Oklahoma bill would fire teachers for offending Christian morals by teaching biology

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: LGBTQ Nation

Oklahoma Sen. Rob Standridge (R) has introduced legislation that would allow parents to sue any public school educators who teach anything “in opposition to closely held religious beliefs of students.” Standridge has also introduced a bill that would give individual parents the power to demand the removal of any book from school shelves that they believe contains LGBTQ content.

While the proposed laws are reminiscent of religious edicts imposed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Standridge, a Trump follower, isn’t backing down from his hateful attacks on the LGBTQ community.

The bill would allow parents to sue teachers for $10,000 “per incident, per individual.” The fine would need to be paid by the teacher “from personal resources” and the educator cannot “receive any assistance from individuals or groups.” If the teacher is unable to pay and receives assistance, they will be fired immediately and unable to teach in the state for five years.

“A biology teacher who explains evolution could be ratted out by a Creationist who’s failing science class. A health teacher who educates students about different forms of birth control won’t be in that classroom for very long if an abstinence-promoting teenager is on the roster,” journalist Hemant Mehta explained.

Read more: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/02/oklahoma-bill-fire-teachers-offending-christian-morals-teaching-biology/

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ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!

[AZLD4Candidate]

1. Didn't we do this in Tennessee about 100 years ago?

[TreasonousBastard]

2. This shit is "introduced" too often. It's gonna pass one day.

[AngryOldDem]

13. Yep.

We are truly entering a new Dark Ages. Legislation like this is gaining traction, thanks to GOP supermajorities in statehouses and gerrymandering to make sure that never changes.

[cab67]

21. And get tossed out by the courts.

I think it's an atrocity, but to be honest, I'm less worried about the bill itself (which is patently unconstitutional) than about the presence of someone who thinks it's both constitutional and a good idea in any sort of legislature.

[LT Barclay]

25. My underlying worry is that I believe that in the majority of cases the people that are doing this

know it will be struck down, they know it is stupid and regressive, but do it anyway to pander to the idiots in our society. So we don't have politicians striving to be leaders, just the next figurehead of the angry mob.

[Budi]

3. At some point the only book they'll allow to be used in school will be their bible.

Christofascist nation.

What country will America resemble again?

[lastlib]

41. They want us all down on our knees in the church of their choice....

...THEIR choice.

If they want religious rule, they should move to Iran.

[Budi]

44. IRAN. Oh boy..that would be a lesson learned

😬

[RockRaven]

4. Start recruiting kids w/ closely held religious beliefs which conflict w/ all the dumb pablum spewed

by lots of teachers in almost every classroom in the US.

Native Americans, Muslims, Neopagans, Jews, Satanists... IDGAF, sign them up and let's start suing every damn Xian teacher in Oklahoma, no matter how milquetoast. Every damned sentence out of the mouths of some people is laden with bullshit religionists undertones; if they pass this law, turn it back around on them one hundred-fold.

[brewens]

7. If we let these Evanpedical Christians infest our schools, it'll be "Catholic Preists, hold our

beers!"

[Lonestarblue]

14. It will be the modern version of the Inquisition.

All people not adhering to their extremist white evangelical beliefs, which have almost nothing to do with the actual Bible, will be declared heretics and punished in many ways, both financially and personally. What a depraved bunch of people!

[Slammer]

6. just imagine

Oklahoma Sen. Rob Standridge (R) has introduced legislation that would allow parents to sue any public school educators who teach anything “in opposition to closely held religious beliefs of students.”

I wonder if the man understands that some of the people in his state are Muslim, Hindu people who are vegetarian & thus object to the idea of killing animals, and native Americans who might use hallucinogenic drugs in religious ceremonies and thus object to the War on Drugs, Prohibition, etc.?

[k0rs]

40. And atheists

Can atheists sue xtians for offensive religious nonsense? And what about the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

[keopeli]

10. I've seen this 1000 times. Sen. Standridge is likely a closeted gay man who does this to try to...

...prove to others, and himself, that's he is not really gay when he actually is very, very gay. Some enterprising investigative journalists should take on this challenge. I doubt that it would be very difficult to uncover the truth.

I'm so proud of the many states, regions, and cities in America that have embraced their LGBT population. Their acceptance has greatly reduced the likelihood that a closeted person like this OK Senator would go to such lengths to try and prove how heterosexual they are, or at least diminish the chance that any such endeavor would be successful. Young LGBT Americans are growing up with a far more stable emotional and psychological profile. The hard work of teaching acceptance and equality that so many of us have spent our lifetimes trying to achieve for our progeny has paid off for a great many LGBT youths and future generations.

Still, populations that cling to their guns and their bibles continue to torture themselves and their children. Were it not for the severe damage this politician is doing to so many others, a fair degree of pity would be appropriate. Unfortunately, this man's insecurities and sexual identity crises are perpetuating a dangerous and damaging religious zeal that lingers nearby in the collective memories of many Americans who lived with this type of overwhelming societal pressure and torture until it began to recede in many places just a few short years ago. To be clear, this toxic oppression has not disappeared by any means, as the current situation in OK affirms. But the situation has improved for many and the opportunity to live without the self-loathing that is demonstrated by individuals like Sen. Standbridge is more abundant than ever before.

To the many men and women that sacrificed, through blood, sweat, and tears, so much of themselves to bring our culture collectively to the better place that we enjoy today, I thank you from the depths of my heart. You are owed the gratitude of a nation, and of generations of future Americans who will prosper and thrive from the fruits of your labors.

(Sorry to be long-winded. As a gay man that grew up in the throws of this cult of religious oppression in Oklahoma and Texas, I'm passionate about this topic - obviously.)

[rpannier]

11. Satanists and Pastafarians see gold

[Old Crank]

12. Yesterday spent part of the afternoon

Here

https://www.ns-dokuzentrum-muenchen.de/home/

The National Socialist Document center in Munich.

The US is on the same path.
It gets a bit harrowing reading the proceeding and then looking at the US.
I took a couple of pictures from the exhibit statements.

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNVkP6hJbXs8X7_3qW2HZhyR1P63WGxEB6M90zG

Can't figure out how to post my own pictures to this site. Since I don't have an online place for them, other than auto uploads to photos.google

[bucolic_frolic]

15. "any book from school shelves that they believe" & if you remove biology how do they procreate?

If there are all these LGBTQ people out there, and they are driven into hiding, how does anyone know when they read a book that "he" and "she" is not LGBTQ content?

I mean, just ban reading, math, and writing and get it over with!

[Evolve Dammit]

16. What country are we in?

[durablend]

33. Amerikkkastan, clearly

[Evolve Dammit]

34. Damn

[NCjack]

17. Oklahoma -- still backwards.

[3Hotdogs]

18. Republicans: "Fuck gub'mint overreach.

Unless it deals with religion."

[PatSeg]

19. Such laws are going to cause

a major teacher shortage. The risk of being sued for $10,000 just for doing your job is too great for those who are already underpaid.

Meanwhile, the proposed law will backfire on them when Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu parents decide to use it.

[Evolve Dammit]

35. They could care less. They will bring their own to preach and "teach."

[PatSeg]

38. Or more likely,

once again they aren't thinking of the consequences of all the stupid crap they propose. They are too busy grandstanding for the media and don't really know how to do their job.

[Evolve Dammit]

39. Fair enough. Not deep thinkers. Sort of like MAGATS and 45 who just want to burn us down.

[IronLionZion]

20. Probably the same folks who are worried about Sharia law and CRT and indoctrination

also a good way to discourage good sensible people from being public school teachers. Killing the public education system is their real goal.

These bigots could just send their own kids to the many religious private schools out there. But they don't want those other kids to learn it either.

[iemanja]

27. While they impose their own Sharia law. nt

[cab67]

22. all hat, no cattle.

I don't think this Standridge knob expects his bill to become law. It's flagrantly unconstitutional and would get overturned by the courts before it could even be enforced, and I suspect he knows that. He's promoting it to show off his right-wing evangelical chops to his base, some of whom might honestly think this might actually get through the state legislature and survive a court challenge. It's straight-up showmanship.

As another commenter pointed out, anyone who thinks this is a good idea hasn't really thought it through. It would all but prevent any teacher from saying anything at all.

[dalton99a]

23. POS is a pharmacist who owns an online pharmacy

https://www.normantranscript.com/news/local_news/standridge-wins-runoff/article_fc866565-1186-5756-90bb-9c04aaf3d69d.html

http://www.legendcarepharmacy.com/about-us.html

[IronLionZion]

24. He can sell Ivermectin, HCQ, and snake oil to conservatives

[iemanja]

26. Like it's not hard enough to be a teacher already

Who would want to become one today?

[chowder66]

28. Seems to me that Rob Standridge is hiding something.

Typically people this zealous will have some hypocritical issue in the news within a few years or less.

[Moostache]

29. the root cause is obvious...

fucking religion and "sincerely held beliefs" as a way to skirt reality.

Quit giving religion outsized unearned respect.

These people are lunatics...treat them accordingly.

[EndlessWire]

30. This is just what the Nazis did.

Book burning, screwing around with restrictions on knowledge and education...this is part of it. I can't believe that people are getting paid to jack us around. Make these people go away, please.

[orleans]

31. republicans doing what they can to keep oklahoma residents as stupid as fuck nt

[Evolve Dammit]

36. It is unbelievable

[TeamProg]

32. "Oklahoma" is the word we use in our home for a required bowel movement. For #1

we just say 'Mississippee".

Both seem extremely appropriate, natural and kind of fun to say, even among friends.

Spread the words!

[tavernier]

42. :) My Daughter's family says

Ohio State. Bet you can’t guess that they’re Michigan fans.

[ancianita]

37. When ignorance is the standard, intelligence is subversive.

Oklahoma will get the babysitters it deserves.

Women, children, Black and Hispanic residents need to get. out.

[Emile]

43. What happened to the separation of church and state?

[pfitz59]

45. The Talibornagain

strike again!

[Missn-Hitch]

46. Forget photosynthesis. Plants are green because it's the most pleasing color to the Lard.

[BlueIdaho]

47. Fucking Christians...

Bet they’ve never even read the New Testament.

[Martin68]

48. That'll keep the Okies out of the job market. Goo luck with that.

[Skittles]

49. I'll never understand how you can live there!

but.....I don't have room to talk from Texas, do I