www.nbcnews.com/news/oklahoma-schools-bible-ryan-walters-teachers-license-rcna159548
Oklahoma schools head Ryan Walters: Teachers who won't teach Bible could lose license
We’re going backwards.
This is like how Iran went backwards when the mullahs took over.
They decry the theocracy in Iran yet want the exact same thing here. The only difference is the religion they profess to follow.
Exactly. Their problem with Islamic theocracy isn’t the “theocracy” part.
There might eventually be a revolution.
And we’ll continue to go backwards after republicans win the presidency house and senate this year
Then let's not let it happen??
American Taliban.
Y'all Qaeda
Talibangelicals
Because we aren't taking their threat to our lives and our country seriously.
The people who vote them are just as evil and determined too. Act accordingly.
And by act accordingly, I trust we’ll all make a plan to vote, donate to campaigns, and encourage our friends to do the same
You trust the GQP?
I don't.
Not far and fast enough for the fascists.
Time to invest in hijab, niqab, burka production companies! Extra points for putting “MAGA” on them.
at what point in time was the Abrahamic bible taught in American schools? government sanctioned religion was why the Protestants left England
Just wait until Trump replaces Thomas, Alito and Sotomayor.
I’m really getting sick of extremists forcing their belief system on everyone else. I noticed that there is no directive to teach the Quran, or the Book of Mormon, or the Talmud.
Just a few yrs back everyone in the US was pissed off about these religious schools creating radicals in other countries, and many people were talking about military action to stop these “terrorist training camps.”
Now this un-American extremist radical dickhead wants to do the same here. See it for what it is.
This shit for brains intolerant fundamentalist wants the government to control what your child values. Everything he stands for is the opposite of what the founding fathers created.
Don’t let this mentally challenged shit stain destroy America. Fight like hell for our freedoms when these religious zealots try to impose their rule over your life. We don’t need his morality police enforcing his brand of bullshit. He can kindly get fucked.
omg! they want to impose sharia law on us!
Totally agree but maybe don’t say “fight like hell”…
Are these the same people who were terrified a few years ago because somehow Sharia law was going to be enforced in the United States?
It’s ok, if it’s their form of sharia law.
They do not now and never have believed in the laws a a neutral unbiased force in America. They believe in hierarchy, and they believe the laws should reinforce that.
So, now Teachers need to be armed with guns and the bible. They have to be teachers, cops, and ministers.
And how much you wanna bet when there’s a teacher that doesn’t confront an active shooter they absolutely destroy them personally and legally, unlike how cops get treated.
No qualified immunity for teachers.
Easy solution. Make the Bible bigger, plate the cover with kevlar, hollow it out, and stick a gun inside. 3-in-1 school supply. We all know they never cared about what's inside the Bible anyway.
As a Canadian, I thought the United States constitution said, “freedom of religion “.
It looks like ‘politicians’ & courts are forcing one religion on everyone!
This is blatantly unconstitutional, but I'm not sure if that matters anymore
Not to this Supreme Court.
You’re correct. But what we have seen and heard lately from even top GOP officials is that the constitution does not say anything about freedom from religion. In other words, they are going to say that you are free to choose your religion or even not have a religion, but you are not free from religious laws. I’m serious.
That’s an outright misrepresentation of the 1st amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…, which was extended to the states by the 14th amendment. The federal government and states are constitutionally barred from enforcing religion on the people.
I didn’t say I agreed. I repeated what they stated and are clearly trying to do. Here’s a quote by Pence.
https://www.audacy.com/krld/news/national/mike-pence-says-there-is-no-freedom-from-religion
Every state trying to push the Bible in schools needs activists from all other religions (& The Satanic Temple) to insist they also be allowed to teach their own holy books, display commandments, conduct in-school services/prayer, etc.
They’ll argue that the US is not founded on satanism or eastern religions. They’ll argue we are free to be Muslim or atheist but not free from Christian laws.
I have said this repeatedly but few want to accept it; they are trying to build a Christian nation.
I agree with you and think we should all be trying to stop Project 2025 / Christian Nationalism no matter what they argue; the US is founded specifically on the freedom from religion as well as of religion.
Here’s the thing: they don’t care. Unlike a few hundred years ago when the Christians converted people using swords, shields and rape, they use the courts today. It’s the same thing with the same goal in mind. That’s why we have Christian schools, Christian colleges, etc. instead of raising an army, they’re raising lawyers, politicians and judges. I realize how provocative this statement is, but it’s real.
No one said their logic was sound. It’s the technical way they are attempting to rationalize it
You are free to practice the religion the republicans have chosen for you
I would be damn for a government to enforce a “religion “ to follow!
Religion is a freedom from, not a freedom of.
Freedom to be non religious
Bingo, cristofascism FTW.
This guy cheated on his wife with a fellow teacher and she cheated on him with a coffee shop owner. Some Christian.
Isn’t Oklahoma already the worst ranked state for education?
They worked hard to get there and they're fighting to keep that rank.
49th. They can still get to the bottom!
"In an interview with NBC News, Walters said if a teacher refuses to follow the Bible instruction mandate, they’d face the same consequences as one who refuses to teach about the Civil War. The punishment could include revocation of their teaching license, he said, a process that requires a vote by the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which Walters chairs."
Be sure they teach about the witch trials as well.
So Muslim or Buddhists need not apply.
This is going to turn out like the Idaho abortion ban. All the OB/GYNs left the state. Good luck, Oklahoma parents!
I also want to know which version of the Bible they are supposed to use as textbooks.
Catholic or protestant hav different stories.
Teach about all the bad things that God has done. Like telling a father to kill his son to prove his faith because he's so insecure, or how he killed all the first born children of Egypt.
Then, when parents sue the school for traumatizing their kids, they can explain how all that education is somehow necessary.
Can't wait to teach those kiddos some prime Old Testament!
Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust.
Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt.
There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.
– Ezekiel 23:20
I mean, you're not really a Christian until you really embrace the concept of thirsting for donkey cocks and horse cum.
Or my favorite story about David: "King Saul orders David to collect the foreskins of 100 Philistines as a condition for marrying his daughter, Michal, in 1 Samuel 18. Saul's intention was to have David killed by the Philistines. However, David and his men kill 200 Philistines and present the foreskins to the king."
So, he was working for tips! 😄
Have fun trying to find teachers who want to teach in that environment.
Their goal is to kill off public education and divert all the public funding to religious groups and corporations. That is the point, drive out the motivated good teachers and replace them with private religious school teachers. The private school teachers tend to have less licensing requirements and lower pay. It’s a win-win for the privatization movement. If they run out of teachers, they can just play a video and make all the kids at school watch it. Probably a Joel Osteen sermon to start the day, then a scarier brimstone sermon to end the day.
What's worse is we were already losing teachers because they arent paid enough here.
That's the point. If there are no qualified teachers, they'll have to hire unqualified religious nuts.
jumpin jeebuz, this is stupid.
fascist theocracy.... oh goody.
Christian nationalism starts with indoctrination
Ryan Walters didn’t lose his license when he had an affair with a coworker while teaching school. His wife had an affair with the owner of a coffee shop in their hometown as well. How Christian.
And this man will fire teachers for not teaching the Bible? He can’t even keep the commandments and literally everyone in Oklahoma knows it.
I've heard this story as well about him having an affair and the both of them actually doing the deed at school. I did not know about the wife having an affair also, though. Hearing about it in face-to-face conversations, as well as seeing it on reddit, now makes me feel closer to believing that it's not just heresay at this point. I still wish there was clear evidence to back these claims up, though.
F this guy.
I am so sick of this crap
Isn’t this what Hitler did to Jews in Germany, then most of Europe?
Yes, Hitler even had the support of the reigning Pope at the beginning of Hitler’s terror!
Sounds like a nice $$ lawsuit.
And then the conservative stacked courts will agree with him.
It's Joever.
Even today's Supreme Court wouldn't agree with this. Too much cost of credibility with no significant gain aside from maybe a few free vacations or an RV.
This and the Louisiana Ten Commandments bill are just political stunts. Notice that they're coming just before an election.
Lol. SCOTUS just legalized corruption and basically said regulatory agencies cannot regulate anything specifically outlined in a statute to the nth degree. They have no credibility and don't care. This SCOTUS will absolutely get on board with requiring teaching the Bible in school.
This is just beyond insane. How are these states any better than the Taliban at this point?
Shithole state
I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion. If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society's admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?
- Ruth Hurmence Green
Sounds real Constitutional...
They're going to waste millions settling lawsuits if they do. Wasting taxpayer dollars on performative legislation is the GOP idea of art.
So then, the students are going to learn that the correct punishment for disobedient children is death by stoning?
Deuteronomy 21:18-21: “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones.”
OK children, you have homework for tomorrow but it’s easy. I want each one of you to bring a rock to class tomorrow.
I once taught the Book of Genesis in a sequence that includes Parallel Myths by JF Bierlein, The Epic of Gilgamesh, (Genesis, here) and Madeline Miller’s Circe. It has its place in quality, secular, academic programming. I show students where and how the text was put together and where it falls geographically in relation to other myths. At a private school with a wide range of beliefs and values among the student population - as long as a professional, academic tone prevailed, we were completely, actually, free to design our own content. This was a very popular class. This could be a win-win approach: quality content out of malicious compliance.
Or start with the Book of Judges, just to get down to some bad stuff.
For the Genesis assignment, class composed of juniors and seniors, I had students find references to, I think, five or so of the main Genesis stories in other pieces of literature, including poetry and song lyrics. Students explained how knowing the story enhanced their understanding of the second text. Quite often this second text was selected for the questions it raised about the Bible. They really enjoyed this unit. I provided a translation with an academic bent but allowed students to access any version/ summary they preferred. I directly taught some rules of engagement for discussions between believers and other believers and nonbelievers; I also lectured through Genesis, pointing out the actual words that have had such a significant influence on historical and even modern culture, politics, and legislation. But no one forced me to do any of this.
They say you have to teach it but in what context? I would teach it through the lense of it being made up by man to control the masses.
Pretty sure the Supreme Courts latest rulings on work place religious freedom beg to differ but I’d never expect Thomas and Alito to be anything but rank hypocrites.
Brain drain of Oklahoma is already bad enough and then this happens
So teach the stuff that ISN'T cherry picked by conservatives lol. I'd have some fun with that!
Yeah man, I really want the gym teacher teaching my kids theology.
/s
Brain drain. People leave these states for actual jobs because of globalization, and this is what’s left. I’m actually a proponent of keeping jobs stateside. But this is what America focuses on.
I teach in an inner city school with a large Latino population, and unfortunately a LOT of families would be OK with this.
I am not, but I think 50% of my students would say the lord's prayer and profession of faith before they said the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America which was the entity educating them (or, for a good healthy percentage, just providing child care while their kids slothed their way through the day on their way to their next Fortnite binge)...
What is crazy is that I had a religious student...11 years old...who made another student REALLY uncomfortable over their non-belief in god...same kid still believed in Santa Claus...
Seems like a solid get rich quick gamble for a teacher. If you appeal it long enough I'm sure you'd eventually win a lawsuit over being fired for not teaching the bible.
If the god he believes in truly exist, I can't wait for that God to return, It's gonna be an amazing to see just how mad the god will be at this moron.
Well..
Ok, we need some Oklahoma English teachers to break down this piece of fiction. Get some history teachers to show where most of the locations don’t exist right now. And for science teachers show how it’s not scientifically possible that the Earth is only 6009 years old.
I mean, it’s still a Bible-based curriculum.
“Christians worship a demi-god zombie.” -teacher forced to teach crap.
The Oklahoma school system about to be hit with massive lawsuit the ACLU and non-christian families with students. Clear violation of the First Amendment. This will probably head to SCOTUS.
Will they be able to teach the entire Bible or just the cherry picked parts?
Because reading the entire Bible made me an atheist.
So teaching a book of myths seems relevant after watching the debate.
Imagine being a young person in OK looking at careers. This rules out "Teacher." I feel for this generation.
Maybe they can teach the parts about stoning people for having garments of different materials, or whatever some of these bull crap passages was.
Then there gonna start bitching nobody wants to teach anymore. And frankly I can’t blame anyone for it wanting to teach. Sounds like a flat out miserable job where you spend all this time in college learning just to essentially babysit but have to still do continued work education, all while making a laughable wage. No way in hell I should be making more then a teacher does.
Blatantly unconstitutional. But good luck getting McConnell/Trump’s Supreme Court to disallow it.
Check his computer. He fits the bill of someone who is hiding a dark secret.
Imagine getting your teaching license years ago and now this...
Can they just teach from the Song of Solomon? I am sure there are other parts that would be found objectionable but still from the Bible. Also, which Bible?
The Ethiopian version of course!
Hahaha, we’re in danger.
My Christian friends and family are now terrified that teachers will utilize malicious compliance if they have to teach the Bible. They want it cherry picked, and I say no way. Let's go through it all. I can't wait to listen to their reactions when there are no more teachers left in the state to teach their kids.
Lesson 1 Bible
The first part of the Bible is about and Angry God that would wake leaders up and tell them of a people that had angered Him and instructed the leader to go Kill them All in My name and steal their shit. He would instruct Fathers to kill their children.l.....
Excuse my offensive words, but this is ludicrous. If anything, teach religion as a subject from middle school until graduation. NOT religious indoctrination, but all the horrors, millennia of pedophilia from religious leaders, PUT religion where it belongs and keep it out of government. Teach the good things also, teach that not believing in any religion is good also. Hasn't god and all his religions killed enough people? Or has been all the people using God that have killed enough people already. Let's teach our children to understand it and how to use or not.
Classroom Bible study: “Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub. Amen”.
Christo Nazis,wwjd?
And I had already heard soooo many good things about Oklahoma before this stuff
/s ... if that's really needed here
Shove your buybull. It's a hateful, tribalistic book full of fantasies. Taking it seriously is insane
Can we hire any teacher fired for this reason over here in Colorado? Good way to reduce the shortage with teachers who have integrity!
You can only push people so far before the end up on your doorstep
Maybe they could hire somebody to teach them the constitution?
Just say no and that it’s your firmly held belief.
I'd rather shit in my hands and clap than take a bow to this cockroach.
I bet they fucking won’t
See these morons can't see past their forearm. What happens w a majority Muslim town makes teaching the Koran mandatory or some Wiccan wants their book taught or a Hindu? You assume you have the numbers until you find out that you don't.
Supreme Court will pick a winner
I’m not for this, but now I’d like to know if the school districts will provide the bibles to the classrooms. If so, where do they plan to purchase them from? Would I be shocked if it turned out to be the same bibles Trump has hawked? Nope.
He's begging for malicious compliance.
Careful y’all. If anyone actually there reads the Book, it is for certain getting banned. I’ve read it. Pretty sure it was supposed to be a trilogy. Are they going to ban certain verses and not others? I mean, just open it to a random page and 50/50 it’s going to be something raunchy.
The chance that even this Supreme Court rules in this guy's favor is extremely minimal, and I'd be surprised if Oklahoma's own Supreme Court tolerates this shit for long.
I just wish we didn't have dipshits like this instituting clearly illegal laws and then not being punished in some way, such as being personally held liable for the cost of defending it in court.
Can’t we just jail this chucklehead for violating our constitution?
Til he gets sued into the ground.
Are they supposed to use it as a history book or a science book
Can’t wait for some fringe religious groups to sue in court saying our book XYZ… should also be taught as it is under assault.
I assume a lawsuit is already filed?
This guy has wannabe dictator all over him. State superintendent is just the appetizer. He wants his name out there so he can run for Congress and maybe POTUS.
Picking the end of a school year to do this is just extra stupid. Oklahoma is about to not have any teachers left in the state.
Why?? Are public school teachers now qualified to preach or go back to college again to keep the job you are trained for.
Imagine going to college and getting a degree and a teaching cert and starting a job to educate students and then being told you will be teaching the Bible.
Beware the law of unintended consequences
Nobody in their right mind thinks this rule is going to stand. He is just upping his name recognition for a future Governor/Senate run. Keep an eye on this dude.
Exactly why does Oklahoma want teachers with no theological training to teach the Bible?
Sounds like a sure fire way to confuse kids and drive them away from the faith.
A few lawsuits ought to bankrupt this school, and needs to be done .
These dudes are just attention whores. Landry was getting tons of press, so this piece of trash attention whore had to go further. Stop putting these skanks in the news.
Teachers need to find all the crappy passages in Bible and teach those. Slavery, incest…
Starting next school year: “schools closed due to teachers quitting and moving out of state.” Parents and school boards: “why can we find no teachers?!?!”
Just teach the Song of Solomon on repeat and parent wi quickly change their time and I say this as a Christian. I should also note that I despite them doing this.
The Satanic Temple has stated its intention to help teachers in Oklahoma by offering classes in religious education.
In response, Superintendent Ryan Walters says: "Satanism is not a religion. They will not be recognized by our State Department of Education. You are not a religion. I know you guys like lying, that's part of your belief system there. ... We will not allow the Founding Fathers' vision of our country and our education system to be undermined and weaponized by these radical extremists. So, no Satanists in Oklahoma schools, we will continue to protect the Judeo-Christian values of this country, and their freedom of expression of your religious beliefs." (emphasis mine)
What if teaching the bible violates my religious beliefs?
Then stop letting religion control your life
I would start teach the parts about polygamy, incest, and the Devine Council (council of the gods. ).
If I were a teacher there I would teach solely from Leviticus. It would fulfill the requirement and would also make their heads explode.
Just start teaching and reading the passages of "woke Jesus" and they will yank that book out of classrooms so fast it will make your head spin.
SIMPLY , let them take action against you, then, SUE them - stating they forced upon you against your freedoms and religion, Christianity, to preach Amid the square like when Jesus was a boy, is sacreligious or as a CATHOLIC that you are not a lay person or you are a WOMAN and not allowed to preach. You will win the lawsuit. You are already protected class. You will win and it will be based on Religious Freedom, how ironic, or moronic at this point. Sue them.
Unfortunately, they have another work unit that is in charge of court packing, and they have been quite successful. They are intentionally asking to be sued. This will probably be ruled OK by at least one court, if not the highest court.
So we are now forcing religious beliefs on people on top of making bribes legal and made being poor and homeless illegal we have 2 idiots with the mental stability of a boulder teetering on the edge of a cliff fighting for control of a sinking ship factories are slowing down and are starting to lay people off and we keep trying to push for more and more wars what a great country we live in
would love for teachers to teach biblical criticism and archaeology and some of the lesser known biblical laws and practices
Can we not just teach math, English, etc? Why do we have to throw in the Bible, pride, etc. let them do that a home
Stonewall is American history, so that should be taught.
I mean the Bible is also history so?
The Bible is a work of fiction so there that
Should we teach Grimms fairy tales as fact too?
You haven’t read the Bible lol.
It’s hilarious that I say we shouldn’t teach it in schools and still get downvoted by triggered liberals. I hope it’s real for the sake of bringing all of you to your knees. Lmao
Well it isn't. It's made up stories. Your fever fantasy about the second coming of christ will never happen. Your sick fantasy about non-christians being punished by God will never happen.
I have read the Bible by the way. Decent read but at no point did I think a single bit was factual.
I'm not sure if you're sadistic by nature or it was taught to you by religion, but it isn't a good look.
I hope it’s real for the sake of bringing all of you to your knees. Lmao
It's happening in Oklahoma, professor. It's only hurting people like you. But hey, kudos for letting everyone know how old you are, mentally.
Some of it, maybe. Most of it is fairy tales, maybe it has a place in creative writing classes.
I mean not everyone agrees with that is my point. Some people believe it and it helps them keep going in life. Some people don’t and could careless
Who cares if they agree?
If someone wants to believe the Bible is fact that's their prerogative. It's a personal choice. We should not be teaching children in public schools that the Bible is fact.
Yeah my original comment agrees with that. We should definitely care about what people believe whether we agree with them or not
Some people believe it and it helps them keep going in life.
Cool, they can learn about it and read it at home or parents can make the choice to send their kid to a religious based private school.
Plenty of people don't believe and do care. Plenty of people read the Quran, Torah, Tripitaka, and other religious texts; should those be taught alongside the bible? Where should we stop? You said "Can we not just teach math, English, etc?", maybe we won't have time to cover those if we're focusing on pushing religion. You don't need need to learn to read when your pastor can just tell you the juicy bits.
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Some people believe it and it helps them keep going in life
Cool they're free too do so. But you get how that's different than forcing someone to teach a religion right?
Well there's a difference between teaching the contents of the Bible as history and teaching that the Bible as a book is part of history. The GOP want to do the former.
How are those different? Teaching the contents as history would directly reference the book?
If we want to teach history, it’s going to involve alot do cultures and ideas that everyone won’t agree with
- The Bible is a historical record and it's contents are things that happened.
- The document know as the Bible, and Christianity, have existed in history, as have other religions and beliefs systems.
Those are two different things.
Teaching the contents as history would directly reference the book
No, not necessarily. We have plenty of proof that Pontius Pilate existed, for example, based on the writings of Jewish historians without having to reference the Bible.
No it's not
in the Bible, pride, etc
I'm not sure how these things are comparable. I'm not even sure what the fuck "pride" is can you explain?
Probably LGBT pride is what they are referring to. I don't get why they throw tantrums about having to tolerate people.
Probably LGBT pride is what they are referring to.
That much was clear but I still don't know what he means by that.
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