COLUMBUS – When secular progressives are not in control, the distortion of facts is one of the oldest tricks in their book. Now they are hitting the books once again, this time involving religious freedom of students in public schools.
Last week, the Ohio House of Representatives passed the Student Religious Liberties Act (HB 164), sponsored by Rep. Timothy Ginter, (R-Salem) with a bi-partisan vote of 61-31. Republicans hold a 61-38 majority.
(Photo courtesy of Ohio Legislative Directory)
“Children should feel safe to freely express their Christian beliefs in public schools,” said Aaron Baer, President of Citizens for Community Values. “HB 164 ensures all students are not discriminated against in public schools for merely living out their faith.”
After the lopsided vote, a misleading headline by the Cleveland Plain Dealer read: “Ohio lawmakers clear bill allowing students to turn in inaccurate work in name of religion – second anti-science bill in a week.” Several other news sources picked up where the Plain Dealer left off, including WKRC, Fox News, and the Washington Examiner.
Baer set the record straight after unfounded claims were probagated by mainstream media regarding HB 164.
“The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with the House Minority Leadership are trying to persuade people into believing that this bill is ‘anti-science.’ To be blunt, someone making this claim has to be illiterate to believe such a thing.”
“If they had done their own research, they would have seen that ten other states have passed nearly identical bills to HB 164. Even further, there has never been an incident where students were allowed to turn in inaccurate work in the name of religion.”
“If the media, ACLU, or House Democratic Leadership had done their own research, they would have seen that ten other states have passed nearly identical bills to HB 164. There has never been an incident where students were allowed to turn in inaccurate work in the name of religion.”
Aaron Baer
Citizens for Community Values
The Ohio House has passed this bill twice before in previous General Assemblies, and this ‘concern’ has never been raised before last week.
“Anyone who values diversity and religious freedom for all students should support HB 164; we look forward to an honest debate about this bill in the Senate. This attack by liberals on HB 164 just demonstrates the need for this bill to become law in our public schools,” says Baer.
One of the false claims by the Plain Dealer reported HB 164 would allow students to submit inaccurate classwork “in the name of religion.”
According to Baer, if a class is being tested on the Theory of Evolution, all students, regardless of their religious beliefs, must demonstrate an understanding of the Theory of Evolution.
(Photo courtesy of CCV)
“Under HB 164, A Christian or Jewish student would still not be allowed to say “my religious texts teach me that the world is 6,000 years old, so I don’t have to answer this question.”
What HB 164 would allow, for example, is if students are assigned to write a book report on any book of their choosing, they cannot be penalized for picking a religious text, as long as they fulfill the requirements of the assignment.
“Some students may pick J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Other students may choose to write their book report on The Book of Job from the Bible,” Baer points out. “If the student writes the book report in a way that fulfills all the requirements of the assignment, HB 164 ensures that the student who picked the Book of Job cannot be penalized merely for picking a religious text.”
CCV has provided a fact sheet debunking misnomers pedalled by secular opponents of the First Ammendment.
The CCV President went on to say “Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R-Glenford) is continuing to show his strong leadership and care for Ohio’s children and religious freedom. HB 164 comes at a critical time in the culture and protects the right of Christian and non-Christian students alike to freely exercise their faith.”
View the video below by the Liberty Counsel discussing the passage of similiar legislation protecting First Amendment religious freedom for students in Mississippi in 2013.
