Ryan Walters is working extra hard to follow the guidance of his hero!
Because the King James Bible is apparently too complex for Oklahoma students, Ryan Walters and OSDE recently filed a purchase order request to stock every Oklahoma elementary school classroom with dumbed-down biblical teaching materials—ensuring that students can be properly indoctrinated into Christian lore and propaganda without all those pesky big boring words.
According to an RFP filed with OMES last Friday, the OSDE is actively seeking a vendor to supply supplemental instructional materials designed to integrate the Bible into elementary school classrooms.
Via Fox 25:
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is looking for a vendor to supply supplemental instructional materials to integrate the Bible into elementary classrooms.
OSDE put the request for proposal into the Office of Management and Enterprise Services on Friday.
Inside the request, OSDE wants a vendor who can produce and deliver materials with "age-appropriate Biblical content" that can "provide simple explanations that are easily understandable for elementary-age students."
The request for a proposal comes several weeks after lawmakers grilled State Superintendent Ryan Walters about the reading level needed for his Bible-in-every-classroom initiative.
Specifically, OSDE wants a vendor that can produce and deliver materials with "age-appropriate Biblical content" that can "provide simple explanations that are easily understandable for elementary-age students."
Honestly? That’s not a bad idea.
If you're going to teach an elementary student about Julius Caesar, you don't make them read The Conquest of Gaul. You repackage the story into a coloring book, fun activity sheet or pizza box to make it engaging!
The same logic applies to the Bible.
It’s long, outdated, and filled with weird, off-putting teachings that are more likely to scare kids away from Christianity than convert them to it. So if you truly want to indoctrinate students effectively, you need better tools than an ancient, boring book. You need worksheets, word searches, and a space where they can color their own golden plates.
Wait. Is that from a different book? Religious indoctrination… errr… history wasn’t really a thing when I went to public school, so I’m not up to date on where all the relics belong.
Anyway, although this seems like a blatant attempt by the evangelical right to indoctrinate young students into the foundations of their religion, Ryan and Co. say there’s nothing to worry about.
They’re just raising our kids to be virtuous.
In Friday's new request for proposal, OSDE said the supplemental instructional materials must show Biblical figures and stories have influenced historical events and cultural practices in the United States.
The request states that "Materials should provide activities and exercises that help students apply these core virtues to their daily lives. "
Yep, screw science, math and reading! We’re going to teach kids to be virtuous! In fact, I hear Ryan and his former McAlester co-teacher of the year buddy – Rachel Morris – are going to develop the lesson plan!
I do have one question—or favor—to ask from Ryan and OSDE.
Instead of indoctrinating all elementary students with evangelical biblical lessons designed to convert them into Christians, why can’t we make this part of school free and voluntary?
For example, perhaps schools could work with local non-profits to open their doors on a non-school day, like a Sunday, and have volunteers from the community come in to teach students age-appropriate lessons from the Bible.
We can call them "churches."
Then again, although the tax breaks are nice, these facilities won’t explicitly use taxpayer money to indoctrinate, so Ryan and Co. would probably be against it.
Anyway, I guess we’ll continue to follow Ryan’s effort to—in the words of Lenin—transform the whole world with one generation of youth by forcing religion into public school classrooms.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
