After several weeks of talking smack about how he was going to force Oklahoma teachers to instruct and indoctrinate from the Good Book, Ryan Walters finally introduced his guidelines for Biblical instruction and, well, they’re totally lame as fuck.
Seriously, even Jesus would think they’re underwhelming and boring.
Instead of going full Goliath on the sacred separation of church and state and trying to knock down the wall like he’s the Kool-Aid man, Ryan instead grabbed his slingshot and fired a weak little pea shot.
For example, instead of requiring science teachers to use the Book of Genesis to discredit the big bang and evolution, adding Hebrew as a foreign language credit, or simply replacing after-school detention with stonings and crucifixions, he rolled out tame guidelines that would force teachers to preach to students the Bible’s influence on devout religious men who helped shape and form the country.
Although his guidelines were underwhelming, they did accomplish Ryan’s goal of getting the national press to shine its embarrassing spotlight on Oklahoma.
Via the NY Times:
The Oklahoma state superintendent vowed on Wednesday to force public schools to comply with his mandate that they teach the Bible and issued striking guidance for teachers, amid pushback from critics who say the move infringes on students’ religious freedom.
According to the guidance from Ryan Walters, the Republican state superintendent, every teacher must be given “a physical copy of the Bible, the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Ten Commandments..."
The guidance directs teachers on how to integrate the Bible into their classes. For example, they must describe how the Bible shaped Western concepts of justice and influenced documents like the Declaration of Independence and speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They must also explore biblical references to illustrate literary techniques like allegory and metaphor.
Really? That’s it?
Although it would make more sense to highlight the writings of John Locke and Montesquieu and their influence on the Founding Fathers' creation of this nation, I guess I don’t have a problem with teachers also mentioning the influence that a 2,000-year-old collection of ancient myths, fables, and dated philosophical lessons had on the wealthy, white, slave-owning men who formed a new country to avoid paying taxes.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, you can’t really go anywhere in Oklahoma without Christianity being shoved down your throat, so we might as well be consistent and do it in public schools, too.
Here’s more:
Detailing instructions by grade level, the memo says fifth graders should be introduced to the historical context in which the Bible was written, while middle school students should be taught to compare biblical stories with myths and legends from other texts. In high schools, teachers are encouraged to guide discussions on the “ethical and philosophical ideas” in the Bible.
“We are not evangelizing to kids,” he said. “We are making sure our kids understand American history.”
Yep, no evangelizing here! We’re just trying to make sure our kids understand American history. In other news, Ryan’s wife became a regular at the Harbor Mountain Coffee Shop because she liked the coffee.
In all seriousness, although it’s still blatantly unconstitutional to have a social studies teacher who also coaches the football team lead a discussion with high school students on the “ethical and philosophical ideas” in the Bible like he’s a camp counselor at Falls Creek, I expected more from Ryan and his Texas-based puppeteers.
They talked such a big game that I figured they were going to issue guidance that would force Oklahoma algebra teachers to make King Solomon’s wives the basis of all complex mathematical word problems, but when it came time to push their chips to the center of the table, they took the weak and cowardly approach and checked.
Granted, this is probably because they know someone will call their bluff:
The debate around religious teachings in public schools has come into the spotlight in recent months. The Bible directive in Oklahoma came a week after Louisiana required public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a move that a group of parents has challenged in court, arguing that it is unconstitutional. The state agreed last week not to enforce the law until Nov. 15 while the court considers the merits of the case.
Oklahoma’s mandate could also be challenged in court — and Ms. Woolley believes it will eventually land at the Supreme Court. “I firmly believe that the intention of the state superintendent of schools is to get separation of church and state in front of the U.S. Supreme Court,” she said.
If a case over the mandate does reach the Supreme Court, Mr. Walters said, he is confident that he will prevail, thanks to the justices appointed by former President Donald J. Trump.
“President Trump has laid out that path very clearly to us,” he said.
This is why I think Ryan's approach is so tame and boring.
He and his handlers are obviously doing all this stuff as part of an attempt to get in front of the now-corrupt U.S. Supreme Court, and whether you’re introducing seemingly benign guidelines to sneak in biblical instruction or going full blast and replacing literature with Leviticus, their ruling is going to be the same, so live it up. Have fun with it, and stop being a coward.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
