In Oklahoma, public schools are incorporating the Bible and the ten commandments into the curriculum. Is this a good thing or bad thing? Is it reasonable or unreasonable? It needs a calm, rational discussion–if that is possible with such a topic.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/us/oklahoma-schools-bible-curriculum/index.html
All Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in their curriculums, effective immediately, the state’s chief education officer announced in a memorandum Thursday.
At a State Board of Education meeting, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said the Bible is “one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country.”
“It’s crystal clear to us that in the Oklahoma academic standards under Title 70 on multiple occasions, the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system,” Walters said.
Every classroom in the state from grades 5 through 12 must have a Bible and all teachers must teach from the Bible in the classroom, Walters said.
The Bible itself should not be considered an historical document, but clearly it influenced American history as Walters suggests. Our forefathers had a grasp of values and ethics and a common set of standards derived from the Bible, but contemporary culture has rejected our country’s Biblical foundation, and therefore, has lost its grip on determining good and evil. The chaos will expand without an intervention.
Who Should Be Concerned?
If you read the Bible regularly and understand its value, this legislation should not be concerning. The Bible is not written as a code of ethics, but it does indeed promote ethical values which should be promoted in every aspect of our lives: at home, at school, in sports, etc. Make no mistake: values are already being taught in schools, whether in Oklahoma or elsewhere. The question is which values should be taught and who should decide what is taught? The Bible is the source needed to re-establish good standards.
The vast majority (about 90%) of kids still attend public schools, so government has a large say regarding values taught in school. The values it promotes often conflict with Biblical values, sometimes even openly contradict them. They also conflict with values provided by parents as well. This has all been done openly and deliberately in a effort to change the culture and re-write history. Oklahoma recognizes they have a choice in setting the standard and are rightly pushing back against the counter-cultural movement.
What are these Biblical values promoted? Several of the ten commandments are, of course, incorporated into American law. The latter portion of the commandments should underpin everyone’s values: respecting elders (specifically father and mother), and eschewing lying, stealing, murder, and adultery. Iconic precepts from Jesus’ sermon on the mount (Matthew Chapters 5-7): “turning the other cheek”, “going the extra mile”, “loving your enemies”, “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” (the golden rule), “recognizing them by their fruit”, building your house on the rock”, are positive values still prevalent in our culture. Which of these are harmful to kids?
“For whoever is not against us is for us.” Mark 9:40
Whoever causes one of these little ones* who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6
Without the Biblical values common in our history, a vacuum is (temporarily) created, and in a vacuum someone always steps in.
“I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions , , , I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Former Virginia Governor, Terry McAullife, October 2021
This legislation is controversial mainly because increasing numbers today are religiously unaffiliated (“nones”). Many of these folks, do not believe in God at all, so the first four of the ten commandments have little meaning for them. Still, is it truly dangerous to be exposed to a monotheistic God and His precepts for those who do believe in Him? You would have to be a hermit to avoid all such references today. Furthermore, even the non-religious as well as atheists and others who eschew the Bible, often live by its other standards.
‘I love hymns and Christmas carols and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos, and I feel that we are a Christian country in that sense,’ Richard Dawkins, avowed atheist and author of ‘The God Delusion.’
Those who steadfastly preach the sacrosanct principle of separation of church and state, likely find this new law scary. Those who fear religious zealotry or believe “Christian Nationalists” (a phantom if there ever was one ) are trying to seize power or those who object to certain Biblical standards (e.g. the rejection of homosexual activity), find this terrifying as well. They fear the religious might impose their values on all within society, but is that a legitimate fear?
Interfaith Alliance, a national organization that seeks to protect religious freedoms, told CNN in a statement Thursday: “This is blatant religious coercion that should have absolutely no place in public schools – in Oklahoma or any other state.”
The Oklahoma memorandum follows a law in Louisiana passed June 19, that requires all public classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. A group of Louisiana parents and civil rights organizations are suing the state over the new law, contending the legislation violates both US Supreme Court precedent and the First Amendment.
None of these oft-spoken fears of the Interfaith Alliance, the ladies on The View, or demagogic politicians surrounding religion are real. For so many today, emotions overwhelm our rational side, and these fears come to life with little basis.
First of all, Christianity in particular emphasizes, among others, characteristics of humility, piety, generosity, charity, kindness, gentleness, and self-denial. Mild-mannered Christians are the zealots who are taught to seize political power and coerce others to follow their own religion? No. That’s a lie. Religions have seized political power in the past (and still do in some places in the world), but it does not happen in America with freedom of religion.
Furthermore, the Bible talks about the kingdom in the life to come, not the kingdom in this world. Political power for its own sake is not a valid manifestation of Christianity.
I do indeed see a lot of coercion in schools today with regard to sex, but the coercion is not from religious zealots. We are told we must accept the diversity of sexual preferences along with the notion anyone can profess a gender change at anytime. We must accept these things or be labeled some sort of made up “phobe”, a tar and feathering that is meaningless, but still one too many seek to avoid.
Christian denominations today cannot impose their values on the faithful, much less the entire American people. As shown in the graph above, traditional religions are losing members. Many churches are desperate to simply retain members. Those who remain in the faith do so voluntarily. These days, nobody is compelled to live out their faith. The divine bond holding the faithful is strong, but the institutions and the clergy cannot (and do not) enforce fealty; clergy’s role is to persuade, to lead, to teach, but never to compel the faithful through threats or punitive measures. All still have the free will to accept or deny God. Nobody seeks to take that away.
Who is Imposing?
The state of Oklahoma is certainly imposing values upon the public schools, but recognize also Oklahoma has simply entered a game already in progress. They have chosen not to surrender any more field to an enemy who is currently destroying Biblical values–and not just in schools, but in all of society. Progressives and Marxists are replacing Biblical values with questionable values rejected by large swaths of Americans. Recognize also, they are not demanding adherence to religious traditions. They are promoting basic values that were not controversial until recently. If such Biblical values are not wanted in Oklahoma, voters will eventually have their say, and in a few years, a new legislature will overturn the new law. In the meantime, I see little harm to Oklahoma kids.
However. thousands of Christian denominations cannot agree among themselves on core Biblical teachings or values, much less forcibly impose values upon the public at large. Certainly, religious institutions and religious adherents in general are called to proselytize and save souls, but this is done today by persuasion not by threats or penalties.
More than ever today Christians are afraid to make their beliefs known to neighbors, let alone impose them on the nation as a whole. Judeo-Christian values are aligned against the progressive agenda, and therefore Christians and Jews who following orthodoxy must be discredited by the secular culture. Religious folks know their values are under attack and often remain silent to avoid being singled out.
President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and numerous other prominent Catholic politicians refuse to publicly oppose abortion or advance many of the fundamental beliefs of the Catholic faith they say they profess. Per the media, they are still good Catholics. Not true. Their heterodoxy is damaging the integrity of the Catholic Church. They justify their stances by saying they separate their public and private lives, but exercising one’s faith is not a part-time endeavor. Values should not be limited to our homes or our private lives.
The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States voted overwhelmingly to draft a statement on the sacrament of the Eucharist, which would not allow President Biden to take communion because of his views on abortion.
The pendulum swings not towards religious zealotry, but there is an anti-religious fervor, a tendency to blame many problems on religion; it is open season on orthodox Christians and Jews. Senator Diane Feinstein said to Judge Amy Coney Barret during a confirmation hearing: “The [religious] dogma lives loudly within you.” VP Kamala Harris similarly questioned the integrity of another judge during a confirmation hearing, criticizing the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic male organization which promotes charitable causes and Catholic values: https://www.cal-catholic.com/harris-as-u-s-senator-questioned-judge-because-he-was-knight-of-columbus/. The examples are legion.
Government today is, in fact, forcibly imposing political values on the Church and the faithful, not the other way around. Protesting abortion or speaking out against the LGBTQ agenda may not only disqualify you from a political appointment, but, in many instances, may be criminal (read about Mark Houck’s and other’s arrests: what-is-extreme-about-being-pro-life). If you believe separation of church and state is a bedrock principle (I do not), then you should recognize it can also be violated by the state.
Every major institution is partaking in the attack. Jesus’ Last Supper was mocked during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics. There was outrage from a few for a few moments, but no hordes of protesting Christian Nationalists, nor have there been lasting consequences. Instead, a secular culture boldly declared Christianity to be the enemy; it wallows in its ability to defile the sacred beliefs and traditions of its enemy, and build new secular ones in their place–and they got away with it. They don’t fear a Christian backlash, much less the bogey-man of Christian Nationalism. Where are the boycotts? Where are the peaceful protests? Where are the media and political leaders condemning such vile and disgusting acts? There is relative silence.
Secular culture knows religion in America (the West, in general) is on the wane, and there is no actual vast Christian Nationalist resistance. They have little to fear, so they no longer hide their agenda. They proclaim it boldly while pretending their enemy who openly promote long-held religious and American values is some sort of nefarious hate group.
Olympic officials said the performance was not intended to offend Christians (baloney!). They offered a silly statement about discouraging violence and promoting the Greek God Dionysus. What do you know about Dionysus? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus
Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself . . . The cult of Dionysus is also a “cult of the souls”; his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings, and he acts as a divine communicant between the living and the dead. . . . the Roman state treated independent, popular festivals of Bacchus (Bacchanalia) [the Roman equivalent god], as subversive, partly because their free mixing of classes and genders transgressed traditional social and moral constraints.
The drunken Dionysus, the one chosen to replace Christ, is a definitely a fine figure to model values and ethics for contemporary culture. Is there any progressive thought whatsoever before such idiocy is fed to the masses?
At least, the state of Oklahoma is resisting. They proclaim Biblical values matter and when you abandon them, you get this hedonistic valueless nonsense. We have seen enough of this future and we want no part of it.
Watering Down Values
Fact check true: Christianity has almost no power whatsoever in American politics.
If you disagree, name the religious figure or religious institution today which is driving any part of the American political agenda. America has had prominent religious figures with significant public influence in the not-so-distant past, but there are none with widespread influence on politics or public opinion today. Still, even when these figures were about, they were not so scary. Billy Graham was a prominent and well-respected religious figure throughout the last half of the 20th century. He was a spiritual advisor to several presidents (of both parties). His crusades were broadcast on network TV for decades, starting in the 1960s. Bishop Fulton Sheen had a weekly TV show, The Catholic Hour, on ABC in the 1950s and 1960s https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6cRVr1SuN-redXjS3RzI4w. These were broadcast in a day when there were only three channels, so they were watched by millions. These two had significant influence in their day, but in a positive way. They sought to persuade but not to compel, respecting the free will God has given us all.
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 1 Peter 2:16
There was no unrest regarding the scheming of religious zealots in those days despite religion’s greater prominence in the culture. Today, there are no equivalent religious figures. The culture largely ignores the pope, the cardinals, the bishops, Christians evangelical leaders, and the rest, most of whom are not widely known, yet we are told there is a vast Christian Nationalist movement which should be feared. Certainly politicians court religious folk for their vote, but they aren’t offered much as many religious have accepted abortion, gay marriage, transgenderism, and other secular, not biblically supported, values.
Rather than becoming stricter and returning to fundamental principles, many Christian and Jewish institutions today are becoming more lax. More than ever the last few years, religious institutions water down Biblical values as they seek to become more inclusive. They recognize they are hemorrhaging congregants and believe these measures necessary to appeal to the growing numbers of “nones” as well as the LGBTQ (and LGBTQ adjacent) folks.
72%-of-pastors-concerned-about-watered down-gospel
In a new study that kicks off its “State of the Church 2020” project, Barna Group reveals that [72%] U.S. pastors are most concerned about “reaching a younger audience” at the local level and “watered-down gospel teachings” and increased secularization at the national level.
Inclusivity (as well as diversity and equity) are not actually values. Making any institution more inclusive (or more diverse or more equitable) is not necessarily a positive (it could be positive, but too often inclusivity is applied only for its own sake, not for the betterment of the underlying cause). With regards to religion, it typically means compromising Biblical values in exchange for more in the pews. Compromise is religion’s death knell. They will continue to compromise values until they are no longer recognizable as sacred institutions.
Former Pope Benedict proposed the opposite direction. He envisioned a smaller, purer church, a more spiritualized and simplified church. Basically, he says, to stick to principles. If the church loses parishioners as a result, so be it. We want to save souls above all else, but that does not always align with more in the pews.
Maybe this does not fit your definition of inclusive, but welcoming all remains a foundational principle of Christianity.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
The meaningful change is intended for the faithful rather than the Church itself. The Church should adapt to changing times, but never bend to the ephemeral values of society. The Church’s steadfast principles should form its members as well as society in general, not the other way around.
Religion’s influence has no doubt been greatly diminished. The solution is not for the Church to dominate society, but clearly the pendulum needs to swing back–towards the ethical values of the recent past.
Oklahoma is making a stand to support traditional Judeo-Christian values upon which Western Civilization was built. Those divinely inspired values made Western Civilization (and America especially) great, and they still attract many around the world to immigrate to the West. Ironically, much of Western Civilization is now abandoning these values. Religion’s influence is waning and its basic moral values abandoned by so many who believe it has little or nothing to offer–and yet secular culture offers nothing meaningful in exchange.
Clash of Agendas
The Bible clearly teaches values, a counter to the so-called secular values we are exposed to regularly. Is exposure to transgenderism, abortion, gay marriage, and other supposedly inclusive activities harmful to religion? Yes, no doubt. Is exposure to the Bible harmful to those who hold on to only secular values? Well, sort of. It can be harmful to toxic secular ideas, but it can also be life changing for individuals.
So, we have a choice to make. If we want a cohesive society, we must stand for a common set of values or risk totalitarianism, anarchy, or worse. The notion of a common set of values in itself is another topic I discussed previously (the-search-for-meaning-the-beginning-of-our-eternity). If we have consensus common values, as America did not so long ago, we can survive as a nation. Without such common beliefs, we might as well not have a nation. Still, we can continue to thrive if we share our common values to our citizens, our children, and our immigrants. We can also continue to thrive if we believe in our once great Western values (while also not ignoring our negative history) and make others desire to assimilate into them.
So, then which values do you wish to promote? A choice is needed from all.
Dave https://seek-the-truth.com/about/
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