Riley Eubanks, Ball State University
INDIANAPOLIS — A controversial religious education bill that garnered a supportive tweet from President Donald Trump was gutted by amendment in the State Senate Education and Career Development Committee Wednesday.
As proposed, Senate Bill 373 would have allowed a school corporation to require students to take a class regarding various theories on the origin of life, including beliefs espoused by Christians.
In a tweet last month, Trump referenced the piece of legislation as it was originally written, which echoed similar bills in other states.
“Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy (sic) classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible,” the president tweeted. “Starting to make a turn back? Great!”
Contrary to the president saying the classes were voluntary, the first version of SB 373-proposed classes could have been required curriculum if the school corporation so chose, per the original language.
What was left of the bill that was introduced by Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, outlined a voluntary elective course that can be offered in public schools covering the historical, cultural and literary impacts of various religions.
This course is different than what was amended out of the bill because it only analyzes the impact of different religions rather than introducing them as a possible origin of life.
The amended bill, which passed 8-2, still includes the study of the Bible. Skeptics of the bill who gave public testimonies at the bill’s hearing were concerned schools will favor the teaching of Christianity over other religions, even though language in the bill directs the courses to be balanced and secular in nature.
Katie Blair, director of advocacy and public policy at Indiana’s ACLU branch, warned lawmakers that if they moved forward with the bill, schools would likely implement the teachings incorrectly and would face a lawsuit from the ACLU on the basis of First Amendment issues.
“The best way to uphold the Constitution is to defeat the bill altogether, even in its amended state,” Blair said.
Sen. Phillip Boots, R-Crawfordsville, ultimately voted against the amended bill, saying the curriculum was better out of the classroom.
“This instruction is best in whatever church the person’s family attends,” Boots said. “It does not seem appropriate in a public school setting at all. I don’t even know why we are trying to force it into a public school setting.”
The bill, which just met the Senate committee deadline, will be up for further debate and amendments in the coming weeks.