An open letter to Mr. Ryan Walters and those in positions of authority:
Mr. Walters, et al.,
Recently the decision was implemented that the Bible be an instituted piece of curriculum within the Oklahoma school systems, statewide. In your direct words,
“It’s crystal clear to us that in the Oklahoma academic standards under Title 70 on multiple occasions, the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system,” Walters said.
While you most certainly will not read this, I still feel the impetus to address your comments, one by one, and disabuse you and yours of the inherent flaws of thought evinced by your decision. First, let us begin with your statement above. If you truly believe that the Bible is simply an historical document deemed to be utilized as a secular teaching tool, then I have to point to the blatant heresy in your words. The Bible is, without equivocation, the divine working of God made manifest in writings through God’s disciples and prophets throughout the ages. Whittling down the intent of holy scripture to the base of being ‘historically accurate information’ is akin to stating that the Bible is simply another history book without further meaning.
You cannot possibly, as you espouse your Christianity, believe that to be true. As a Christian, I assume that holy scripture has meaning in your life and allows you to perceive the world through the lens of faith that Scripture helps support. So, stating that the Bible is only necessary for explaining “a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system,” is a direct undermining of historians everywhere who have painstakingly taken the time to curate world history, and American history, and reducing that work to be inadequate. I am the proud possessor of three college degrees, Mr. Walters. I was educated in a poor public school system by teachers who did their best with the materials provided—not once did they attempt to utilize the Bible as an historical document.
Do you know why that is?
Because it’s not.
There are no dates provided with specificity to allow children to grasp an historical timeline within which said events took place. At best, there are general eras indicated. Now, if you would like to employ theologians of all stripes to explain and elucidate the timelines of the Bible, I would readily agree that that would be immeasurably better than allowing someone without the proper training and education to do so. Put another way: Would you allow someone with an English degree to teach Mathematics? Would someone with a history degree be qualified to teach Spanish? No, no they would not. Their esoteric knowledge is what makes them irreplaceable conduits for education in their fields. They are literally the experts. So, having someone teach the Bible in courses without proper background education is akin to allowing someone who stayed at a Holiday Inn Express operate on someone who is actively in need of a heart transplant.
The next statement you made in reference to the ruling made in favor of St. Isolde’s:
“What the court did was rule against the parents of Oklahoma who have demanded more choices for their kids. We have a great opportunity to make sure that parents have the most options of any parents in the country here in Oklahoma, by giving them the ability to go to a public school, charter schools, private schools, this would have been the most unique charter school in the country,” Walters said.
Mr. Walters, you have contradicted yourself, here. If parents are being wronged by one school teaching a particular tenet of Christianity within their walls, then aren’t they also being wronged by the inability to have multiple sources of what you call ‘historical documents’ made available? For instance, the Quran? The Talmud? The Amduat? All of these texts have important places in the history of the world, and yes, even the history of the United States. Yet, the Bible is that which you have chosen. How does this allow for an equitable glance at a fundamental understanding of Western Civilization? Would not knowing that from which the Pilgrims fled, that from which Christianity departs, be necessary to understand how the current America operates and holds its ethos? That assumes also that this country is founded upon Christian ideals—a fact that can easily be disputed when considering Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian. Would not these other instances of ‘historical documents’ then be necessary to parse out the ‘why and how’ of the evolution this country how it has experienced said evolution over the last three hundred years?
I am also dismayed at the notion that the Ten Commandments be posted and taught in the classroom. These are tenets of faith, not historicity, and as such are beyond the scope of the separation of Church and State. Actively applying the ten commandments to children’s daily learning is swerving into a lane, again, of theology and not civic instruction. And, if I am being completely honest, none of us are able to live into the decalogue without the grace of God. So, how exactly do those commandments play into the teaching regimen necessary to instruct children of the history and goings-on of a nascent country departing from a monarchy and attempting to establish itself as a democracy?
Because, Mr. Walters, America is a democracy. We are not a theocratic nation. Therefore, if you want to teach holy scripture, the ten commandments, or any other type of faith-based material, then you would have to allow ministers and priests with Masters of Divinity or, in the least, a degree from a bible college, to do so. We are the only ones qualified—per the requirements you place on other teachers of varying subjects—to instruct children in the ways of the subject matter. Thus, you turn a democratic history into a present theocracy.
Mr. Walters, your decision is heretical, underhanded, and pandering to a base of people who don’t really want the Bible taught in schools. Why? Because people belong to different denominations within Christianity and we don’t all agree on everything. Therefore, I urge you with my entire soul, to recant your unilateral decision to sway and indoctrinate the minds of young people with a one-sided view of Christianity. Doing this will only result in more hatred of other religions, denominations within Christianity, and push people further away from considering a faith-based community.
Stay in your lane, Mr. Walters. Leave theological teaching to those who earned the right to do so.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Sean A. Ekberg, MDiv
Episcopal Church of the Resurrection
Oklahoma City, OK