Parents of Louisiana public school children from various religious backgrounds filed the lawsuit arguing that it violates First Amendment language forbidding government establishment of religion and guaranteeing religious liberty.
The suit alleges that the mandate violates the Oklahoma Constitution because it involves spending public money to support religion and favors one religion over another by requiring the use of a Protestant version of the Bible.
‘Taking what has long been understood as a global message religiously and stamping it with the flag of one nation is the type of thing that for centuries theologians would call heresy,’ said Brian Kaylor.
Tailoring the request — part of State Superintendent Ryan Walters’s efforts to require Bibles in public schools — so that only one manufacturer’s Bible could qualify would be illegal.
An Oklahoma Department of Education bid proposal for 55,000 Bibles seems tailor-made for the 'God Bless the USA' Bible due to its mix of religious texts and historical documents. The bid could make the Trump-endorsed Bible an even bigger hit.
This issue of A Public Witness explores alarming new moves to implement Christian Nationalistic ideas in Indiana and Oklahoma before considering a glimmer of hope in Texas.
In addition to discrimination concerns and church-state issues, opponents worry school vouchers take money from public schools, which serve most students, and benefit higher-income families who already use private schools.
The resistance follows a summer order that propelled Oklahoma to the center of a growing push by conservatives to give Christianity a bigger role in public schools across the U.S.
A dispute over how to count employees may cost Gordon College, a Christian school in Boston, millions after its request to have a COVID-era loan forgiven was turned down.
This issue of A Public Witness looks at the creation of the law that eventually led to the Supreme Court’s case on the Bible in schools to determine what it teaches us about Christian Nationalistic motivations today.