Oklahoma state Sen. Rob Standridge, a Republican, has introduced a bill that would allow people to sue teachers if they offer an opposing view toward religious beliefs held by students.
- In the Students’ Religious Belief Protection Act, teachers can be fined a minimum of $10,000 “per incident, per individual,” and the fines have to be paid from personal resources. If the teacher can’t pay the fine, they would be fired under this act, according to The Independent.
- It will also allow parents to demand the removal of any books perceived as anti-religious. This includes topics like evolution, the big bang theory and even birth control.
- Per Forbes, the bill does not specify what “deeply held beliefs” are but it is bound to change how subjects like history, science and health are taught.
Currently, the bill has no sponsors and has been referred to the Senate Education Committee. If passed, this act, which has been referred to as “necessary for the preservation of the public peace,” will take effect immediately.
The book banning trend
- Over a month ago, Standridge introduced a bill to ban books that reference identity, sex and gender from public school libraries, according to The Hill.
- A school in Tennessee recently banned “Maus,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust. The book included profanity and female nudity, the two reasons cited for the ban, according to Deseret News.