this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2024

265 points (99.3% liked)

News

22839 readers

3651 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil

Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.

2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.

Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.

3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.

Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.

4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.

Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.

5. Only recent news is allowed.

Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.

6. All posts must be news articles.

No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

7. No duplicate posts.

If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.

8. Misinformation is prohibited.

Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.

9. No link shorteners.

The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.

10. Don't copy entire article in your post body

For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

JonsJava@lemmy.world

rjc@lemmy.world

Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world

gedaliyah@lemmy.world

Blackbeard@lemmy.world

little_cow@lemmy.world

jeffw@lemmy.world

265

Oklahoma educators push back on state rule forcing Bible into lesson plans (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

19 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Several school districts say they will not – as of now – amend curricula following superintendent’s order

As a new school year looms in Oklahoma, some educators in the state are pushing back against a new state order to incorporate the Bible into their lesson plans.

In late June, Oklahoma’s Republican state education superintendent, Ryan Walters, ordered public schools in the state to immediately incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments into their curricula, following the passage that month of a law in Louisiana with a similar mandate – and which was quickly challenged on constitutional grounds.

Walters appeared at a state education board meeting and called the Bible “one of the most foundational documents used for the constitution and the birth of our country”, though the US’s founders explicitly called for a substantial separation between church and state. And he said that the Bible was 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’ policy and remarks not only reignited the conversation about keeping state and church affairs separate. They also drew criticism from civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers who argued that the order violated federal rights to freely exercise one’s religious faith as well as a constitutional prohibition against the establishment of a state religion.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] IMongoose@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Hmmm yes, the 10 commandments are so relevant to laws in the US. Let's go through them.

I am the LORD your God; you shall not have strange gods before me.

explicitly allowed freedom of religion

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

explicitly allowed freedom of speech

Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.

nope

Honor your father and mother.

don't have to, in fact the state will remove children from parents without honoring their wishes

You shall not kill.

not really ground breaking stuff

You shall not commit adultery.

shitty but not illegal

You shall not steal.

wow, amazing

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

good rule but seems like "don't lie maliciously" covers more.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

seems appropriate to teach to elementary kids

You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

coveting our neighbors goods is like 50% of the US economy. And also the basis of manifest destiny.

Might as well have made "Treat others the way you want to be treated" state mandated curriculum, that's more relevant than the 10 commandments.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

Might as well have made "Treat others the way you want to be treated" state mandated curriculum, that's more relevant than the 10 commandments.

And some version of that ethic of reciprocity has appeared in pretty much every civilization throughout known history.

It's far from exclusive to the Christian religion.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Not a single one of those commandments apply to U.S. law universally.

Not even "thou shalt not kill" (thanks to the Castle Doctrine and stand-your-ground laws) and "thou shalt not steal" (thanks to civil asset forfeiture).

So even for those two, which are the only two which our laws reflect, there are extenuating circumstances.