OK Ed Secretary Walters now requiring Bibles In every state classroom

[wnylib]

15. The Supreme Court already ruled on a related issue

with Bibles in schools, back in the early 1960s.

I went to public schools in PA in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, PA law required that all public school classrooms begin the school day with the Pledge of Allegiance and the reading of a full chapter from the King James Bible.

I remember that I was chosen to read a Psalm for my 6th graduation ceremony in the school auditorium. I had a strong voice that would carry. It was late spring and I practiced in our back yard. My best friend, Judy, came into the yard and I asked her to listen and tell me if I was doing ok. She refused. She was Catholic and told me what a sore point it was among Catholics that they had to listen to a Protestant Bible in school. It was the first time that I became aware of that issue.

Judy fold me that the Catholic Church was bringing a case to court over it. People today remember Margaret Murray's successful court challenge because she was an atheist. But Catholics and other religions were also challenging the constitutionality of it. The SC chose Murray's case to rule it unconstitutional to force public school students and teachers to participate in religious activities like Bible reading and prayer.

Even the pastor of our family's Protestant church agreed with the court ruling. He gave a sermon on how the ruling protected religious freedom. He also said that, if parents wanted their children brought up on the Bible and the church's beliefs, then it was their responsibility to do it and they should not shirk that onto the schools.

This would not be exactly the same case, unless Oklahoma teachers start teaching children from the Bibles.

Even RW Catholics are likely to oppose this in Oklahoma if the Bibles are Protestant versions.