4 ms·

This violates the Establishment clause, will get tossed out if it goes to the Supreme Court. There is a reason religion should be kept away from the state. So s

This violates the Establishment clause, will get tossed out if it goes to the Supreme Court. There is a reason religion should be kept away from the state. So stupid shit like this does not happen.

emchammer 2y ago
A survey of world religion, including the great texts, as an adjunct to social studies seems reasonable to me. It is a huge part of many people's lives. I am Jewish, and I have looked inside the New Testament, the Quran, and the Book of Mormon. Perhaps if approached hermeneutically, like my own religion may be descended from a Yahwistic cult developed through monolatry, or maybe God transmitted the Torah letter for letter via teletype b'har Sinai, but I still keep it next to my bed.
- krapp 2y ago
  >A survey of world religion, including the great texts, as an adjunct to social studies seems reasonable to me. That very clearly isn't the goal or agenda behind what's happening in Oklahoma, however. And even if it were, the subject would be too complex and nuanced to teach to fifth graders, which is why most such courses are available at higher levels and as electives, and they don't exclusively focus on Christian doctrine.
  - emchammer 2y ago
    I missed that when I read the article. But that is part of it, it just says "the Bible". For me, I just think of the Tanakh, or what Christians call the Old Testament. It did not occur to me that this could mean a Christian scriptural-literalist interpretation until I read of Walters' background. Like Sarah Silverman said, in this country, if you are sworn in court or government office, "it's not even my Bible". When I visited a county fair in Texas once, somebody handed me a booklet that was just the New Testament, which blew my mind. I did not know that Christians just drop the Hebrew Bible.
- seatac76 2y ago
  Fair enough, but I’d wager that people pushing this would flip out if other religious texts were being taught.
swatcoder 2y ago
That's essentially the point. It's meant to be challenged in court in hopes that that the current Supreme Court will make some subjectively favorable "clarification" about what the Establishment Clause, etc says and provide a green light to more/other policies even if it strikes down this one. It does seem like a pretty crude attempt at that, likely frustrating to those who would have preferred to see a more sophisticated challenge raised, but that's what it is.
- seatac76 2y ago
  I think people unfairly critique this court, they are more originalist, more towards balancing the executive and the legislative. There is no way this would survive in this Supreme Court.

This violates the Establishment clause, will get tossed out if it goes to the Supreme Court. There is a reason religion should be kept away from the state. So stupid shit like this does not happen.

emchammer 2y ago

A survey of world religion, including the great texts, as an adjunct to social studies seems reasonable to me. It is a huge part of many people's lives. I am Jewish, and I have looked inside the New Testament, the Quran, and the Book of Mormon. Perhaps if approached hermeneutically, like my own religion may be descended from a Yahwistic cult developed through monolatry, or maybe God transmitted the Torah letter for letter via teletype b'har Sinai, but I still keep it next to my bed.

krapp 2y ago
>A survey of world religion, including the great texts, as an adjunct to social studies seems reasonable to me. That very clearly isn't the goal or agenda behind what's happening in Oklahoma, however. And even if it were, the subject would be too complex and nuanced to teach to fifth graders, which is why most such courses are available at higher levels and as electives, and they don't exclusively focus on Christian doctrine.
- emchammer 2y ago
  I missed that when I read the article. But that is part of it, it just says "the Bible". For me, I just think of the Tanakh, or what Christians call the Old Testament. It did not occur to me that this could mean a Christian scriptural-literalist interpretation until I read of Walters' background. Like Sarah Silverman said, in this country, if you are sworn in court or government office, "it's not even my Bible". When I visited a county fair in Texas once, somebody handed me a booklet that was just the New Testament, which blew my mind. I did not know that Christians just drop the Hebrew Bible.
seatac76 2y ago
Fair enough, but I’d wager that people pushing this would flip out if other religious texts were being taught.

swatcoder 2y ago

That's essentially the point. It's meant to be challenged in court in hopes that that the current Supreme Court will make some subjectively favorable "clarification" about what the Establishment Clause, etc says and provide a green light to more/other policies even if it strikes down this one. It does seem like a pretty crude attempt at that, likely frustrating to those who would have preferred to see a more sophisticated challenge raised, but that's what it is.

seatac76 2y ago
I think people unfairly critique this court, they are more originalist, more towards balancing the executive and the legislative. There is no way this would survive in this Supreme Court.