Idaho Considers Legislation To Force Bible Into Classrooms
From Forbes.com
The Idaho Family Policy Center announced last month that a bill to require daily Bible reading in every classroom has made it to the Idaho House Education Committee. HB 162 is yet another example of legislation that has been encouraged by recent Supreme Court decisions eroding the wall between church and state.
IFPC announced that it is “excited to partner" with the bill’s sponsor, Idaho Representative Jordan Redman. IFPC is “a ministry that advances the lordship of Christ in the public square through engaging the church, promoting God-honoring public policy, and training statesmen.” They “work closely with” other noted groups on the religious right, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family, and the Family Policy Alliance. Elected in 2022, Redman was himself homeschooled and homeschools his six children. The self-declared born-again believer has championed other conservative causes in the legislature, including an attempt to involve Idaho in a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution which was voted down last week.
The meat of the bill is fairly simple. Schools are to select the King James, the New King James, or the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, and have teachers read a bit each morning, sequentially, resulting in the entire Bible being read over ten school years. Any student questions about the reading “shall be referred to the pupil’s parent or guardian.”
Teachers who object for reasons of religion or conscience can be excused and replaced with a substitute reader. Students may be excused with a note from home.
The argument included in the bill does not leave room for other religious texts; it leads with “The Bible is the most important book in the world.”