Oklahoma School Superintendant Ryan Walters, a deep-seated Trumper if there ever was one, spent much of November trying to force teachers to play a video of him announcing a new Department of Religious Freedom and Patriotism in which he prays for Donald Trump.
He announced the new office in November, subsequently firing off an email to school superintendents statewide. The new department will be part of the state’s Department of Education. Walters said the new department will “oversee the investigation of abuses to individual religious freedom or displays of patriotism,” CBSNews reports.
“In one of the first steps of the newly created department, we are requiring all of Oklahoma schools to play the attached video to all kids that are enrolled,” the email states. Districts were also ordered to send the video to all parents.
In the video, Walters goes on to claim religious liberty is under attack and that patriotism is being mocked “by woke teachers unions.” Then the right-wing Christian nationalist goes on to pray for the leaders of the U.S. after adding that students don’t have to join in the prayer.
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“In particular, I pray for President Donald Trump and his team as they continue to bring about change to the country,” Walters said.
Fortunately, the office of state Attorney General Gentner told CBS News that Walters doesn’t have the authority under state law to issue such a mandate.
“Not only is this edict unenforceable, it is contrary to parents’ rights, local control, and individual free-exercise rights,” said Phil Bacharach, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office. Several school districts have also said they had no plans to show the video to students.
Walters, who taught public school before being elected in 2022, made sure that fighting “woke ideology” was the grist for his platform’s mill, banning books from school libraries and disposing of “radical leftists” whom he says are indoctrinating children in classrooms. He’s already facing two lawsuits over his mandate in June that schools incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12. Multiple school districts have previously stated they plan to ignore the mandate.
One of the lawsuits against Walters notes that the initial request for the proposal released by the State Department of Education to purchase the Bibles has been designed to match Bibles endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. You might remember that these particular Bibles sell for $59.99 each.
This doesn’t sound like something that would make Jesus happy if he did, in fact, exist. Remember, he wasn’t too happy with the money changers in the temple.
And apparently, Walters has been feeling spendy because he also spent $25,000 on 500 “God Bless the USA Bibles” to be used in Advanced Placement government classes. The department said they were expected to arrive “in the coming weeks. ”
Well, isn’t that just special? In 2023, Oklahoma school systems were ranked the worst in the country, The Oklahoman reports. But hey, just throw a Bible at it. That’ll work. Walters should be upset over this ranking, but no, he wants to give students that old time religion and set everyone even further back than they already are. This is why we must continue to fight right-wing Christians who view the world through such toxic eyes. Walters is so blinded by this that he wants to inflict his views on everyone else.
And woe to people who don’t fit in with his narrow vision.
I’ve included a clip of his nutty video below, accompanied by incisive commentary.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
