I’d be more inclined to think that few of us are not thinking that.
I’m not sure how many “double haters” (hate both Biden and Trump as our choices) are genuinely out there, but stopping the bleeding (discouraging people from staying home) is probably a more important strategy right now than trying to swing new voters to either side.
Fear and Faith are as reliable as they come, and the Rs have been working overtime on both.
That’s really all Trump did at the debate.
Only paranoid to the same extent that thinking that Coke sponsoring a super bowl ad had the alterior motive of getting people to buy more of their product is paranoid. i.e. not so much paranoid as fairly obvious.
Oklahomas new guidelines. My favorite one…
Art and Music Appreciation: Analyze and interpret significant artworks and musical pieces inspired by the Bible, understanding their historical and cultural relevance while remaining mindful of all rules for grade-level and age-level appropriate material.
https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-bible-teaching-schools-guidelines-ryan-walters/61687892
I find this bit from your link amusing.
According to the guidelines, schools must provide a physical copy of the Bible as well as the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments as resources in every classroom
It’s almost as though they don’t realize what’s in the Bible. We already now they don’t realize–or is it they don’t fucking care?–what’s in the constitution.
Also amusing is this bit:
We’re going to be rolling out more documents for teacher to use.
I thought his decree applied to all subjects, including English. I wonder how he intends to use it for teaching noun number.
By the way, I’m wondering how the particular Bible to be given his imprimatur will be chosen. Has he already pontificated on that issue?
Another good one. Critical thinking and the Bible in the same sentence.
Critical Essays: Assign essays that require critical thinking and analysis of the Bible’s role in literature, history and culture.
Can you imagine the meltdown if a teacher was brave enough in a history class to teach the brutal, cynical, rancid underbelly of the Crusades?
I mean, this could backfire so beautifully on the bigots! Technically or maliciously compliant is compliant, right?
This whole thing is kind of farcical and most likely unconstitutional, but I’m not seeing the disconnect on this particular point. Are you saying that the Bible (and Christianity by extension) HASN’T played a huge role in literature, history, and culture? It’s not suggesting critical analysis of the Bible itself, but merely it’s role in the above.
The point is not to make every student analyze the Bible’s role in literature, history and culture
The point is to make every student to read the Bible.
Which has no impact whatsoever on them going to other states to teach. Every state licenses its own teachers, according to its own criteria. Usually there’s a streamlined process for teachers from other states to get a license, and usually that process wouldn’t work if your original license was rescinded, but if Oklahoma pulled this crap, you can bet that California, New York, Illinois, and every other sane state in the nation (and most of the insane ones, because they’re short of teachers too) would tweak the rules so Oklahoma’s firing didn’t count.
Correct. And it’s based on a false stated premise: that the Bible is the foundation of our civilization and culture.
Looking through this bit shows you he knows damn well he’s violating the constitution.
Legal Considerations
Neutrality and Objectivity: Ensure that all instruction is conducted in a neutral and objective manner. Teachers must not promote or favor any religious beliefs, focusing solely on the historical and literary aspects of the Bible.
Diverse Perspectives: Acknowledge the Bible’s influence while recognizing and respecting the diversity of religious beliefs among students. Incorporate perspectives from other religious and secular traditions to provide a balanced view while remaining mindful of all rules for grade level and age level appropriate material.
Parental Communication: Maintain open communication with parents about the purpose and content of incorporating the Bible as an instructional support into the curriculum. Provide information on how the curriculum addresses historical and literary aspects, emphasizing that it is not an endorsement of any religious belief.
Primary Purpose of Usage: The Bible must be used in student instruction for its historical, literary and secular value and is not to be used for religious purposes such as preaching, proselytizing or indoctrination.
And of course there’s nothing in there about how glorifying a particular religious denomination in such a fashion that it must be used in every course does not imply that students who adhere to another religion or no religion at all are not being treated as outcasts. But he does try (yeah, right) in the final section.
Conclusion
The inclusion of the Bible as an instructional support in the curriculum offers students a deeper understanding of the historical and literary foundations of Western civilization and American history. By focusing on these aspects, teachers can enrich students’ education while adhering to legal guidelines. These guidelines aim to provide a balanced, objective approach that respects diverse beliefs and fosters critical thinking. A holistic approach ensures that students do not merely see the Bible as a religious text but as a significant historical and cultural artifact that has influenced a wide array of human endeavors.
Moreover, maintaining neutrality and objectivity is crucial. By not promoting any religious beliefs, these guidelines ensure that the curriculum remains inclusive and respectful of all backgrounds and beliefs. The focus remains firmly on the educational and secular benefits of literacy and background knowledge rather than religious indoctrination.
In conclusion, incorporating the Bible as an instructional support into the curriculum provides an invaluable opportunity to deepen students’ understanding of historical and cultural developments. These guidelines offer guidance for educators to approach this subject matter thoughtfully and
inclusively, fostering an educational environment that is both informative and respectful.
But I do see at least one bright point here. The Song of Solomon is your basic pornographic poetry. That should be fun when the teacher explains how this particular bit is one of the foundations of western civilization and culture. Another poster mentioned malicious compliance. I would happlily, if I were the teacher, send a consent form to every student’s parent/legal guardian asking permission to “Teach from one of the Books contained in the Bible” without mentioning one blame word which book and what I intended to teach.
And I’m still wondering how and why he’s chosen which particular canon of books will be the Bible to be used. Somehow I doubt the Inspried Version will qualify. My own church does not view Song of Solomon as inspired material. And the Community of Christ does not include it in their Bible.
That’s the point. The entire purpose of this is to provoke a court challenge because they expect the runaway Supreme Court to tear down the wall of separation.
“Folks, owing to Oklahoma’s requirement of every student reading the Bible, we’ve run out of Bibles. Please give generously so we can print more. Just go to Gideons [dot] org and click to donate …”
Parents: “What, this is gonna cost us? Outside of our school taxes?”
Excellent call! I’d add Psalm 109 (sample at verse 8: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”), and how it contrasts with the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12). And the book of Ecclesiastes contains some very blunt language in its words. “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?” (KJV, Ecclesiastes 1: v. 2 and 3.) There are other examples, of course.
I get the idea that Oklahoma lawmakers haven’t actually read the Bible, don’t know what it contains, and think it’s pretty much only the New Testament, with its parables in the Gospels, the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus welcoming little children, healing lepers, and raising Lazarus from the dead. (Undoubtedly, they’ll skip Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana.) They don’t know the rest of it.
And there’s all that begatting. Holy hannah, those people were plenty horny.
They certainly aren’t familiar with the seventh verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John. And let’s not even get into their observance of the Decalog only in disregarding it.
Not that I like what they’re doing, but an awful lot of the great works of classical music were commissioned by churches. Almost all of JS Bach’s output for example. Just as long as it doesn’t get into modern Christian rock. Barfo. 
I used to hear people say that back when I was still “in”. I’d usually reply with something like “oh, it’s inspired all right… 
” [just not by deity].
As I recall, Mosaic law considered a woman to be “unclean” (and therefore unapproachable for recreational activities) until right around prime ovulation time… no wonder the population grew so fast!
The Jesus parts are the parts they know the least about. The only parts they know are the anti-gay parts, which are mostly Old Testament and not at all in the Gospels.
That remains of a great gag from the sitcom Episodes. Matt LeBlanc (playing a fictionalized version of himself) is hosting a game show called The Box, which involves several contestants living in glass prison cell sized boxes in a TV studio. The contestants, based on votes of the public, can earn rewards or punishments while competing.
One of the contestants gets punished by having to spend two hours in his box with Gilbert Gottfried while Gilbert is reading from the Bible. I recall that Gilbert was reading one of the super-boring genealogy sections of the Bible to boot.
Sorry for being a month behind.
The version of the Holy Bible that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses is the KJV with thousands of Joseph Smith’s “translations” inserted via footnotes, many of which significantly change the contents of the verses. Oklahoma officials would absolutely NOT look at a bible from the Mormon bookstore and say “Yeah, that’s the King James Version and it belongs in the classroom.” So @nearwildheaven’s point stands. But you knew that.
In 1979 the RLDS church (now called Community of Christ) gave the LDS church permission to put the RLDS bible into the footnotes of the LDS bible. Essentially, the "Mormon version of the bible" is the same text as "Comunity of Christ's Inspired Version," just formatted differently. Unless Monty wants to tell us how the LDS website is wrong about their own bible.Thanks for a great line. I’m stealing it.