Senator James Lankford (R-OK) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Bible should be “taught in schools” as a historical document and cultural document.
Host Dana Bash said, “I do want to ask about something that’s going on now in the Texas School Board, which voted this week to incentivize public schools to use an optional curriculum that incorporates Bible lessons. It began earlier this year in your home state of Oklahoma, which required schools to have Bible in classes and include the Ten Commandments and lessons. You are a pastor, you are a public official, both of these issues are very near and dear to your heart. Do you think it’s appropriate to incorporate religion into public education like that?”
Lankford said, “In Oklahoma, we’re allowing students to be able to do off-campus religious education if they want to have actual religious education. They can do that off-campus. It’s an elective, like choir or band or any other number of electives that are out there. They can get a chance to be able to do off-campus religious education. So, any conversation about the Bible shouldn’t be a religious tone. I’m will know that my Christian faith has impacted my life dramatically, and I am the primary teacher to my children of my faith. That shouldn’t be a public school teacher to do that. But I am saying that the Bible is also a part of Western civilization and part of our founding. Many of our founders were very passionate about scripture and about the Bible, and studied it. So as a historical document, as a cultural document, it absolutely should be taught in schools. As a religious document, that’s up to parents and to faith leaders off campus.”
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