Who knew? Oklahoma wants Bibles.
A lot of them. Like 55,000. That’s the size of the request issued by Ryan Walters, superintendent of public instruction for Oklahoma. Walters earlier mandated that each public college classroom within the state be outfitted with a Bible and that the Bible be taught in these school rooms.
I think that the residents of Oklahoma, situated squarely within the Bible Belt, may need a Bible or two mendacity round that could possibly be contributed to the trigger. Once I wrote about what was then referred to as the Christian Booksellers Assn. a number of a long time in the past, I discovered that many Christian households had as many as a dozen Bibles on their bookshelves, so I think about that the great Christian of us in Enid or Tahlequah or Stillwater might ship a number of to highschool and save the taxpayers some cash.
However Walters has different concepts. His authentic plan requested the Legislature for greater than $3 million to buy 55,000 Bibles. And never simply any Bibles.
He at first specified that they be the King James Model and embody the Declaration of Independence, the Structure and the Pledge of Allegiance. As soon as reporters made the plan public, he amended it — the Bibles might embody all that.
In fact, that’s not your common Bible.
However wait . . . didn’t I hear not too long ago a few new King James Model that included these very paperwork? It was sure in a “leather-like” materials, as I recall, which was (and continues to be) laid out in Walters’ request for proposals.
Ah sure, the “God Bless the USA” Bible, endorsed by none apart from Donald J. Trump. Apparently, it retails for $59.99, and should you do the maths, 55,000 Bibles at $59.99 a pop comes out to simply about $3.3 million.
Hypothesis abounds that Ryan Walters, who types himself a Christian conservative, needs to ingratiate himself with Trump to be able to snare an appointment in a second Trump administration. Right here I assumed Betsy DeVos was a catastrophe as secretary of training — and make no mistake, she was — however are you able to think about Ryan Walters in that position?
For the document, Amazon sells the ESV Economic system Bible for $2.54 every. But it surely doesn’t carry the imprimatur of a thrice-married convicted felon. And am I the one one who finds it a tad ironic that any version of the Bible carries the endorsement of somebody responsible of the seven lethal sins: satisfaction, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth?
I’ve no objection to the Structure or the Declaration of Independence. I want extra Individuals had been conversant with their nation’s constitution paperwork, together with Oklahoma’s training superintendent. Really, I commend to Walters the first Modification to the Structure. It says one thing concerning the institution of faith.
He may need to familiarize himself with the Invoice of Rights earlier than mandating Bible instructing in public colleges. And as Walters is perusing his “God Bless the USA” Bible, I’d additionally counsel a cautious studying of Matthew 25, the Sermon on the Mount, and John 18:36, the place Jesus declares, “My kingdom will not be of this world.”
What’s subsequent? Maybe Walters will mandate that every one scholar athletes in Oklahoma be required to put on Trump’s $499 gold sneakers. One other merchandise the previous president has in all probability by no means used himself.
Randall Balmer is a professor of faith at Dartmouth and the creator of “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America.”
