This is the best news I've heard in quite a while. That teachers and school administrations in Oklahoma care so much about how they deal with the children in their charge is encouraging after a fashion I hardly expected. What is bothersome to me now is how Walters will react to this blowback. Will he double-down and try to put the force of law behind his ill-considered memo? I suspect he will need to reflect seriously about that, considering not just those schools who have stated openly that they will not follow his directive, but the strong likelihood that supportive organizations such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation and/or American Atheists will side with those schools against him.
Could be a showdown is in the offing, and Ryan Walters should think long and hard about his next move.
He just wants to get it in front of the Supremes - there are 5 conservative catholics on the court and for the moment they are in cahoots with the Talibangelicals.
When it goes to the Supremes, they pull made-up crap out of Alito's nether regions and make new law. I don't remember if there has been time FFRF had a case before this SCOTUS...
I don't think the FFRF has actually argued a case in front of this SCOTUS, but they have been involved in some SCOTUS cases. For instance, they filed an amicus curiae ("friend of the court", i.e. not an official party to the case) brief in the recent Mifepristone case (FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine).
Andrew Seidel is the FFRF lawyer heading up their legal team, he is a force to be reckoned with. The thing is the Constitution is crystal clear on this issue. No matter how hard & loud they bluster, the xtian natCs will lose.
I honestly think he’s too crazy for SCOTUS. He is going against his state constitution, which explicitly states what he is trying to do is unconstitutional and the US Constitution.
He has the power to revoke teaching licenses and force teachers out. One of his first acts as State Superintendent was to instruct the Oklahoma Department of Education to revoke the teaching licenses of two Oklahoma teachers who had been critical of HB-1775, a law that limits teaching concepts around race and gender. And he has stated that teachers who do not comply with his decrees will be fired. He is a tyrant.
I don't know what the law says, but I doubt he can simply fire people he disagrees with. Should he start doing that, he might trigger a mass exodus of Oklahoma teachers. His decree needs to be challenged in court, and the sooner the better.
I think you're right, he doesn't have the power to fire teachers directly. But he does have the power to initiate the revocation of their teaching licenses:
"In an interview with NBC News, Walters said if a teacher refuses to follow the Bible instruction mandate, they’d face the same consequences as one who refuses to teach about the Civil War. The punishment could include revocation of their teaching license, he said, a process that requires a vote by the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which Walters chairs."
Would love to see him try to fire teachers or screw with their licenses over forcing them to teach something that is already subject to separation of church and state. Interesting and fun court cases for FFRF.
Mass exodus of public school district teachers either by their choice to leave OK or this tyrant fires them? Nothing would be more hilarious 3 weeks before school starts over teaching some bible BS. That should go over great with parents. Guess these southern states haven't figured out there is a countrywide shortage of teachers. It's not that hard for teachers to move to any other state and find employment esp with national listings we can all access. This superintendent is the one who'll be looking for a job. Guess he also hasn't figured out that the entire country doesn't object to the RWs ridiculous description of WOKE which only means a person is aware of things like diversity. equality, fairness and compassion. Something quite a few Americans need to learn and the rest of us have no objection to those concepts being taught.
The main purpose of unheritage weakfoundation is to start at local, state levels, stir up controversies through these cfstates' or wanna bes' mandates!, and reach all the way to cfscrotus who'll grant their unconstitutional wishes.
We should all remember the made up, hypothetical, may be funded by nfoundation "cake and the website cases"; the cfscrotus has become dangerous to the people they supposedly represent. They were going to use the comstack act but the rethugloCons knew that they'll have -0% chance if winning in November. It's beyond imagination what will happen, rather we can, if drumfp and his enablers slither into WH.
Christian Nationalist tantrum thrower insists on turning all the public schools into Jesus Academies, professional educators ignore tantrum. Even in Bible belt Oklahoma, professional educators understand their job to be educating and not indoctrinating.
You don't understand! He knows perfectly well that nothing will actually happen as a result of what he said, but he has increased the prominence of the Bible in schools as a concept to rally support, and to separate friends from enemies. To use a biblical expression, it is not a policy proposal, at all, but a shibboleth
Great word choice to describe this zealots actions. Almost. Since it has a biblical origination I can see the use of the word in many ways in different peoples minds. However, in my mind knowing how it was used to identify non Israelites so they could be murdered fits well with my view of the evil of the Bible and its teachings.
Thanks. Actually, to identify Ephraimites; divisions within divisions. But I don't think they'll teaching about that episode in Oklahoma schools, anyway
Thank you. Having walked away from religion decades ago my biblical memory fades. Your correction makes your choice of that word even more fitting and powerful.
“"We are ending the era of woke indoctrination, a hatred for our country, and a deliberate attempt to warp kids' minds," the guidance states. "We are ending the days where there is bigger concern to keep Gender Queer and Flamer in schools…”
The bigger concern is providing safe and accepting spaces for all the students and staff even those who are LGBTQ and people of color in the schools where they are required by law to attend. Making the students the priority should be a no-brainer, but that’s not what their bible in the classroom bullshit is about. And let’s not forget this man’s role in the death of Nex Benedict, how he delighted in their attack and subsequent passing. Made it out to be their fault. The safety of students is not in his thinking, unless it’s to take it away.
“rather than understand the US Constitution, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments."”
What does he know about it? He clearly does not have the slightest inkling what the constitution says or means if he completes that sentence with the Bible and Ten Commandments. And, Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments really aren’t as a critical part of the religion as they make it out to be. First, it’s part of the Jewish faith that led to Christianity. Second, the actual teachings of Jesus are supposed to be the foundation of the religion, but they never try to focus on the Beatitudes. When can we see folks trying to put them up in schools? If anything from the Bible would be effective in discouraging violent behavior (not that I think anything would, it’s just shallow thinking) the beatitudes would be better suited to it than a cold, dry list of rules. A call to empathy and humanity changes hearts more than authoritarian rules. Nevermind the 200 years of precedent telling us that this type of crap is unconstitutional.
“The guidance emphasizes the Bible's impact on how Western civilization was built, including philosophy, legal frameworks, ethics, and cultural norms: "Teachers should focus on how biblical principles have shaped the foundational aspects of Western societies, such as the concepts of justice, human rights, and the rule of law."”
He does know that the Bible is the opposite of the principles this country is founded on regarding justice, human rights, and the rule of law, right? No? This is going to backfire on him bigly. Teaching the history of certain colonies will show how unjust strictly following the biblical laws actually is, or even the whole history of why certain groups left Europe, England specifically, so they could practice their faith out from under the Church of England’s rule, and remind students that some were forced by threat of death to come here. Teaching the Bible’s impact on our founding may not leads kids to Jesus they way he hopes it will.
…
“Aside from Western civilization and American political history, the guidance highlights the Bible's influence on literature, including its heavy reference in some of the most prominent literary works through allusions, archetypes, and themes. Teachers will also be required to highlight the Bible's own use of literary techniques, such as allegory, metaphor, and parable, "allowing students to appreciate the Bible’s literary craftsmanship without delving into religious doctrine," the guidance states.”
While I assume there are parts of the Bible that has some literary craftsmanship and some pretty sounding poetry, it is not a great work. I mean, how many folks actually read the begats? Tell me the craftsmanship there. They don’t even follow a lineage through. You have to Wade through hundreds of begats to be able to find a grandfather-grandson connection. It doesn’t go “David begat Andrew. Andrew begat Paul.” No, David begat Andrew. Wallace begat Heracles. And I never did find who Andrew begats. And grammatically speaking, it’s a dumpster fire. The whole book. Besides the story doesn’t flow, the concepts are contradictory, and the morals are missing altogether (aside from the idea of blind obedience to authority, which is this guy’s whole aim.)
“Teachers will also be expected to explore the Bible's influence on art and music and its interpretation through famous works and the historical context that surrounds them.“
Ah, yes, the Bible influenced art and music because the church took everyone’s money by force, then, being the organization with all the money outside the monarchy, spent it on commissioning art and music to suit its agenda. There were artists and musicians that were inspired by their Christianity, but plenty of the greatest works commissioned by the church were done by folks the church castigated. Plenty of artists chose to survive and get paid by completing commissions that were biblically based. The art even has elements that show the artist’s disdain for the subject or the specific person commissioning the piece. So, teaching the reality of Christianity’s influence on art will end up the same as teaching the religion’s influence on human rights and justice.
Good for the actual educators in the state for pushing back on this nonsense.
"Hatred of our country" is a hallmark of NatCs. They've repeatedly shown that they despise the Constitution and our secular government. They are, in effect, traitors who'll do anything to destroy this constitutional republic and turn it into a fascist xtian theocracy. Just as Christians have always sided with despots.
Let's not forget that, pre printing, we know more about religious music because the church had a monopoly on teaching, yet some profane popular music survived despite it.
As far as he's concerned, if Nex had just been normal and Christian everything would have been fine. But she wanted to be weird and heathen and got what she deserved.
(I'm not sure what their GAB was, but I know Walters would misgender them)
Warner Bros, courtesy of the Termite Terrace and its denizens: Friz Freling, Chuck Jones, and Bob McKimson. Those guys made the best damned cartoons I ever saw!
hey, I'll have you know that Dorothy's house (35 miles over in the next town) is QUITE close to the Oklahoma border, and Glinda the Good Witch is MORE THAN CAPABLE of dropping a house on Walters.
Yeah, but tornadoes move sw to ne primarily, Be a little hard to get from the Kansas border to OKC. Now picking up a house in Moore, you could easily drop it in Midwest City, just depends on where Walters lives. To hit the capital complex you'd probably have to pick it up in Mustang.
Though I do wonder what Dorothy's house was made of that it came down in relatively one piece.
There exists a fundamental difference between what the right wing in this country wants people to be afraid of, and what the left wing in this country wants people to be afraid of. With the former, all they have to offer are "could bes" and "what ifs," absent any evidence to support the speculation. They fearmonger about imagined monsters under the bed- specters born of old prejudice and ignorance.
And as for the latter...
What the left wing wants people to be afraid of 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. We cry wolf because there is, in fact, a motherfucking wolf, and it is snacking on a rack of lamb in the pasture.
The Christian right clings to the delusion that somehow our Constitution is based on the Bible, even though our foundational document never mentions the words Bible, Christianity or Jesus and bans religious tests for holding public office. If Walters sees himself as an expert on American history, then he should know our secular government cannot choose one religion or one magic book over another. Oklahoma ranks 49th nationally in SAT scores, and rather than address the underlying causes, Walters evidently thinks he can use the Bible to rectify that situation.
Jesus himself attended the Oklahoma public school system and got a combined 666 on the SAT. He was accepted only into OSU but dropped out his first semester to become The Almighty God. He accomplished nothing in his career except getting Trump elected. Most recently he came down to Delaware and told Joe Biden to drop out.
That’s the part that kills me. He has done nothing to help improve education for his students. No ideas, no plans, nothing. Just screaming persecution and banning books.
His only answer to every question is. . . 'more Jesus!' My grand daughter graduated from OU. She loved the university but couldn't wait to get out of Oklahoma once she graduated.
My gratitude to the people with the actual hands on experience and the significant mandate to educate students for their willingness to stand up to yet another Christian Nationalist bully.
A wannabe bully until he gets punched directly in the fucking mouth and finds himself bending over to pick up all his teeth. These Christian NatC clowns are always Billy Badass until an actual liberal with conviction confronts them. They have deluded themselves into thinking all progressives do is drink earl grey tea and eat avocado toast and are averse to guns. I have found some Republican filth are quite shocked when the Fox News propaganda stereotype of left leaning independents doesn’t fit in real life. Met a few at the bar who ran with their tail tucked between their legs.
"We are ending the era of woke indoctrination, a hatred for our country, and a deliberate attempt to warp kids' minds[.]"
So I'm guessing he would prefer history teachers to skip lessons about how the Bible and Christian theology was used to justify both the mistreatment of indigenous Americans and the slave trade? Or how entire Christian denominations (like the Southern Baptists) were formed for the purpose of defending slavery?
Let’s not forget that he said, very clearly, to his followers at a rally that he doesn’t care about them, only their votes. Then proved it shortly thereafter when he wasn’t harmed by a gunman, but three of his supporters were, one died, and he didn’t bother to acknowledge them at all. Well, not until he molested the one guy’s firefighting uniform on stage. And it was so clearly a cynical attempt to woo supporters. Like the time he humped the flag. He only thinks about them when it pays him to.
And that amazes me more than anything he says. It seems like they think he is joking. It scares me too, how gullible they are, they hear what they want to and forget to pay attention to what he actually says.
He said the quiet part out loud. No more elections if he becomes dictator. No more having to make electoral decisions for yourself (as if MAGA does). All the more reason to make sure he doesn’t win anything but an all expenses paid trip to prison.
But it does not matter, they don't care what he says. What's important for them is that he wins. I have no idea why, unless they really wants a new civil war and a new atom bomb drop somewhere.
Some of my inlaws have contacted us to visit Norway next year. If DT wins I wonder if they will be allowed to leave. Or if they get here for two or three weeks, will be allowed to return.
Trump may have opened his mouth once too many times with that one. That quote is ALL OVER THE PLACE: the New York Times, CNN, USA Today, The Hill (on the right), and Mother Jones (on the left), and that's not all of 'em.
He needs to be called on that crap and I mean NOW.
Didn't he said all teachers must use the babble ? Why are P.E. and science teachers discriminated upon ? They could associate, the formers using babble to replace balls, javelins and others, and the latters go watch sport classes to study aerodynamics 😁
In biology classes: Bats are birds. Whales are fish. Gods created blah blah. (Yeah, he and others *would* go there, again. Sigh.) Insects have 4 legs. In math classes: pi = 3. (Try that on the SATs.) In geology/earth science: hell is in Australia, Earth is a flat disc with a crystal dome. If you're gonna use the Bible to teach, you gotta be consistent and use the thing to teach *every* class. My guess is that the guy didn't want to sound as stupid as he clearly is, so he left these examples (and more) out. I first started reading the Bible the summer before I turned 9 (1961) because it was one of the few books in my family's house and I was the kind of kid who would read anything, as long as it held still long enough. Even at that age, I viewed the Bible as just another book of (poorly written) mythology. I preferred stories about Coyote, Anansi the Spider, and the heroes and goddesses of old. Much more interesting.
Witches are easy. First there's Salem which proves witches are real, and then there are all those people claiming to be witches today. Almost as much fun to rev up a 'lone wolf' and fire at as it is at LGBT people.
Again we see the current MAGA attitude 'rules for you, but not for me!' from a person in power. He honestly expects that people will obey him despite the fact he does not have the authority to make these proclamations. That isn't rule of law, that's an authoritarian despot desperately attempting to prove that he is, in fact, the actual king of his hill and nobody should question that.
Ryan Walters is a cautionary tale about the importance of local elections and why everyone should get out and vote. It matters. The people of Oklahoma may or may not have known what sort of person they were voting on when Mr. Walters was elected, but they know now. Hopefully, that will motivate them to get to the polls next time.
I have been bathing in the nothern Atlantic sea all places possible on our way down from 70,06°N to 59,8°N the last two weeks. And I didn't freeze at all at 70°N. That is uncommon.
According to my weather forecast guy it's going to pretty much rain all week here. So I guess I'll be exercising in the garage for a while. Still – can watch YouTubes at the same time.
This is the best news I've heard in quite a while. That teachers and school administrations in Oklahoma care so much about how they deal with the children in their charge is encouraging after a fashion I hardly expected. What is bothersome to me now is how Walters will react to this blowback. Will he double-down and try to put the force of law behind his ill-considered memo? I suspect he will need to reflect seriously about that, considering not just those schools who have stated openly that they will not follow his directive, but the strong likelihood that supportive organizations such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation and/or American Atheists will side with those schools against him.
Could be a showdown is in the offing, and Ryan Walters should think long and hard about his next move.
He just wants to get it in front of the Supremes - there are 5 conservative catholics on the court and for the moment they are in cahoots with the Talibangelicals.
Idk FFRF has been winning, they’re a force to be reckoned with. I know they don’t deal with the Supremes, but they do great work.
When it goes to the Supremes, they pull made-up crap out of Alito's nether regions and make new law. I don't remember if there has been time FFRF had a case before this SCOTUS...
I don't think the FFRF has actually argued a case in front of this SCOTUS, but they have been involved in some SCOTUS cases. For instance, they filed an amicus curiae ("friend of the court", i.e. not an official party to the case) brief in the recent Mifepristone case (FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine).
Andrew Seidel is the FFRF lawyer heading up their legal team, he is a force to be reckoned with. The thing is the Constitution is crystal clear on this issue. No matter how hard & loud they bluster, the xtian natCs will lose.
I honestly think he’s too crazy for SCOTUS. He is going against his state constitution, which explicitly states what he is trying to do is unconstitutional and the US Constitution.
+++ From what I've read, he really doesn't have much in the way of enforcement power, and I cannot see his directive surviving a court test.
He has the power to revoke teaching licenses and force teachers out. One of his first acts as State Superintendent was to instruct the Oklahoma Department of Education to revoke the teaching licenses of two Oklahoma teachers who had been critical of HB-1775, a law that limits teaching concepts around race and gender. And he has stated that teachers who do not comply with his decrees will be fired. He is a tyrant.
I don't know what the law says, but I doubt he can simply fire people he disagrees with. Should he start doing that, he might trigger a mass exodus of Oklahoma teachers. His decree needs to be challenged in court, and the sooner the better.
I think you're right, he doesn't have the power to fire teachers directly. But he does have the power to initiate the revocation of their teaching licenses:
"In an interview with NBC News, Walters said if a teacher refuses to follow the Bible instruction mandate, they’d face the same consequences as one who refuses to teach about the Civil War. The punishment could include revocation of their teaching license, he said, a process that requires a vote by the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which Walters chairs."
Lawsuit time. I seriously doubt he can revoke teaching certificates for not following his illegal mandate.
"Church/state separation groups couldn’t file a lawsuit because this wasn’t an official policy and no one had been forced to comply yet."
Could be just a matter of time though....
Do you think he cares ? Their goal is to destroy public education.
Would love to see him try to fire teachers or screw with their licenses over forcing them to teach something that is already subject to separation of church and state. Interesting and fun court cases for FFRF.
Mass exodus of public school district teachers either by their choice to leave OK or this tyrant fires them? Nothing would be more hilarious 3 weeks before school starts over teaching some bible BS. That should go over great with parents. Guess these southern states haven't figured out there is a countrywide shortage of teachers. It's not that hard for teachers to move to any other state and find employment esp with national listings we can all access. This superintendent is the one who'll be looking for a job. Guess he also hasn't figured out that the entire country doesn't object to the RWs ridiculous description of WOKE which only means a person is aware of things like diversity. equality, fairness and compassion. Something quite a few Americans need to learn and the rest of us have no objection to those concepts being taught.
The main purpose of unheritage weakfoundation is to start at local, state levels, stir up controversies through these cfstates' or wanna bes' mandates!, and reach all the way to cfscrotus who'll grant their unconstitutional wishes.
I prefer to call them the Nazi Heritage Foundation.
Is he able to ? Since falters doubled down when he knows his threats are empty, it makes me doubtful.
He hasn't had his poor judgment sufficiently rubbed in his nose just yet. I'm hoping that that's coming, and the sooner, the better.
I worry the tantrum will turn violent.
Ryan Walters isn't that type- he's the type that exhorts the OTHER guys to commit violence, while he watches on TV from a remote location.
Now that's downright Trumply!
They're all the same!
Look at him all the privilege oozing out of him. He'll have people fighting for the cause on his behalf for his assendancy to national level.
"privilege oozing out of him" yes quite the fair skinned boy, destined for supremacy
We should all remember the made up, hypothetical, may be funded by nfoundation "cake and the website cases"; the cfscrotus has become dangerous to the people they supposedly represent. They were going to use the comstack act but the rethugloCons knew that they'll have -0% chance if winning in November. It's beyond imagination what will happen, rather we can, if drumfp and his enablers slither into WH.
Walter’s MO is to go scorched earth and threaten certifications and district accreditation. He’s a petulant bully when real educators push back.
Christian Nationalist tantrum thrower insists on turning all the public schools into Jesus Academies, professional educators ignore tantrum. Even in Bible belt Oklahoma, professional educators understand their job to be educating and not indoctrinating.
Too early to see how this will play out how it plays out depending on the upcoming election.
You don't understand! He knows perfectly well that nothing will actually happen as a result of what he said, but he has increased the prominence of the Bible in schools as a concept to rally support, and to separate friends from enemies. To use a biblical expression, it is not a policy proposal, at all, but a shibboleth
Great word choice to describe this zealots actions. Almost. Since it has a biblical origination I can see the use of the word in many ways in different peoples minds. However, in my mind knowing how it was used to identify non Israelites so they could be murdered fits well with my view of the evil of the Bible and its teachings.
Thanks. Actually, to identify Ephraimites; divisions within divisions. But I don't think they'll teaching about that episode in Oklahoma schools, anyway
Thank you. Having walked away from religion decades ago my biblical memory fades. Your correction makes your choice of that word even more fitting and powerful.
Exactly
“"We are ending the era of woke indoctrination, a hatred for our country, and a deliberate attempt to warp kids' minds," the guidance states. "We are ending the days where there is bigger concern to keep Gender Queer and Flamer in schools…”
The bigger concern is providing safe and accepting spaces for all the students and staff even those who are LGBTQ and people of color in the schools where they are required by law to attend. Making the students the priority should be a no-brainer, but that’s not what their bible in the classroom bullshit is about. And let’s not forget this man’s role in the death of Nex Benedict, how he delighted in their attack and subsequent passing. Made it out to be their fault. The safety of students is not in his thinking, unless it’s to take it away.
“rather than understand the US Constitution, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments."”
What does he know about it? He clearly does not have the slightest inkling what the constitution says or means if he completes that sentence with the Bible and Ten Commandments. And, Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments really aren’t as a critical part of the religion as they make it out to be. First, it’s part of the Jewish faith that led to Christianity. Second, the actual teachings of Jesus are supposed to be the foundation of the religion, but they never try to focus on the Beatitudes. When can we see folks trying to put them up in schools? If anything from the Bible would be effective in discouraging violent behavior (not that I think anything would, it’s just shallow thinking) the beatitudes would be better suited to it than a cold, dry list of rules. A call to empathy and humanity changes hearts more than authoritarian rules. Nevermind the 200 years of precedent telling us that this type of crap is unconstitutional.
“The guidance emphasizes the Bible's impact on how Western civilization was built, including philosophy, legal frameworks, ethics, and cultural norms: "Teachers should focus on how biblical principles have shaped the foundational aspects of Western societies, such as the concepts of justice, human rights, and the rule of law."”
He does know that the Bible is the opposite of the principles this country is founded on regarding justice, human rights, and the rule of law, right? No? This is going to backfire on him bigly. Teaching the history of certain colonies will show how unjust strictly following the biblical laws actually is, or even the whole history of why certain groups left Europe, England specifically, so they could practice their faith out from under the Church of England’s rule, and remind students that some were forced by threat of death to come here. Teaching the Bible’s impact on our founding may not leads kids to Jesus they way he hopes it will.
…
“Aside from Western civilization and American political history, the guidance highlights the Bible's influence on literature, including its heavy reference in some of the most prominent literary works through allusions, archetypes, and themes. Teachers will also be required to highlight the Bible's own use of literary techniques, such as allegory, metaphor, and parable, "allowing students to appreciate the Bible’s literary craftsmanship without delving into religious doctrine," the guidance states.”
While I assume there are parts of the Bible that has some literary craftsmanship and some pretty sounding poetry, it is not a great work. I mean, how many folks actually read the begats? Tell me the craftsmanship there. They don’t even follow a lineage through. You have to Wade through hundreds of begats to be able to find a grandfather-grandson connection. It doesn’t go “David begat Andrew. Andrew begat Paul.” No, David begat Andrew. Wallace begat Heracles. And I never did find who Andrew begats. And grammatically speaking, it’s a dumpster fire. The whole book. Besides the story doesn’t flow, the concepts are contradictory, and the morals are missing altogether (aside from the idea of blind obedience to authority, which is this guy’s whole aim.)
“Teachers will also be expected to explore the Bible's influence on art and music and its interpretation through famous works and the historical context that surrounds them.“
Ah, yes, the Bible influenced art and music because the church took everyone’s money by force, then, being the organization with all the money outside the monarchy, spent it on commissioning art and music to suit its agenda. There were artists and musicians that were inspired by their Christianity, but plenty of the greatest works commissioned by the church were done by folks the church castigated. Plenty of artists chose to survive and get paid by completing commissions that were biblically based. The art even has elements that show the artist’s disdain for the subject or the specific person commissioning the piece. So, teaching the reality of Christianity’s influence on art will end up the same as teaching the religion’s influence on human rights and justice.
Good for the actual educators in the state for pushing back on this nonsense.
"Hatred of our country" is a hallmark of NatCs. They've repeatedly shown that they despise the Constitution and our secular government. They are, in effect, traitors who'll do anything to destroy this constitutional republic and turn it into a fascist xtian theocracy. Just as Christians have always sided with despots.
No quarter for fascists.
Those people... it could open the door to teaching kids the meaning of 'whited sepulchars.'
Let's not forget that, pre printing, we know more about religious music because the church had a monopoly on teaching, yet some profane popular music survived despite it.
As far as he's concerned, if Nex had just been normal and Christian everything would have been fine. But she wanted to be weird and heathen and got what she deserved.
(I'm not sure what their GAB was, but I know Walters would misgender them)
GAB ???
Gender assigned at birth.
Thanks for info.
Hey JD!!! Some woman is here to see you!
https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/452916748_924330096465232_4823004421623983655_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=jIQ6157tmYEQ7kNvgEIeRdE&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AYCo93UTg6AYjgPKjNuP1SKu3qTsg1NVMGTeHWIx1qyYVg&oe=66AB09A5
Ooooo, look at the nice puddy-cats! 😁
I tawt I taw putty tat!!! Extra credit if you remember the name of the cartoon company!!!
You seem my kind of looney. May I play a tune ?
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down? 😁
Ah ! I didn't think about this one since I saw it in French.
I margot have something to do with it.
♫♪ Up ... and down ... and 'round it we sped / The dizzy pace soon went to my head! ♪♫
Merrily We Roll Along? :)
Warner Bros, courtesy of the Termite Terrace and its denizens: Friz Freling, Chuck Jones, and Bob McKimson. Those guys made the best damned cartoons I ever saw!
Merry Melodies and Looney Tunes!
But he doesn’t have a problem with cats, didn’t you hear.
Walters is the guy who fights to ban books. Maybe he should read the bible. Lots of nasty stuff between its covers.
Walters is the sort of person Kamala Harris was talking about when she said "We want to ban assault rifles. They want to ban books."
School districts to Walters:
"You have no power here!! Begone before I drop a house on you too!"
It's Oklahoma, not Kansas Skosko.
hey, I'll have you know that Dorothy's house (35 miles over in the next town) is QUITE close to the Oklahoma border, and Glinda the Good Witch is MORE THAN CAPABLE of dropping a house on Walters.
Yeah, but tornadoes move sw to ne primarily, Be a little hard to get from the Kansas border to OKC. Now picking up a house in Moore, you could easily drop it in Midwest City, just depends on where Walters lives. To hit the capital complex you'd probably have to pick it up in Mustang.
Though I do wonder what Dorothy's house was made of that it came down in relatively one piece.
They made houses to LAST back in the dust bowl days!
Glinda has much better aim than Yahweh.
Glinda can’t work tornadoes. That’s why she thought Dorothy was a witch, because she had special powers that Glinda didn’t.
Good timing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/26/oklahoma-public-schools-teachers-bible/?
But what will you do if another nastC get his shoes ?
To be fair, Oklahoma is also subject to frequent tornadoes.
I've lived near tornado alley for 20 + years. All of the tornadoes I've seen were in Oklahoma.
They're attracted by the National Severe Storms Lab located in Norman. That's why they keep leveling Moore just to the north.
I'm surprised people still live in Moore, because all they get is MORE TORNADOS!
There exists a fundamental difference between what the right wing in this country wants people to be afraid of, and what the left wing in this country wants people to be afraid of. With the former, all they have to offer are "could bes" and "what ifs," absent any evidence to support the speculation. They fearmonger about imagined monsters under the bed- specters born of old prejudice and ignorance.
And as for the latter...
What the left wing wants people to be afraid of 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. We cry wolf because there is, in fact, a motherfucking wolf, and it is snacking on a rack of lamb in the pasture.
The Christian right clings to the delusion that somehow our Constitution is based on the Bible, even though our foundational document never mentions the words Bible, Christianity or Jesus and bans religious tests for holding public office. If Walters sees himself as an expert on American history, then he should know our secular government cannot choose one religion or one magic book over another. Oklahoma ranks 49th nationally in SAT scores, and rather than address the underlying causes, Walters evidently thinks he can use the Bible to rectify that situation.
Jesus himself attended the Oklahoma public school system and got a combined 666 on the SAT. He was accepted only into OSU but dropped out his first semester to become The Almighty God. He accomplished nothing in his career except getting Trump elected. Most recently he came down to Delaware and told Joe Biden to drop out.
+++
Doesn't mention God, heaven, hell, or angels either.
That’s the part that kills me. He has done nothing to help improve education for his students. No ideas, no plans, nothing. Just screaming persecution and banning books.
His only answer to every question is. . . 'more Jesus!' My grand daughter graduated from OU. She loved the university but couldn't wait to get out of Oklahoma once she graduated.
My gratitude to the people with the actual hands on experience and the significant mandate to educate students for their willingness to stand up to yet another Christian Nationalist bully.
NatC bully
A wannabe bully until he gets punched directly in the fucking mouth and finds himself bending over to pick up all his teeth. These Christian NatC clowns are always Billy Badass until an actual liberal with conviction confronts them. They have deluded themselves into thinking all progressives do is drink earl grey tea and eat avocado toast and are averse to guns. I have found some Republican filth are quite shocked when the Fox News propaganda stereotype of left leaning independents doesn’t fit in real life. Met a few at the bar who ran with their tail tucked between their legs.
Fuck GOP filth.
Ya, he hasn’t tried it with the right one yet, but I promise it’s coming. He is going to yell at the wrong person and meet their hands.
Pete
https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/453063219_2921279801361606_2928929235264426992_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=4WO7P9lNYRYQ7kNvgEVQ2Be&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AYD4LWw2up8ylDwxa8ch8cszTEeW34d37nMAh7MqaykhYQ&oe=66AB2FFD
I have no doubt they will both raise two happy and functional children.
Let's hope they have the chance.
Unlike you and some others here, they have the means to flee in time if it comes to the worst.
"We are ending the era of woke indoctrination, a hatred for our country, and a deliberate attempt to warp kids' minds[.]"
So I'm guessing he would prefer history teachers to skip lessons about how the Bible and Christian theology was used to justify both the mistreatment of indigenous Americans and the slave trade? Or how entire Christian denominations (like the Southern Baptists) were formed for the purpose of defending slavery?
Establishing himself as Dictator-For-Life..
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c564d0721c699216cfbbd5fa195b35af0d74d7becf0ed540a0ae19d5404703f2.jpg
Lots of repetition. Typical of a person suffering from dementia.
Sleepy Farty Crooked Don the Con claims to love Christians? I guess he shouldn't have said these things back when he was POTUS:
"Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters"
theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-secretly-mocks-his-christian-supporters/616522
Let’s not forget that he said, very clearly, to his followers at a rally that he doesn’t care about them, only their votes. Then proved it shortly thereafter when he wasn’t harmed by a gunman, but three of his supporters were, one died, and he didn’t bother to acknowledge them at all. Well, not until he molested the one guy’s firefighting uniform on stage. And it was so clearly a cynical attempt to woo supporters. Like the time he humped the flag. He only thinks about them when it pays him to.
He's openly mocked MAGAts, calling them "morons" and "kind of pathetic." They just seem to laugh and lap it up.
If he gets the reins of power, his cannon fodder...the ones who sent him money they couldn't really afford to send him...won't be laughing for long.
We'll make up for it.
And they cheered him for that, each and every time...
And that amazes me more than anything he says. It seems like they think he is joking. It scares me too, how gullible they are, they hear what they want to and forget to pay attention to what he actually says.
He said the quiet part out loud. No more elections if he becomes dictator. No more having to make electoral decisions for yourself (as if MAGA does). All the more reason to make sure he doesn’t win anything but an all expenses paid trip to prison.
"...*my* beautiful Christians..."
It seems an odd way to put it but I guess it's true. They have sold their soul to the devil and he owns them now.
Saying the quiet part out loud ... AGAIN!
Donald Trump is incapable of being quiet.
But it does not matter, they don't care what he says. What's important for them is that he wins. I have no idea why, unless they really wants a new civil war and a new atom bomb drop somewhere.
Some of my inlaws have contacted us to visit Norway next year. If DT wins I wonder if they will be allowed to leave. Or if they get here for two or three weeks, will be allowed to return.
Trump may have opened his mouth once too many times with that one. That quote is ALL OVER THE PLACE: the New York Times, CNN, USA Today, The Hill (on the right), and Mother Jones (on the left), and that's not all of 'em.
He needs to be called on that crap and I mean NOW.
Another way to interpret what he is saying is that he doesn’t care what happens after him.
Source please.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/27/politics/video/trump-christian-vote-vinjamuri-nr-digvid
Thank you.
Didn't he said all teachers must use the babble ? Why are P.E. and science teachers discriminated upon ? They could associate, the formers using babble to replace balls, javelins and others, and the latters go watch sport classes to study aerodynamics 😁
In physics: "Let's use this Bible to find out if the ignition point of paper is actually 451° Fahrenheit."
In biology classes: Bats are birds. Whales are fish. Gods created blah blah. (Yeah, he and others *would* go there, again. Sigh.) Insects have 4 legs. In math classes: pi = 3. (Try that on the SATs.) In geology/earth science: hell is in Australia, Earth is a flat disc with a crystal dome. If you're gonna use the Bible to teach, you gotta be consistent and use the thing to teach *every* class. My guess is that the guy didn't want to sound as stupid as he clearly is, so he left these examples (and more) out. I first started reading the Bible the summer before I turned 9 (1961) because it was one of the few books in my family's house and I was the kind of kid who would read anything, as long as it held still long enough. Even at that age, I viewed the Bible as just another book of (poorly written) mythology. I preferred stories about Coyote, Anansi the Spider, and the heroes and goddesses of old. Much more interesting.
Don't forget that the KJV mentions dragons and unicorns.
Yes, and witches too. What are teachers supposed to make of *that*? The imagination boggles...
Witches are easy. First there's Salem which proves witches are real, and then there are all those people claiming to be witches today. Almost as much fun to rev up a 'lone wolf' and fire at as it is at LGBT people.
The Earth is a flat disc, and I have pictorial evidence to prove it.
https://www.ruthlessreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/discworld.jpg
Crush's ancient ancestor.
Again we see the current MAGA attitude 'rules for you, but not for me!' from a person in power. He honestly expects that people will obey him despite the fact he does not have the authority to make these proclamations. That isn't rule of law, that's an authoritarian despot desperately attempting to prove that he is, in fact, the actual king of his hill and nobody should question that.
Ryan Walters is a cautionary tale about the importance of local elections and why everyone should get out and vote. It matters. The people of Oklahoma may or may not have known what sort of person they were voting on when Mr. Walters was elected, but they know now. Hopefully, that will motivate them to get to the polls next time.
Optimist.
OT - It's raining calicos and collies here. 🌧️🌧️🌧️ It's been raining every afternoon here for the last few days.
Florida in summer
I said it, Europe and America are beginning to experiment summer monsoon.
I have been bathing in the nothern Atlantic sea all places possible on our way down from 70,06°N to 59,8°N the last two weeks. And I didn't freeze at all at 70°N. That is uncommon.
According to my weather forecast guy it's going to pretty much rain all week here. So I guess I'll be exercising in the garage for a while. Still – can watch YouTubes at the same time.
Send some of that here! We could use it!!!
At least you'll have company when the internet goes out. :)
I can't remember the last time it rained here. It's been (mostly) sunny skies and mild temperatures for a bit.
Wait, what? Isn't supposed to rain every day in Seattle?
It rains more in New York, Boston and Atlanta than it does in Seattle. :)