In a new article on the Boundless Reading site I examine a recent ruling from the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejecting the publicly-funded St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, concluding the school violates both Oklahoma state law and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has announced it will appeal.
Two days later, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, announced a new mandate requiring Oklahoma public 5–12th grade classes to keep a Bible in every classroom and teach from a new curriculum in which the Bible will feature prominently; any teacher who refuses to teach according to the new Christian Nationalism-infused curriculum will be deemed in violation of both the law and state standards, and will be punished accordingly.
In the end, I believe this is both a loss and a win for Ryan Walters and the Catholic Church in Oklahoma.
I should note that I never intended to write about political issues on a site dedicated to publishing works on Christian spirituality and mysticism. At the time, however, I could not sit idle while the Church of which I was a member manipulated the state government to enrich itself at the educational, financial and spiritual expense of the people of my home state of Oklahoma. I was compelled to speak out, and so I did.
Note the past tense in the previous paragraph: “the Church of which I was a member.” While I spoke out as a faithful Catholic, a person who protests against ecclesiastical corruption, manipulation and abuse will sooner or later be made to feel unwelcome in the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Diocese of Tulsa. Therefore, even though I never intended my battle against such sinful attitudes and activities to result in leaving the Catholic Church, my family are now members of the Episcopal Church, and are grateful for the deep Christian belief and action we have found there.
Image: Supreme Court chamber in the Oklahoma state capitol (Source).
