Oklahoma Bible battle continues as state superintendent now raising $3 million to place them in classrooms 

The battle over Bibles continues in Oklahoma as state Superintendent Ryan Walters continues his attempts to place the holy book in the state’s public schools and curriculum. 

Walters, an unabashed Christian and staunch conservative, has made headlines for spending $25,000 on Bibles for use in AP government classes and then for mandating schools teach the Bible in grades 5-12, an order some schools have said they would ignore. 

After he asked the state to solicit bids for 55,000 more Bibles to go into state classrooms, a diverse group including parents, activists and an Oklahoma City pastor appealed to the state Supreme Court to block the order. 

The court issued a “stay” to temporarily block the plan Monday, preventing the state from spending $60 each on the “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bibles Walters wanted to purchase. 

A few days earlier, Walters had announced a joint fundraising effort with country singer Lee Greenwood, who wrote the 1984 hit song by that same title, to raise $3 million for the Bibles, which contain The Pledge of Allegiance, Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence along with the King James Version. 

It was not immediately clear if Monday’s court decision would prevent Walters from placing the Bibles in schools even if they were donated.  

The order applied to “any other action to implement or enforce the ‘Bible Education Mandate,'” KOCO-TV reported, as well as any effort “to further the ‘Mandate’ in any other way.” 

Walters issued a statement about the ruling saying, “The Bible has been a cornerstone of our nation’s history and education for generations. We will continue fighting to ensure students have access to this foundational text in the classroom.” 

The controversy over Bibles highlights a growing division between Walters and Gov. Kevin Stitt. Although both are Republicans, Stitt has rejected the state funding the Bibles and a request by Walters that schools record their students’ immigration status. 

Stitt, who overturned that order, also replaced three members of the state Board of Education that supported it, saying he did not like seeing children used as “political pawns,” the Associated Press reported. 

But Walters reacted negatively, saying aspects of “the liberal D.C. swamp” had “now leaked into Oklahoma’s executive branch.” 

The state is also the subject of a high-profile Supreme Court case that could authorize the nation’s first religiously affiliated charter school. Oral arguments in that case are slated for April 30.