In the News: An Outrageous Religious Privilege in Ohio Schools

Ohio House passes bill allowing student answers to be scientifically wrong due to religion, WKRC Staff, ABC 6, 2019-11-13

Ohio lawmakers are weighing in on how public schools can teach things like evolution. The Ohio House on Wednesday passed the “Student Religious Liberties Act.” Under the law, students can’t be penalized if their work is scientifically wrong as long as the reasoning is because of their religious beliefs. Instead, students are graded on substance and relevance.

Every Republican in the House supported the bill. It now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate.

This is an extreme example of religious privilege which compromises public education in the state of Ohio. It opens the door to all sorts of abuses. It will evidently allow creationist beliefs, whether Christian or Islamic or of some other theistic religion, to be on a par with, or even be given priority over, biological facts based on evolution. And that is only the beginning. Will the dogmas of Scientology or various UFO religions, which contradict known science in various ways, also be allowed?

See also:

• House Bill 164, Ohio Legislature, 2019.