{"id":18887,"date":"2023-09-08T14:56:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T18:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=18887"},"modified":"2023-09-08T14:56:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T18:56:53","slug":"atheist-group-calls-on-ohio-to-reject-bible-study-program-in-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/09\/atheist-group-calls-on-ohio-to-reject-bible-study-program-in-public-schools","title":{"rendered":"Atheist Group Calls on Ohio to Reject Bible Study Program in Public Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_18890\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18890\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/09\/kids-bible-study_credit-lightstock-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18890\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/09\/kids-bible-study_credit-lightstock-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18890\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lightstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has sent a <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/ffrf.org\/uploads\/legal\/LifeWise%20Mass%20Mailing%20-%20OH.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">letter<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to the 600 school districts of Ohio demanding that the districts reject the implementation of the Bible education nonprofit\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lifewise.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">LifeWise Academy<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in Ohio public schools. \u201cFFRF has recently received reports from concerned Ohioans regarding LifeWise Academy\u2019s increasing presence in Ohio\u2019s public school districts. Public school districts are not legally required to authorize released time Bible study classes. However, districts throughout the state have unfortunately begun approving LifeWise\u2019s released time Bible study classes for operation without fully understanding how to avoid violating the Constitution or how large-scale released time Bible study programs like LifeWise can negatively impact schools\u2019 educational goals,\u201d wrote Samantha Lawrence of the FFRF. The program, which is a \u201crelease time\u201d program, permits kids to leave school for one hour to an off-campus site where they can learn about the Bible. FRFF objected to the course, stating that non-attending students would feel singled out for not attending and that the hour away from classes would disrupt student learning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The FFRF is not the only one with complaints against the program. In February, a man by the name of Bill Bryant wrote a letter to the editor of <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesleaderonline.com\/opinion\/letters-to-the-editor\/2023\/02\/lifewise-academy-is-christian-nationalism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Times Leader<\/span><\/em><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, accusing the program of being Christian nationalism. \u201cNot content to home-school their children or send them to private Christian schools, Evangelicals are increasingly clamoring for school boards to acquiesce to their theocratic demands. Sadly, school boards seem all too willing to bulldoze the wall between church and state, reintroducing sectarian Christianity into our schools,\u201d wrote Bryant. He objected to \u201cmythical stories\u201d being \u201ctaught as real,\u201d asserting such biblical teachings like Adam and Eve and the creation of the universe by God \u201cdirectly contradict what students are being taught in their science and history classes.\u201d He accused the program of being a cover for indoctrination, with the purpose of maintaining the United States as a Christian nation, which he stated could lead to an authoritarian dictatorship. \u201cWho audits the LifeWise program? Who selects their administrators? Shouldn\u2019t the LifeWise creators, administrators, teachers, etc., be checked out and licensed? There are so many questions left unanswered for a program that should never be legal in the first place. No, no, no to LifeWise Christian nationalism!\u201d he concluded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">LifeWise is a voluntary program that, as FRFF admitted, is constitutionally permissible in public schools so long as the courses are taught off-campus and the school does not directly promote the club. It was started by Christian apologist Joel Penton and will currently be implemented in <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/faith-values\/more-than-300-public-schools-nationwide-learn-bible-this-year?intcmp=tw_fnc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">over 300 schools nationwide<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, with over 35,000 students attending. In response to the FFRF\u2019s objections, a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/atheist-group-urges-ohio-schools-to-reject-off-campus-bible-class.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">LifeWise<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0spokesperson was grateful. \u201cOur greatest obstacle is not enough people know about the amazing opportunity LifeWise offers students, so we appreciate the FFRF investing their resources to help spread the word,\u201d LifeWise responded. \u201cThey did a wonderful job pointing out released time religious instruction as an entirely legal option for schools and families. We trust school officials and parents to make good educational decisions for their communities without being bullied by the efforts of outside activists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has sent a letter\u00a0to the 600 school districts of Ohio demanding that the districts reject the implementation of the Bible education nonprofit\u00a0LifeWise Academy\u00a0in Ohio public schools. \u201cFFRF has recently received reports from concerned Ohioans regarding LifeWise Academy\u2019s increasing presence in Ohio\u2019s public school districts. Public school districts are&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":18890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Atheist Group Calls on Ohio to Reject Bible Study Program in Public Schools<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The FFRF has sent a letter\u00a0to the 600 school districts of Ohio demanding that the districts reject the implementation of the Bible education nonprofit\u00a0LifeWise Academy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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