Or at least, he thinks they should have the choice.
No, this isn’t #Fake News. On Monday, the Donald himself weighed in on the controversial movement to introduce Bible literacy in schools.
Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2019
Trump’s tweet is a reference to the six state legislatures across the U.S. where “Bible literacy” legislation has been proposed, and would allow public schools to offer elective courses on the Bible from a literary or historical perspective.
Of course, the opponents of such Bible courses are many, and their concerns are that teaching religious texts in public schools may infringe the separation of church and state. But supporters like the president feel that there’s a way to approach the Bible academically without fear of violating constitutional rights.
In a USA Today interview, Republican state Rep. Aaron McWilliams made his case for such legislation.
“The Bible is an integral part of our society and deserves a place in the classroom,” said McWilliams, who co-sponsored a Bible literacy bill in his home state of North Dakota.
Arguments like that haven’t satisfied the critics, however.
“State legislators should not be fooled that these bills are anything more than part of a scheme to impose Christian beliefs on public schoolchildren,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State in the same interview.
Kentucky is no stranger to such controversies, having just recently passed its own Bible studies bill into law. Unanimously approved by the Kentucky Board of Education in 2018, Kentucky’s Bible literacy standards were created to provide students with educational opportunities to “explore the Bible’s relevance to contemporary society and culture.”
With Kentucky’s framework for Bible literacy standards already in play, defenders like Trump are hoping that states like Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia will take a page from the Bluegrass State.
It’s not yet clear what kind of impact Bible literacy legislation will have on public schools in these six states, but of course, we all know that the president is more of an instinct man than an intuition kind-of-guy. I guess you could say he walks by faith, not by sight.
After all, isn’t that what Two Corinthians encourages us all to do?
Photo by Gage Skidmore, CC-Licensed.