An Oklahoma Senator has expressed concern about teachers who "may not be believers" themselves teaching the Bible in the state's public schools.
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin is a member of the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). He expressed that he wants his children to learn about the Bible in school, but that someone who also learned about and practices the Bible should be the instructor.
"I want it to be taught by someone that was taught the Bible themselves, too. I think it's a slippery slope when you put it in the hands of teachers that may not be believers, that's going to be teaching the word that can easily be taken out of context," Mullin said on Wednesday during an appearance on NewsNation's show "The Hill."
"If you just leave it in the hands of a public school teacher that may be not able to actually teach it because they weren't taught it themselves, then it can cause a tremendous amount of confusion," he continued.
Last week, Oklahoma's State Superintendent Ryan Walters expressed an openness to a national mandate requiring the Bible to be taught in schools. An existing mandate in Oklahoma requires for the Bible's impact on U.S. historical culture to be taught in classrooms.
"Look, I believe that if you're teaching American history, the Bible absolutely has to be included. And we cannot allow left-wing activists to sit here and say we don't like Christianity," Walters said.
"You have to have it in the classrooms. We will ensure that history is taught in every class. That means kids will know American exceptionalism," he continued. "That means kids will know the role that faith played. We will be unapologetic about that here in Oklahoma. We want to make sure that every student knows the role that the Bible played in American history."
Walters was sued by parents and educators for the mandate in October due to it being "unconstitutional".
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