A controversial Oklahoma mandate requiring public schools to incorporate the Bible "as instructional support into the curriculum" across grades 5-12 now faces a challenge in court.
Parents, clergy members, teachers and others filed a lawsuit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court last week, insisting the requirement violates the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act ("OAPA") and religious freedom provisions of the state's constitution.
"The Mandate interferes with the parents’ ability to direct the religious and moral upbringing of their children," the lawsuit claims.
"The children themselves face coercive instruction on religion in their public schools that is contrary to their own beliefs. The teachers must present to their students religious doctrines to which the teachers and many students do not subscribe, or face losing their teaching licenses."
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An Oklahoma mandate requiring the Bible be incorporated in classroom curriculum is now facing a legal challenge. (iStock)
Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced the mandate in June and quickly received pushback from some districts.
Responding to that backlash, he told "Fox & Friends Weekend" in July, "I'm going to tell these woke administrators, if they're going to break the law and not teach it, they can go to California because … here in Oklahoma schools, we're going to make sure that history is taught."
He continued, "What we're doing is making sure teachers have resources in order to teach these concepts that the left has pushed out of our schools. We're making sure that the guidelines were given out last week to make sure every individual teacher understands exactly what we're talking about here, the historical references, where these are located in our standards. Because we need our kids to understand our history. We want our kids here in Oklahoma to understand American history better than any in the country, and we're laying out a roadmap for every state to follow."
According to the lawsuit, Walters also issued an additional memorandum in late July, requiring that school districts provide each teacher with a Bible and a copy of the Ten Commandments to be used in the classroom, as well as instructions on how to incorporate each.
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Republican Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
As such, the lawsuit accuses the mandate of forcing educators to teach religious doctrines to which they – and many of their students – do not ascribe or risk being fired otherwise.
"And the spending of state funds to purchase Bibles diverts the tax payments of all the adult petitioners from proper uses to the support of a single religious tradition," it continues.
Additionally, the lawsuit insists Oklahoma's Bible curriculum mandate violates state law, pointing in part to Section 5 of Article II of the state Constitution, which reads, "No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such."
Section 2 of Article I, which deals with religious liberty, was also mentioned in the lawsuit.
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The suit also points to state law granting local districts the authority to determine the instructional materials they will use, insisting the mandate violates that rule as well.
The document continues, "Petitioners respectfully request that this Court assume original jurisdiction. Petitioners further respectfully request that the Court issue equitable relief, including a declaratory judgment, an injunction, and/or a writ of mandamus and/or prohibition, (1) declaring the Bible Education Mandate unlawful and invalid, (2) requiring Respondents to rescind the Bible Education Mandate, and (3) prohibiting Respondents from taking any action to enforce or in furtherance of the Bible Education Mandate, including spending any state funds on the purchase or provision of Bibles."
When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Superintendent Walters provided the following statement:
"Oklahomans will not be bullied by out-of-state, radical leftists who hate the principles our nation was founded upon. The simple fact is that understanding how the Bible has impacted our nation, in its proper historical and literary context, was the norm in America until the 1960s and its removal has coincided with a precipitous decline in American schools. It is not possible for our students to understand American history and culture without understanding the Biblical principles from which they came, so I am proud to bring back the Bible to every classroom in Oklahoma. I will never back down to the woke mob, no matter what tactic they use to try to intimidate Oklahomans."
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