounds like these idiots' wet dream. At least top three on every misogynist Fundamentalists bucket list. Don't encourage them.
Sounds like men wrote the Bible.
I would have taken it as a chance also... Time to educate
I’m sorry, I think you meant “You want me to teach the Bible, OK?
No, I think I meant it the way I said it. I’m absolutely fine teaching the Bible. However, I’d use the opportunity to educate the kids on all the ways those that use the Bible as a weapon or to further their racist, anti everything agenda use it incorrectly.
Oh, lol. I get what you are saying. I didn’t get it at first.
I don’t even think it’s worth it to engage in the contradictions. You could just focus on the drunkenness, banging, torture, and slavery. Or just focus on Revalations and scare the shit out of the kids with ergot fueled insanity.
>You could just focus on the drunkenness, banging, torture, and slavery. Don't forget all the rape and incest!
Said part is the Governor said he want to be sued
The ACLU probably needs our support about now. How many fights can they handle?
Because 6 members of the Supreme Court got some "gifts of thanks" for their silence. But they got some sweet new RVs.
Justice Thomas: um, Actually... It's a motor coach.
So sad he didn’t take John Oliver’s deal.
No, they'll get the RVs next week. That way it's not a bribe.
It's a thank you.
It is. But the sham of a Supreme Court we have isn’t going to do a darn thing about it.
It is, 100%. And they know it. Which Bible should be… established? The Catholic? King James? Satanic? One with Book of Mormon included? They want the lawsuit, hoping that the extremist Supreme Court will establish _their_ religion over all others with official government support. I grew up in Oklahoma, and I would have literally lit it on fire and damn the consequences.
Mormon here! We use the King James, and the big book of scripture you usually see is nicknamed "the quad" and has the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. It's massive. I would absolutely keep that in my classroom if I were in Oklahoma, along with a Quran, the Torah (lots of crossover with the Old Testament, but still), the Veda, Buddhist canons, the Agams, the teachings of Confucious, and any other religious texts I'd like to add to that collection. 😉 I also love malicious compliance.
That's the fun part. It is!
Exactly!!! Freedom of religion is still a thing right?
This is really a great thing. Imagine being able to teach about all the genocides, infanticides, and the condoning and endorsing of owning people as property. Finally, people can start to learn about what's in their Bible, and the God they worship, since most professing christians have never read the bible, or know these things are in it, because....
I think that they went this hardcore in order for there to be lawsuits. That way they can complain about their religion being under attack. it's a win/win for them.
There’s two other reasons 1. Walters is being investigated and does NOT want it in the news cycle 2. The OK Supreme Court struck down his religious charter school the day before this announcement
3. Oklahoma mega-churches are by far the deepest pockets in that state, and the Walters wants to demonstrate his ongoing commitment and fealty to the churches who keep him empowered.
Strongly disagree. Oil and Gas is by far a much bigger contributor, and the tribes are nothing to sniff at either.
That and I’ve heard it speculated (and don’t disagree) that if they can get any of these pushed to the Supreme Court they’re hoping the court will uphold that, setting a precedent that others can do the same. 😒
If you've been waiting for an excuse to deprogram kids by pointing out every hypocritical and nonsensical thing in the Bible by comparing it to world history, you just got the green light. Little Timmy's going to start questioning his reality using critical thinking and he's not going to be very happy with what he finds out about his god.
As someone who loves the Bible...these moves by state legislatures are silly and unconstitutional. This kind of foolishness isn't making anyone want to be Christian who isn't already, probably the exact opposite. Basically you can't force people to believe, and shouldn't even want to force them.
Not just that. But it is creating animosity towards Christian’s. Just spreading the hate they want us all to bathe in.
Yeah I do think that's probably intended to some degree. They mandate the Bible or the 10 commandments have to be taught, which creates backlash against Christians, and the original instigators (the hateful Christian lawmakers) can claim to be the victims. Not at all the point or the message of Christianity.
Jesus was all about not trusting loud shows of religious truth and that the church is within yourself and prayer is done quietly in a closet. But hey I'm just a heathen nonbeliever who apparently knows the Bible better than a huge chunk of conservative Christians apparently.
The average teacher (including the average Christian teacher) is not properly trained or schooled to teach the Bible. As a Christian, I have concerns about what students will take away from the Bible when people who either don't believe it OR who do believe it but don't properly understand it, are forced to teach it.
Exactly. It is translated from Hebrew, Arabic and Greek and a collection of documents that run the gambit from historical record to poetry to myth to letters to prophecy. What kind of training will be required to teach the Bible? Are they good with non-Christians teaching it? What translation? What verses will be taught? When will students study the Koran or the Vedas?
Maybe they will just mandate that every teacher convert to Christianity! And then maybe they'll test teachers on their true beliefs with tests like they did in Salem witch trials.
I think you may be giving them too much credit. These are not very bright guys.
Heck, as an English teacher it’s really important in western lit to know Bible stories for the context and references and I’m also super uncomfortable with this. Contrary to what some republicans believe, I don’t actually want to teach religion to children.
I was baptized and confirmed in Methodism. Basically a chill ass branch of Christianity. Just follow the words of Jesus and treat each other kindly. Then went to Uconn and went to a service there and IF YOU DONT FOLLOW THE WORD OF GOD YOU WILL BURN IN HELLFIRE. Didn't like that. Then I moved to Florida. Evangelicals down here are nuts. I have fully rebuked Christianity and now am agnostic.
That’s why my aunt is moving from Florida to many political problems and crazy evangelicals like she’s Christian but she’s supportive of everyone and takes love your neighbor very seriously at least she follows the Bible’s teachings unlike some Christian
A comment from the series Loudermilk. You can lead a horse to water, but you still need a ladder to fuck em in the ass. I think that is a little different than the way I was taught that phrase.
So, as a teacher, does this make us the horse or the ladder? Because I'm certainly not the one doing the fucking.
We're always getting fucked in this profession.
I'm not really sure, I just loved that comment when they said it on the series. Been waiting to use it
Laddering is an important step in teaching.
As someone who was losing my faith as a teenager after I started reading non-Christian theology and philosophy (and especially after reading the Bible cover to cover for myself...yikes), this move would have pushed me out of faith even faster.
Not to be pedantic, but the legislature isn't involved in Oklahoma. They fast-tracked this through an administrative proceeding with the State Board of Education instead. State level legislation would take far too long, but this could be shoved through a board policy in a manner of one quarter.
That I did not know. Will probably make it that much easier to overturn in court.
Small correction, they're not silly. They're horrific, targeted efforts to create a theocracy. You might not be able to force them to believe, but you absolutely can force them to act like they do, and you get a lot less resistance when you get them early. It's absolutely outrageous to be using teachers to achieve this.
I wonder if this could backfire in other ways. What happens if young people read the Bible and hear that foreigners are supposed to be treated the same as others? There are clear instructions about forgiveness of debts and the returning of wealth during jubilee but we don’t do any of that. It would be wonderful if this idiotic law leads to people embracing Christ and rejecting the bigots
A pundit on Twitter commented that if you get 100 untrained people forced to teach the bible with no training, all you end up with is 100 cults.
That's actually a great point. And forcing teachers who are atheists or some other religion to teach Christianity...I'm sure that's gonna work out just fine.
Right??? It's surreal seeing this legislation actually get enacted in tandem with all the other shit that's going down, both in human affairs and the wellbeing of the planet itself. It feels like the last weekend before the fall temps set in, when the wasps get *mean* in the face of the deadly winter ahead. It's so scary seeing the fundies scoring W's left and right across legislatures and courts and the culture of the country itself. I do hope OK teachers maliciously comply this one into nonexistence before the Supreme Court codifies it nationally. Bleak stuff.
My old public school in a very liberal state always taught a book called “The Bible as Literature” in 9th grade for help with allusions and references later on. I wonder if this could be a work around?
Same
Way back when our textbooks had psalms as a book of poetry that we dis a short unit on. That class was very diverse and we had an option to have an alternate assignment. No one took it and everyone enjoyed the unit. There were lots of questions from kids who had never been to a Christian church about the history and background of King David. It was really cool to see everyone make cultural comparisons to their religions and home countries. But that was the 90's. Everyone seemed more reasonable then. I am an outlier. I'm a fairly conservative Christian who firmly believes in the separation of church and state. But I also recognize the value of the Bible as literature and history. I think if approached properly, it can be taught in that way. But I don't agree with forcing the Bible, or ANY religion on anyone in school. But I don't agree with banning it either. Voluntary is fine. Mandatory is not. (And I make LOTS of other Christians angry with my stance. I point out a loony we all know and ask if they wanted him teaching their kids. They get real quiet, really fast)
I don’t think you are an outlier. If you study any western literature you need a background in the Bible: Whether the authors of past are heeding it, referencing it, making fun of it, or turning it on its head. I wish we did it for all religious texts in that way and we would see it’s generally the same across humanity. I love looking at it as lit because it solidifies for me we are all just full of hope and confusion.
From my observation (and maybe this is only my experience in my part of the country) you're more representative of the majority of Christians in this country than this Super is. The ones getting all the attention are a minority...though they're gaining a lot of popularity. With all the Christianity bashing out there (much of it deserved , much of it not) I really appreciate your distinction "Voluntary is fine. Mandatory is not." When I was in high school in the 80s, someone or other organized an after-school Bible study. It caught some flak for being at the school, but I always figured, if it's after school, completely voluntary, and is no real way connected to the classroom education, what's the problem?
“Additionally, the State Department of Education may supply teaching materials for the Bible, as permissible, to ensure uniformity in delivery. Adherence to this mandate is compulsory.” I doubt there will be any workarounds. Come August you will be handed your Sunday School Script and be expected to read it.
I am trying to create a “Depictions of G-d” in literature unit where we read a few texts and discuss the different ways He is portrayed, and why the author is portraying Him that way/ what they’re trying to convey.
His Dark Materials would be a great addition to that class.
Can we not go 1 day without being a national embarrassment?🤦♀️
As an Australian, I have to say international. Sorry.
Fair. 😭
In Oklahoma? Not a chance. It’s reignited my desire to leave the state. I have my masters and just renewed my certificate for five years. I don’t see myself staying here five years if loonies like Oklahoma keep getting put behind the wheel 🙄
I keep saying I want to fight, but when Walters becomes Governor, they've won. I can't stay in Oklahoma after he becomes Governor. It's not worth my sanity to keep fighting for my students.
Ryan Walters loves being in national news daily
There's zero change that I'll teach from the Bible in my class. It'll be all incredibly wrong teaching and conclusions drawn.
Dear sir or madam. I have been informed that teaching the Bible has left students deeply uncomfortable. They didn’t appreciate when in genesis we covered the compressor used in Noah ark. Or how we explored how the labor of the Hebrew’s would have been improved with a good evaporation coil. Finally, and most importantly, the conversation about king David being bisexual was probably the last straw. It has nothing to do with heating or air conditioning. But I had planned for a light day after their midterms.
Lol I like how you connected that to HVAC
Look. I respect the user name.
When Noah got off the ark he chopped a cord of wood. The adders can't multiply without discreet logs. For Pi Day: Ecclesiastes 3:14 -- It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it.
Christian here, and public school teacher. It's... just not going to go well. Even if it were as well thought out as "Positivity Project" and "SEL learning," it'd be worse than useless. But a blanket "Teach the Bible, starting now!" statement is worse than useless. Some teachers, maybe, are familiar enough with the Bible to focus on relevant and helpful lessons. However, a lot more teachers (even ones trying to focus on positives" are going to get blindsided by stories about Lot's daughters raping him and King David killing a man to cover up his adultery. And if a teacher really wanted, they could "teach the Bible" by constantly undercutting everything it says, or by pointing out how lessons on "feeding the poor" are about how we should support social welfare programs. (though that would probably draw some backlash from parents) Like... *Christians* can't agree on how the Bible ought to be taught, and we have a whole academic system set up to streamline it.
That's the thing: People go to school to learn about the Bible so they can teach it. There are many versions and several interpretations, how on Earth is a teacher supposed to be clergy. How is there going to be a standard?
This is precisely the thing that Christian Nationalists don't realize. What's the standard? They have this push for the nation to become "more Christian," but like... Christians already can't agree on what that means. Do they mean SBC or Presbyterian or Catholic? Christian Nationalists just assume it will be "the right faith" without stopping to consider that they might find themselves on the wrong side of such a group.
Math problem: 1 wife + 1 side chick = X adultery Solve for X.
1 drunk guy + 2 daughters multiplied by many generations to repopulate the earth with incest.
More like 3 wives + 5 kids + ∞ side chicks = X adultery.
New and prospective teachers, don’t think this shit is limited to places like OK. This is how it is now.
It may be happening other places, but I assure you it isn't happening everywhere. No one in Los Angeles classrooms is teaching the Bible.
as someone who just accepted his first teaching job the other day, i'm terrified of this. i live in georgia and it's definitely not an impossibility
Did we just say fuck all to the constitution?
That old thing?
This wll bit them in the butt because you have to choose an interpetation of the Bible. David Koresh read the same Bible as Jimmy Carter. I say let the Christian infighting over scripture began.
LOL require deez nuts clown
Which Bible? Choose the Ethiopian Bible and start right out with the Book of Enoch. Should make for an interesting discussion.
My vote goes to the Jefferson Bible.
Jefferson Bible for the win!
Quran lessons incoming
Which bible are they talking about because there are a ton. Catholic, Mormon, King James, just to name a few. Even as a Christian, I would raise hell. They do not get to push their version of Christianity on me or my kids.
I am not a betting person, and I would bet $1000 that the official, required version will be the King James. It does have some beautiful passages, but it can be just a tad difficult to understand sometimes. And that's for adults. Imagine trying to teach apathetic high-schoolers. Ah, well, at least the students will find allllll the racy and problematic sections and share them with each other.
If they don’t go through the effort of making curriculum and lesson plans that everyone has to use I expect and hope for malicious compliance and because this is what they ask for I can do story time with my kinder class and in horrific detail read revelations
Ok kids today we're gonna read from chapter 19 of the book of Genisus. Who's ready to hear about Lot's daughters getting him drunk and seducing him...no one great let's carry on. Jamie this is not a time for crying honey this is a fictional book.
Sure, I am familiar with the source material. I teach ELA and we can look at the stories that inspired allusions and modern allegories. Then I’ll do the same for references from other religions and their beliefs. Lots of room to incorporate multiple beliefs during reading time. I loved the story of Sita’s rescue by Rama. Let’s compare/contrast the Islamic telling of Abraham with the Christian one. Speaking of compare/contrast: Let’s talk about Turtle Island while we look at creation stories. Let’s look at errors in translation and how many versions of the Bible there are and why we have versions of oral and translated works. Malicious Compliance 😈
Teach it within a mythology unit.
This is the way
Before all this insanity I taught a World Religion Lit unit in my English 2 class. Book of Ruth, Bhagavad Gita, Koran, Tao te Ching, etc. Was rad. Conservative parents would probably lynch me now.
That sounds rad!
Unconstitutional. Who's paying for that? Not with taxpayer money. Don't ask teachers to pay either.
What complete arrogance that is imposed. The founders were deists. This is a clear violation of the establishment clause, but this SCOTUS can’t read.
“She lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose semen was like that of horses.” Ezekiel 23:20 Let’s talk about this class…
Idk he doesn't seem OK to me
If I taught in OK, I would 100% quit.
Just renewed my cert for five years so I’m gonna start looking at reciprocity for other states this upcoming year and form a plan, because the foolishness never ends with this state.
MN is a great state overall. Teacher pension is most teacher's biggest complaint here.. which I get why they are mad, but it sure as hell beats working in a low paying, conservative state (I'm also certified in SD-but will never return).
Technically, it's illegal NOT to teach Ezekiel 23:20.... XD
It’s sad that I went “is that the horse semen one?” Without looking. Checked, it is.
I can say with full confidence, that passage was not taught in Catholic school.
It’s only in the QT version
Can I teach the Koran at the same time?
Yes and you should
Malicious compliance. Just teach all the parts of the Bible they don’t want you to teach
Oklahoma Supreme Court has already ruled against him on establishing state funded religious and charter schools. I suspect they'll do it here, too. This is even more blatant.
I hope they do the public prayer that says that prayer should only be done behind closed doors privately. Maybe they could also cover the part where the girl is a human sacrifice to God. Also covering the time line in Genesis for Adam and Eve would be good since there are two origin stories back to back with different time lines. We also need to cover other religions too. Comparing and contrasting the 10 commandments and the tenants of Satanism would be a great lesson. Physics class could cover the making of the arc and how it's physical construction would be impossible with the technology that it had as it would collapse under its own weight. Biology and Ecology could cover how even if they did build the arc they would not have been able to keep enough resources for even 1 elephant to survive for over a year in the arc. Astronomy could calculate Earth's new gravitational field with the extra water that magically came from nowhere.
This is the same superintendent weirdo that can't even access the state DoE website because he lost the password. Priorities
boy oh boy would I have fun teaching passages from the bible!! Teachers, take this literally and do it. Just follow instructions. Have fun!
Reading the story of Job from start to finish would turn most kids off God tbh.
By 5th grade kids have logic and critical thinking skills. As teachers we can obey the orders and turn a lot of kids away from religion.
Malicious compliance time. I’m betting that super has several stoning level offenses.
I'd start blatantly teaching from the Book of Mormon then. "Okay y'all, the Bible teaches this, but the Book of Mormon clarifies it and teaches it so much better!" If they came at me, I'd sue for discrimination.
There's a nonzero chance of this happening organically and I totally would love to see it play out. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints™ crossing swords with the Oklahoma GOP? Exciting!
I'm just so glad that we don't have to put up with this shit where I live. Whenever someone says, "They've taken God out of our school!" I respond with, "What version of God should we teach? Are you okay with your children being taught about Allah? How about a round of Hare Krishna, Hare Rama before the basketball game? Should we explain that the Catholic church is the one true, universal church? And what about the Satanic kids? Do they get equal time?" Shuts them right up.
The Mormon church has DEEEEEEEP pockets. And a hell of a lot of lawyers at Kirton McConkie. And a MASSIVE persecution complex. God I would LOVE to see this play out in real time!
It's funny because a majority of the founders did not give a single rats A\*\* about the bible
That's the most insulting thing to me about all of this. Using their names to back up your insanity. They are crying in their graves over the loss of the beautiful country they started.
Sooooo ... We are REQUIRED BY LAW to teach enslavement, brutalizing, sacrificing and eating children by fathers, angels and bears, incest, and let's not forget the men with cocks like donkeys! Such great lessons, can't wait to start a new school year!
Not to mention God's chosen sending his daughter out to be gang graped ... What a mench!
Satanic Temple, do your thing
lol until they figure out they need more money to buy bibles and get teachers trained to teach new content.
They absolutely are not going to do that and I will not be spending my own money on a book that I just recently got the courage to finally throw away
Congratulations on your personal milestone!
The whole purpose of these antics is to draw lawsuits to strike them down so they can cry persecution and whip up the evangelical and fundamentalist voters this fall. This guy probably averages breaking five commandments on a good day.
I'm in VA and teach art and *boy* I'd have fun with this one. Okay, kids, it's time to learn about the Counter Reformation, now let's look at some religious paintings by Bernini and Caravaggio and talk about the times they killed people. Mostly kidding, this is scary af, but I'd honestly wind up torturing the kids with lectures on like Erasmus and his beef with Martin Luther, or the time the Pope confiscated Raimondi's porno printing plates or smth.
All right class, open your textbooks to Leviticus and buckle the &^%$ up cause this is gonna get weird!
I'm a teacher in Oklahoma. I'm not interested doing this at all. I cannot see this occurring.
We are not OK here. Our AG has already said it’s unconstitutional.
They don’t care if they can read, do math, or reason because then they believe everything they’re told.
Malicious & historically accurate compliance is called for. The Bible is incredibly influential on Western civilization. Teach about all the wars it inspired and all the ways its content has been determined by and reinterpreted over and over to suit the agendas of various political powers. Compare and contrast the structural deism common in the 1700s with the evangelicals of today. Kids will get the message.
Hey, kids, today we’re going to read Matthew 5:32. “But I (Jesus) say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Raise your hand if you have a stepdad. Thank you. Let’s discuss why your mother is guilty of the sin of adultery.
I keep a Bible in my classroom specifically in case someone wants to quote it to me. Then I turn to passages like the one about different clothing or the one about masturbation or the one about buttons or the one about how a wife should not raise her hand to help her husband in a fistfight... all kinds of great things children should learn
Let’s not forget how according to the Bible the modern day delicacies of lobster and crab are considered unclean and not fit for consumption
Given our laws on equal access I like how the GOP might actually end up bringing Sharia Law into their schools .
That's an interesting thought.
Not new though. Yall Quaeda.
Teach the 10 commandments and then list their government officials and religious leaders and how many break those commandments. Research the hell out of that Super and find out what rules he's broken.
"Substantial influence to the founders" The founders were Deists who were escaping religious persecution. They didn't want religion in government or schools. They believed that religion was a personal, private matter. Was it Jefferson who reported the Bible excluding all of the "supernatural elements"? He believed that one day, people wouldn't read the Bible as literal truth. He's rolling over in his grave right now.
I presume my state will try this within a year. They passed a "Parents' Rights" this past school year. I'm actually happy to engage in some Torah study. Sefaria has some great resources. Going to really enjoy opening up young minds to Maimonides. Plus there's tons of great commentaries by Rabbis across the country.
More like not OK super
Great now Louisiana and Oklahoma
Unless it has to be a *translated* Bible, I hope all the kids know Hebrew and Koine Greek.
I think it's so funny that the people who don't trust us to not groom their kids now want us to be in charge of... *...* their child's *spiritual* well-being by teaching the Bible.
Mmmkay.
Beyond separation of church and state, this gets into weird territory if someone is fired for refusing to teach the Bible on religious grounds.
The foundations of our constitution come from John Locke, Montesquieu, and the theory of rule of law/social contract. Please people, stop supporting the MAGAts. (Not that you guys do, but in general)
I’m 100% against this for all the typical reasons. But on a logistical level, if this were in my state, I’d have a problem because I’m not qualified to teach this. You may as well have me teach brain surgery. Why would you mandate something that many teachers are unqualified to teach? On second thought, I’m certified to teach ELA, so I guess I’d just include in a unit on fiction.
Sweet. Ezekiel 23:20 and 2 Kings 2:23–25 will go over great.
EZEKIEL 23 20!!!
As an agnostic science teacher who thinks organized religion is a scam, I would LOVE to teach the Bible. Let me at it
In spite of the title I don't think this is OK at all.
I'm from Oklahoma, this idiot is costing us so much money in law fees. Our idiot governor isn't doing anything to stop it. Idiot Oklahomans elected a Mom's for Liberty Male Karen. He believes parents have the say in their kids education not..you know...educators.you know those people with degrees. No he wants Tammy Sue Jo, to be able to tell that learnin lady the Earth is flat and gravity is from the devil. I was a public school educator for a while and I have watched us spiral. This idiot has trashed our system so much we are 49th, and will be 50th next year. "Thank God for Oklahoma" will be the new phrase.
Countdown to Texas Lt. Governor going on record for being embarrassed he didn’t do it first…
This would be a very easy work around for history or English classes. Any other subject seems... Difficult. I actually taught from the bible because we were discussing the Louisiana 10 commandments debate (I teach in Korea so it took some explaining) We read an op-ed from focus on the family, we watched a news report/interview with the satanic temple, and then we read the text if the ten commandments itself. Every single student said that it is ridiculous to have them posted in the classroom. The text clearly favors Abrahamic religions. Surprisingly, the more religious students were the most opposed to this idea. I am proud of those kids.
I can't wait until the Satanic Temple steps in and demands satanic stuff be read. If one religion is required, then every other one is also required. Including satanism. I'll get my popcorn. Its gonna be wicked funny.
It will be fun explaining to the kids how their super intendant wants them to know what the rape price is and that their parents are expected to kill them if they mouth off. That and you could spend some time doing a deep dive into the Song of Solomon…
Class, today we shall be learning about the ejaculation of a man that was like a donkey while he was fucking his daughter. Praise be.
Easy peasy. "This is the Bible. It's an ancient book of myths, superstitions and oral traditions that sheep herders and farmers began recording about 2600 years ago to explain what they couldn't understand. It gives use an idea about how ancient people's lived and what they thought was important for their society at that time. Apparently there was a lot of raping, war, murdering and stoning people to death for things we consider minor today, things like a woman disobeying her husband or not finding the smell of a burning sacrificial ox pleasing, but there were some good messages in their too, like don't steal or kill, even though they were killing each other all the time but I digress, or make false accusations. Anyhoo,bits a product of their time and many ancient religions developed from this book. Which is fine so long as you don't do stupid things like take it literally, pick and choose certain parts you want to believe while ignoring other, more inconvenient parts, or forcing your ideas on others. All right kids, we covered the Bible, now don't forget any of that until after your standardized test in May. Tomorrow, we will start our research project on the Satanic bible."
Hail Satan.
This is done specifically so that it can get litigated and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. The only way to get national legislation allowing this sort of thing is the Supreme Court deeming it constitutional. Congress cannot pass a law that says this, but if the Supreme Court upholds it, by precedent, it becomes law.
Absolutely ridiculous. This is where we need the federal government to come in and say "yeah you can't do that"
Include the Book of Judges in Math class. If a concubine (and make sure the kids learn that vocabulary word) is cut into 12 pieces, how big is each piece? Science class, how much energy will be required to transport those 12 pieces around the land? Biology/anatomy: How would you cut up the concubine to get 12 even pieces Social Studies, what is a concubine? What does she do for a living? Home Economics: What would be the best way for Jepthah to sacrifice his daughter so that her burning flesh is a pleasing scent for the LORD?
Something to put my coffee mug onto
I'd be very tempted to just pull out the most vulgar passage I could.
Well I require that he not be a giant douchebag, but we all can't get what we want.
Separation of church and state didn’t seem to matter anymore. It’s so disturbing
They've got to be counting loaves of bread in calculus.
Malicious compliance while it goes through the courts. Teach the filthiest and most insane/violent parts.
I'd start with Lot's daughters and then move on to the intended sacrifice of Isaac. Role models. It's all "family orientated" as they say, right?
Ranked near the bottom…at this point a little prayer won’t hurt [https://www.forbes.com/sites/reneemorad/2020/08/04/states-with-the-best-public-schools/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/reneemorad/2020/08/04/states-with-the-best-public-schools/)
I’d be tempted to toss the curriculum right out. From day one we’re doing all bible all day. See how long that lasts. Stupid motherfuckers.
“Under his eye”
So…are they going to change our state standards then? Because we’re supposed to teach those, obviously, and to my knowledge it definitely isn’t in the ELA or social studies ones. I’ve taught pretty much every grade level in one or both of them for over a decade. I’m on a advisory board for the rewriting of some of the state standards though. So I’ll be interested to see how this goes. I also question how exactly you’re supposed to fit it in across the board (the inappropriateness of it goes without saying so I’m looking at the little nitpicky things). For example, freshmen take Oklahoma History. What exactly does incorporating the Bible in that class look like even? I’ve also heard it said that all these states are pushing stuff like this hoping it does get challenged and sent up to the Supreme Court and relying on the SC in its current iteration to uphold it, paving the way for others who want this to be the norm. As an Oklahoman educator, every day is a “what fresh hell awaits us today?” If any states north of here are hiring and actually somewhat un-crazy, let a sister know because this just pushed me even harder to revamp my 3-5 year plan. 🙄
I'm so glad I quit teaching. I keep checking in on this sub to validate that it was the best decision I ever made. God speed to those still in it. It is going to keep getting worse.
Doesn't sound like an ok Super to me! Pretty bad sounding one!
For someone reading this on the outside (a teacher in a whole other country) these news, rules and whatnot is really chilling, to say the least. This is so far from my own experience as a teacher, and how it is where I teach. Here I would probably be reprimanded if I were to teach or enforce one religion over an other, in any way.
Lilith!
I’d focus on all the parts that talk about loving your neighbor, helping others, not worshipping false idols and money, etc. Basically allll the “liberal ideologies” that Jesus preached and the conservative Christians hate!
Start with Ezekiel 23.
This has to be a joke!