Louisiana bill violates religious freedom
March 27, 2023
Since the country’s founding in 1776, the government has prioritized religious freedom. Louisiana’s newest bill jeopardizes students’ protected right to religious freedom.
If passed, Louisiana House Bill 68 allows public high schools to offer Bible literature courses as an elective. The new class would examine the Bible as if it were a classic novel. The bill’s sponsor, Valarie Hodges, argues that the Bible is too influential not to be taught in schools.
Passing HB 68 would infringe on every student’s right to religious freedom in the classroom.
The newly-proposed Louisiana legislation may intend to help high school students understand the literature of the Bible, but it could result in the suppression of minority religions.
While Hodges states that HB 68 does not favor specific beliefs, teaching the Bible to high schoolers implies that the Bible is more important than other religious texts. The class suggests Christianity is more important than other religions.
There are many other religious texts that could be taught instead of the Bible, such as the Quran. It has stories and anecdotes like the Bible does. However, the reaction to teaching the Quran would likely be different than that of the Bible.
By teaching the Bible in a class, the bill excludes other religions and places a greater emphasis on Christianity.
The new law may violate the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religious expression and forbids any federally-funded institutions from promoting one religion over another. Since public schools receive funding from the government, Louisiana may break constitutional law.
Although the bill states that the teachers of these courses must remain religiously neutral, teachers could argue that the First Amendment gives them the right to express their Christian ideas to students. HB 68 would only blur the lines between religious expression and suppression. Students already have the option to learn more about the Bible through churches and clubs. An elective class is not necessary. If schools are going to teach literature, a single religious text should not be the primary focus of the class. A wide range of texts should be covered to convey different writing styles.
Legislators should vote no to HB 68 and protect the religious freedom of high schoolers.
Dani G • Mar 29, 2023 at 11:56 pm
I tend to agree with your thesis but not your reasoning here. Bible as Literature shouldn’t be offered as an elective in Louisiana because many, if not most, teachers who might be asked to teach it in our high schools would find it difficult NOT to offer up and/or lean into discussions of the theology presented and its implications in society, various Christian denominations, and other world religions and philosophies. THOSE conversations are the ones that might end up marginalizing some students and violating their civil rights. Some teachers would feel beholden to take the opportunity to proselytize, others might be more subtle but no less eager to evangelize.
The Bible is most certainly a worthy piece of literature, but for many of us it’s worth is in its message for our lives rather than its artistry. Save Bible as Lit for university campuses where professors and students might be more apt to deal with it in that context alongside other historic religious texts.
Anonymous • Mar 28, 2023 at 10:48 am
If you live in the United States of America the pledge states we are “ one nation under God “- so taking an elective to learn the Bible can only better the schools . So people want to fight offering this elective but prefer to keep the crazy and chaos that’s continued to transpire over the years in schools ? And all religions lead back to the Bible anyway – those that have God. It’s an elective , no one is forced to take it and it will only bring about positive changes for those who take the course. If others don’t want their lives affected they don’t have to take it . So , we can have LGBT clubs as an option in schools but people want to fight against the one thing this country was founded upon in the first place . America was blessed for a reason and still is – because of its origin . It’s why people want to come into our country . Live here , then you opt to have better living conditions and economy because of the foundation of our country- and it’s because of God and his blessing on us . Take away God , and you only get more evil which is what we have seen transpire in our public schools for years now. So much more to it than this but I can say if people fight this , I can say that’s an insult to this country and our children and not to the constitution . It’s an elective ,not a requirement. So, the solution is to fight over this -in exchange for the continuing disregard for morality and human life and future of the kids ? 🤷♀️🤔
John Carr • Mar 28, 2023 at 9:49 am
More Bibles have been published and distributed world wide than ANY other book in history. Aside from any religious beliefs, this fact alone should qualify it as worthy of literary review in an “elective” class. It’s certainly better material than the cross gender and pornographic content being shoved down students throats in some school districts these days.
Colleen Pinder • Mar 27, 2023 at 8:35 pm
The key word here is ELECTIVE. No one is forced to take the class. Duh