Oklahoma Is Trying to Put Trump Bibles in the Classroom - Mother Jones
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
In June, Oklahoma's Trump-supporting top school official, Ryan Walters, ordered the state's schools to teach the Bible in class—and this week, his department put in a $3 million proposal to buy 55,000 Bibles for Oklahoma schools. But out of the thousands of versions available for purchase, it seems only two holy books fit the state Department of Education's strict criteria: one sold by Donald J. Trump, and one sold by his son Don Junior.
Surprise, surprise.
On Friday, the nonprofit news outlet Oklahoma Watch reported that the superintendent's bid documents included specific standards for the Bibles set to be used in Oklahoma classrooms, standards only met by two editions.
According to the documents, the books must:
- Be bound in leather or a leather-like material
- Include the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights
- Be either the old or new version of the King James Bible
Supplier Mardel Christian & Education reportedly searched through the 2,900 versions of the Bible it carries and found that none fit the bill—but Trump's "God Bless the USA Bible"does.
As we reported earlier this year, Trump began hawking the "God Bless the USA" Bible—about $60 a pop—in March, a month after he started selling his $400 sneakers and other ungodly expensive pieces of merch.
The only other book to fit the bill? The "We The People Bible," endorsed by Donald Trump Jr., at a price of $90.
Superintendent Ryan Walters' office stands by the criteria, telling the Hill in a statement, "There are hundreds of Bible publishers, and we expect a robust competition for this proposal."
The move is unsurprising from Walters' administration. Last November, theOklahoma superintendent endorsed Trump, promising that under the ex-president, "This cancer that is the teachers union will be driven out of our schools." Walters also plans to join the GOP candidate's reelection team, claiming he's "excited to see [Trump] dismantle the Department of Education."
Update, October 4: This story has been updated to credit Oklahoma Watch, which reported the Oklahoman article previously cited.
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Oklahoma is set to purchase 55,000 Trump Bibles at $59.99 each!
That is $3,299.450 Plus Shipping and Handling. Vote Democratic...
And they will argue the costs will be offset by not having to purchase the great works of actual literature that have been speciously banned.
Not OK…
According to the documents, the books must:
They don't want to separate church and state - they want to mix them together. What the fuck?
it's another end run to funnel cash to a trump grift ...
Sounds to me like this Waters guy is fishing for an education secretary job. The jokes on him. Trump will axe the Dept of Education because it makes people smarter and uses too much money that Trump has budgeted for plundering by the prosecution immune.
the maga party now mostly consists of the ignorant and wealthy, with racism and bigotry as the binding agents...
By what metric is education better since the department of education was started?
What??? By what metric? Enrollments? Graduation rates? Money spent?
We continue to hear stories about how the reading and mathematics rates continue to drop vs the rates from other countries and we continue to hear about areas where the level of reading comprehension is far below what is expected.
The US Department of Education brought about the use of "standardized tests" that have not improved the students as teachers spend their time teaching on how to take & pass the test. And that is because the test rates are used to determine federal money sent to the districts.
I would say it's well past time to get rid of the Department of Education and allow the local authorities to better handle the job.
Number of Grifters and Democratic loyalists given federal patronage jobs at taxpayer’s expense.
Next up, golden toilets for all administrators.
... with their heads clogging them.
Clownishness inflicted on the states taxpayers and children.
While I'm certainly happy to have children learn about God through the Bible, I'm not a supporter of this guy's plan. I'm surprised that the Satanists don't already have a lawsuit in place to place whatever passes for a bible for them in the classroom. This is a true case of separation of church and state, unlike the stupid tax argument people keep making. If parents want Bibles in the classroom, they should send their children to a private religious school.
They want the government to put a stamp of approval on a particular religion. Teaching the Bible in school would teach kids "this is THE way".
While I certainly think it is "THE way", I'm certainly not a fan of forcing it on anyone. For this guy to maintain a neutral position concerning this, he would necessarily have to fund the inclusion of pretty much every religion there is. That would be ridiculous. While it is eminently reasonable to have a copy of the Bible in the school library, it isn't practical to have one in the classroom without violating the separation clause.
Wow except for the bible being 'The Way' the rest of your comment actually makes sense.
Religions are man made interpretations and explanations for the mystery of existence. They arose more from geographic and cultural traits than anything else. When one reads a good book on comparative religions this is plainly obvious.
That said there is nothing wrong with adhering to a particular religion like Christianity. As a Catholic I consider myself Christian. Pope Francis just recently made a comment about varying religions being different roads to the same place.
Rome.
I'm excited to see how modern american civilization will permanently deal with thumpers that have overstepped their constitutional boundaries.
"If parents want Bibles in the classroom, they should send their children to a private religious school."
Which the 'right' wing want us to pay for also.
Since what you call "the right wing" also pays taxes, that is only reasonable. You obviously have a problem with the government funding religion. But for the government to be truly neutral concerning religion, they cannot deny tax money being used on religious schools. To do otherwise is to promote secularism, which is its own religion.
If that isn't clear enough for you, let me put it another way. Why should parents have to pay taxes to fund an educational system they do not agree with? Is that not exactly the same as your position concerning using taxes for religious schools? If the public school your child attends is teaching that men can be women and you don't agree, why should your taxes fund such a thing?
In my opinion, education in the Unted States is going downhill precisely because they aren't educating children anymore. They are socializing them. If you are more interested in programming your children than educating them, then by all means, go ahead and keep them in the public education system. But if you want them to learn how to think, I suggest you choose another route.
We live in a secular nation, a nation based on laws, secularism is not a religion. If religions want to engage in politics, fine, they can pay taxes too. As it stands, religions are tax exempt, expecting government funds to support their political positions isn't just wrong it's illegal.
Really? What's the difference?
Religion needs a central figure to worship; e.g. jim jones, Olstein, Jim baker, etc.. Secularism has no such figure.
The vast amount of believers don’t have such central figures and don’t worship your examples.
Whole lot of bullshit right there.
I don't want my tax dollars paying for private or religious schools. Let their parents for it, not me. They want to double dip/steal my tax dollars.
Which one?
the one running for POTUS from the maga party ...
Well at least he's not selling Trumpy bears this time around.
Oh no, what are they to sop up the Trumpy wine with?
Don't know about wine but I heard a buddy of mine once say they were good for beer spills...