Christian Nationalism

Americans United Vows to Fight

Christian Nationalist Agenda

The Rule of Law

 Multiple Plaintiffs File Lawsuit To Block

Bible Mandate in Oklahoma Schools

    OKLAHOMA - (FFRF) - 10/17/2024 - More than 30 Oklahomans recently filed a lawsuit urging the Oklahoma Supreme Court to block state Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ mandate that all public schools incorporate the bible into their curricula. The lawsuit, Rev. Lori Walke v. Ryan Walters, also asks the court to stop the state from spending millions of taxpayer dollars on bibles to support the mandate.

    The 32 plaintiffs include 14 public school parents, four public school teachers and three faith leaders who object to Walters’ extremist agenda that imposes his personal religious beliefs on other people’s children — in violation of Oklahomans’ religious freedom and the separation of church and state. The plaintiffs come from a variety of faith traditions, and some identify as atheist, agnostic or nonreligious. Some are of Indigenous heritage, and some have family situations — such as LGBTQ-plus members or children with special educational needs — that cause particular concerns around teaching the bible in public schools, especially around bullying. The plaintiffs are represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice.

    Walters issued a June 27 mandate unilaterally requiring every public school in Oklahoma to “incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments,” into the curriculum for grades 5-12, an abuse of power that ignored state laws. Walters then fast-tracked plans to spend $3 million of taxpayer money on an expensive, Christian nationalist version of the King James Bible that includes the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Pledge of Allegiance and Bill of Rights, another abuse of power and gross violation of Oklahoma taxpayers’ religious freedom. Walters wants to spend another $3 million on bibles next year.

    The lawsuit asserts that the bible-education mandate violates the Oklahoma Constitution’s religious freedom protections because the government is spending public money to support religion, as well as favoring one religion over others by requiring the use of a Protestant version of the bible. The mandate also violates the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act and other state statutes because officials did not follow required rules for implementing new policies and for spending public money.

    “Superintendent Ryan Walters cannot be allowed to employ the machinery of the state to indoctrinate Oklahoma’s students in his religion,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “Thankfully, Oklahoma law protects families and taxpayers from his unconstitutional scheme to force public schools to adopt his preferred holy book.”

    Plaintiff Erika Wright of Cleveland County, the founder and leader of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition and a parent of two children who attend public schools, said: “As parents, my husband and I have sole responsibility to decide how and when our children learn about the Bible and religious teachings. We are devout Christians, but different Christian denominations have different theological beliefs and practices. It is not the role of any politician or public school official to intervene in these personal matters. Oklahoma’s education system is already struggling, ranking nearly last in national standings. Mandating a Bible curriculum will not address our educational shortcomings. Superintendent Walters should focus on providing our children and teachers with the resources they need; our families can handle religious education at home.”

    Plaintiff Rev. Lori Walke, senior minister of Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, stated: “I am a faith leader who cares deeply about our country’s promise of religious freedom and ensuring that everyone is able to choose their own spiritual path. The state mandating that one particular religious text be taught in our schools violates the religious freedom of parents and children, teachers, and taxpayers. The government has no business weighing in on such theological decisions. I’m proud to join this lawsuit because I believe Superintendent Walters’ plan to use taxpayer money to buy Bibles and force public schools to teach from them is illegal and unconstitutional.”

    Plaintiff Rev. Mitch Randall of Cleveland County, a Baptist pastor and CEO of Good Faith Media, said: “As a Christian, I’m appalled by the use of the Bible — a sacred text — for Superintendent Walters’ political grandstanding. As a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, I’m alarmed by the parallels between this Bible mandate and the religious proselytization and forced assimilation my relatives faced in government boarding schools. As a taxpayer, I object to the state spending public funds on religious texts. The separation of church and state is a bedrock principle protecting religious liberty for every citizen; I urge the court to uphold this principle and strike down this mandate.”

    Colleen McCarty, executive director of Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, stated: “The constant use of Oklahoma as a testing ground for religious extremism is growing tiresome. Oklahoma families deserve a public school system devoted to the education of their children, and instead we get flash-bulb political stunts and attempted erosion of the Constitution. The buck stops here. We will defend the principles our nation is built on, starting with the separation of church and state.”

    Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, remarked: “The separation of church and state guarantees that families and students — not politicians — get to decide if, when and how to engage with religion. Superintendent Ryan Walters is abusing the power of his office to advance a Christian nationalist agenda and impose his personal religious beliefs on other people’s children. Not on our watch. We’re proud to defend the religious freedom of all Oklahomans, from Christians to the nonreligious.”

    Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, stated:  “This Bible mandate is a blatant power grab that violates state law and tramples the separation of church and state. Public-school students, families, and teachers — and the taxpayers who support them — deserve better.”

    Tamya Cox-Touré, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, said: “By filing this lawsuit, Oklahomans have come together in a common fight to reject the State Board of Education’s use of religion as a cover for repression. All families and students should feel welcome in our public schools and we must protect the individual right of students and families to choose their own faith or no faith at all. The separation of church and state is a bedrock of our nation’s founding principles.”

    The defendants in the lawsuit are Walters; the Oklahoma State Department of Education; the Oklahoma State Board of Education and its five members, Donald Burdick, Sarah Lepak, Katie Quebedeaux, Zachary Archer and Kendra Wesson; and the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services, its Executive Director Rick Rose, State Purchasing Director Amanda Otis and Contracting Officer Brenda Hansel.

    The attorneys and legal staff on the team representing the plaintiffs include Patrick Elliott and Samuel Grover at FFRF; Alex J. Luchenitser, Luke Anderson, Scott Lowder and Jess Zalph at Americans United; Daniel Mach and Heather L. Weaver at the ACLU; Megan Lambert at the ACLU of Oklahoma; and Colleen McCarty and Leslie Briggs at Oklahoma Appleseed.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national educational nonprofit that protects the constitutional separation between state and church and educates about nontheism. Founded in 1947, Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a religious freedom advocacy organization that educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. The ACLU of Oklahoma works to secure liberty, justice, and equity for all Oklahomans through advocacy, litigation and legislation, leading by example and fueled by people power. For more than 100 years, the ACLU has worked in courts, legislatures and communities to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With a nationwide network of offices and millions of members and supporters, the ACLU takes on the toughest civil liberties fights in pursuit of liberty and justice for all. Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is a 501(c)3 public interest law firm that fights for the rights and opportunities of every Oklahoman.

Democracy

Watchdog Group Releases 

2024 Democracy Scorecard

Members With Perfect Scores Up 15% From 2022

    Washington — 10/9/2024 - Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog, recently released its 2024 “Democracy Scorecard,” recording every member of Congress’ support for voting rights, Supreme Court ethics, and other reforms.  

    “Our 2024 Democracy Scorecard shows a surge of support in Congress for reforms that strengthen the right to vote, take back the Supreme Court, and break big money’s grip on our politics,” said , Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said. “The number of members of Congress with perfect scores increased more than 100 percent from 2020, with 58 members in our 2020 Scorecard to 117 in this year’s Scorecard. As we see the wealthy and well-connected try to influence our politics and our very livelihoods, we must demand our leaders deliver on the people’s pro-democracy agenda.”   

    Since 2016, Common Cause has tracked support and co-sponsorship of democracy related legislation. This year’s scorecard includes ten legislative items in the U.S. Senate and 13 in U.S. House, including the Freedom to Vote Act, John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, and more.  

    “The 2024 Democracy Scorecard empowers voters with information to hold their leaders in Washington accountable for a government that works for all,” said Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause. “Six of Washington’s members of Congress earned a perfect score or near perfect score for their support for pro-democracy legislation. With this year’s pivotal election, we must drive these key reforms to the top of the agenda so everyone is afforded an accountable government, no matter what state we call home.” 

    Washington members of Congress with perfect or near perfect scores:  

  • Senator Patty Murray: 10/10 
  • Representative Suzan DelBene: 13/13 
  • Representative Pramila Jayapal: 13/13 
  • Representative Adam Smith: 13/13 
  • Representative Marilyn Strickland: 13/13 
  • Representative Derek Kilmer: 12/13 

    Washington members of Congress with low scores 

  • Representative Cathy Rodgers: 0/13 
  • Representative Dan Newhouse: 2/13 

    Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization and does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office.

To view the 2024 Democracy Scorecard, click here. 

Discrimination

SPLC Demands Action to Address

Surge of Hate Crimes 

October Designated as Hate Crimes Awareness Month

    WASHINGTON — (SPLC 9/29/2024 The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) recently responded to the release of the FBI 2023 Hate Crime Statistics Act report by, once again, calling for Congress to expand community-based, prevention efforts and make hate crime reporting mandatory by law enforcement agencies across the country. The SPLC issued its statement on 9/24/24.

    The 2023 report documented 11,862 total hate crimes, including significant increases in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim crimes. Hate crime reporting came from 16,009 participating law enforcement agencies — out of more than 18,800 federal state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide — reversing a five-year trend of declining police participation. 

    “One hate crime is too many in our country,” SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang said.“While today’s report shows a welcome uptick in the number of law enforcement agencies that are participating in the FBI’s data collection, the picture is still incomplete. Far too many agencies, including many in the Deep South that serve large populations, do not report credible data, which puts many people — especially Black, Latinx, Asian, Jewish, LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities — at risk."

 The SPLC has designated October as Hate Crimes Awareness Month to bring more attention to the prevalence of hate crimes and press for urgent action. This annual effort is prompting national conversation and action to prevent hate and foster an inclusive democracy where each of us feels safe and welcome in our communities. 

    “At a time when bigotry, conspiracy theories and disinformation are being mainstreamed and are influencing individuals to engage in hate crimes, we need an accurate understanding of where bias-motivated crime is most prevalent so that we can create coordinated responses that keep communities safe. And, to truly stamp out hate, those responses must incorporate strategies that prevent those susceptible to being influenced by the fringes of society from moving down the dark path of radicalization,” Huang said.