Viewpoint — On Senate Bill 1161: Oklahoma children need good education, not indoctrination
Amid the flurry of bills our state legislators will try to pass this spring, a few bother me deeply. Senate Bill 1161 authored by Sen. George Burns (R-Pollard) is one that would demand only the King James Version (KJV) be used in the classroom as principle text for electives if a Christian Bible is used. I believe this attempt to control teaching material is both pedagogically and theologically problematic and violates the spirit of the First Amendment. —
First and perhaps foremost, it is sensible of the author to write a provision allowing parallel translations alongside the KJV, as well as encouraging clergy to serve as religious educators. Unfortunately, however, there are apparently many Christian clergy whose traditions do not require formal training in the complex translational, historical, social or literary aspects of any version of scripture. How do we guarantee the quality of knowledge of the person teaching with this book, KJV or otherwise?
Additionally, there are many problems with the argument that KJV would be the best option as primary text simply based on scholarly understanding. The Rev. Dr. Lisa Wolfe, a professor of Hebrew Bible, said: “The King James Bible is over 400 years old. There have been massive amounts of new biblical and archaeological research since that time, revealing previously unknown manuscripts, leading to more accurate translations.” For example, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1940s led to discoveries that improved the historical accuracy of translation and even added verses to the Bible.
The KJV is also firmly placed in time and culture, written in Elizabethan English at the behest of a king with a particular political and religious agenda with editors ensuring scripture matched Church of England teaching, leading to bias and even inaccuracies in its translation. It has in our own country already been used in the mistreatment of non-Protestant Americans in very similar ways, like the 1830s Pennsylvania law that only the KJV be used in public schools, thus preventing Catholic students from reading the version their faith system approved. This bill could likewise alienate Oklahoma Christians from Catholic, Orthodox, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), or other traditions that utilize additional primary texts.
Quoted as saying “Our Founding Fathers relied heavily upon the scriptures in the formation of our country, and the Bible they used was the King James Bible,” Sen. Burns endorses Christian nationalism, the idea that the United States is defined by one particular faith and leaders ought to legislate to protect and enforce it. Was it the deep understanding of this book that led to governmental treatment of the Native Americans or the enslavement of Africans, or the persecution of Jews, Catholics and Muslims in the 19th and 20th centuries? If we claim that the Bible is the best book to explore the significance of Christianity in American culture, we need to go there. I support hard questions like this, but I am reminded we can no longer by law discuss those particular events with a lens to theories of cultural/theological understanding and history.
Our children need good education, not indoctrination. Let’s find ways to support good scholarship on the part of teachers and foster our public school children’s education, rather than imposing a subgroup’s values and ideas of correct belief or reading material on them.
Noel J. Jacobs is president of The Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: On SB 1161: Oklahoma children need good education, not indoctrination
