Rob Standridge, a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, has introduced a stupefyingly callous, religiously inspired bill to the Oklahoma senate. Known as the Students' Religious Belief Protection Act, the bill seeks to penalize educators who oppose students' "closely held religious beliefs."
Last December, Standridge co-authored a bill that allows parents to ban, or at least initiate the process of banning, any book that they believe contains LGBTQ references.
Senate Bill 1470, Standridge's latest bill, includes an avenue for legal sanctions that will cost teachers $10,000. "Any named person whose act or omission constitutes a violation… shall be strictly liable for damages at a minimum of ten thousand dollars per incident, per individual," the bill states.
The bill's cruelty goes further in the financial retribution, demanding that anyone found guilty of violating the bill will have to "make payment from personal resources and shall not receive any assistance from individuals or groups." Any teacher who cannot manage payment is immediately fired and barred from teaching in the state for a period of five years.
The bill also recommends sweeping responsibility to school officials and staff if the school does not “immediately comply." The bill states that non-compliance with a court order according to this bill by anyone who directly or indirectly promotes opposition to a student’s religious beliefs will be permanently banned from being affiliated in any way with all public schools in Oklahoma.
Since the bill does not specify which religious beliefs need protection, if approved, it will create a polarized legal battlefield in Oklahoma when religious groups, including the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and The Satanic Temple, begin using it.
According to Peter Greene, a former educator and a Forbes senior contributor, the bill will most likely not pass as a law. "It has been referred to the Senate Education Committee and has yet to pick up any co-sponsors," Greene said. "Nor does it seem likely to escape a court challenge," he added.
