Reading, math, Hindu scripture, Baphomet — non-Christians, others explore charter schools
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Virtual charter schools that teach reading and math, along with topics like Hindu scripture, Catholic ideology or Satanic ideals, may be in Oklahoma's future.
In other words, a recent decision by the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board could be a boon not only to Catholics but also for Hindus, Satanists, non-Christian groups and other Christian groups, as well as anti-religious organizations. That's the way Hindu leader Rajan Zed said he views the state board's recent decision to establish St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a school run by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma that would receive taxpayer funding. The school would be the first taxpayer-funded religious school in the U.S.
"Although we do belong to a different religion, we welcome it because we think think that religion is highly important and beneficial to the overall wellbeing of the nation and society and Oklahoma as a whole region," Zed, president of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism, said Monday.
"It's money well spent as long as all religions are represented."
More: Public or private? Charter law question at the center of Oklahoma Catholic school debate
Co-founder of The Satatic Temple responds to Oklahoma religious charter school approval with interest in creating school
In recent days, Zed and Lucien Greaves, co-founder of The Satanic Temple, each expressed interest in applying to start a virtual charter school. Zed said he reached out to the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board for an application form, and a board employee sent him a link with information on Monday.
Greaves took to social media to share his interest in starting a virtual Satanist school. The Satanic Temple, based in Salem, Massachusetts, is the self-described primary religious Satanic organization in the world with congregations around the world and numerous public campaigns designed to preserve and advance secularism and individual liberties.
"We'll consider opening an alternative school if the courts uphold a flagrantly self-serving & uneducated, utterly unqualified & ignorant school board's vote to overturn the constitution," Greaves tweeted.
Zed said he is seriously considering applying to start a virtual charter school because the "door is now opened" for Hindu organizations like his, as well as Muslim, Jewish, Baha'i Faith, Buddhist, Sikhs and other non-Christian religious groups, to do to the same as the Roman Catholic Church. He said other Christian denominations might follow suit.
As for a virtual Hindu charter school, should one be approved, Zed said students would be taught typical school topics but also Hindu scripture and values based on those scriptures such as the value of harmony. He said they also would be taught about the multiple deities of Hinduism, which he described as representatives of Brahman, the "supreme Godhead or ultimate reality."
Religious charter school funded by taxpayers is a bad idea, Oklahoma rabbi says
Rabbi Abby Jacobson, president of the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma, said she isn't so sure non-Christian groups would gain approval for virtual charter schools as Christian organizations.
"I am not optimistic that the proponents of religious charter schools have those religions in mind when they thought about this process," she said Monday.
Jacobson, spiritual leader of Emanuel Synagogue, said she thinks allowing a religious school funded by taxpayer dollars is bad idea, no matter which religion is responsible for it.
"This is not a decision that is made to keep our students safe, happy or healthy," she said of the recent approval of the Catholic virtual charter school.
"I think this is a decision made to attempt to proselytize to students and their families by offering them what looks like better than standard public education, but comes with a religious veilance to it. Taking public money to do it makes me worry that they are actually using it as a recruitment tool or an outreach tool to bring more children and families into their religion and school time is not an appropriate time for that."
More: Rabbi: Oklahoma parents are desperate. Religious charter schools aren’t the answer.
A history of recent religious matters in Oklahoma
Both Zed and The Satanic Temple have previously weighed in on religious matters in Oklahoma.
In 2018, Zed made history by delivering the first Hindu prayer ever given before the Oklahoma Senate. The Hindu statesman appeared before the Senate dressed in saffron, the most sacred color in Hinduism, under the sponsorship of then-state Sen. Stephanie Bice, who is currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also gave Hindu invocations at the Grady County Commission meeting, Oklahoma County Commission meeting, Enid City Council and Claremore City Council during the same visit to Oklahoma.
More: Public or private? Charter law question at the center of Oklahoma Catholic school debate
In 2021, he publicly discussed his hope of displaying a 10-foot-tall monument showcasing various Hindu deities at the state Capitol for the Hindu festival Diwali after the American Nativity Scene and the Thomas More Society were allowed to place a Nativity scene in the government building.
"Hindus welcomed the idea of demonstration of religion at public places as long as it permitted the exhibits of diverse religions and denominations practiced in Oklahoma and the nation and the expression of non-believers," Zed said at the time.
The Satanic Temple (then known as the Satanic Temple of New York) caused a furor in 2014, when it unveiled designs for a statue of Satan as Baphomet — a goat-headed demon with horns, wings and a long beard — to be placed alongside the Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of Oklahoma’s Capitol. The group withdrew its request in 2015 after the Ten Commandments monument was removed from state Capitol grounds because the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Hindu, Satanic Temple express interest in Oklahoma religious schools
