Southwest
Oklahoma schools chief spars with CNN host over teaching the Bible in classrooms in heated interview
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters defended a new mandate requiring the Bible to be incorporated into classroom lessons during a heated clash on CNN on Tuesday.
“The Bible includes beheading, rape and incest,” CNN host Pamela Brown said to Walters at the start of the interview. “Do you support teaching children about those topics?”
Walters did not directly address Brown’s question, but explained that referencing the Bible was necessary to understand historical documents and important events in our nation’s history, from its founding to the Civil Rights movement.
“It had a profound influence on American history. It was the best-selling book in American history. To not teach that in the classroom is academic malpractice,” he told Brown.
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Oklahoma Schools Chief Ryan Walters debated CNN’s Pamela Brown on the Bible being taught in Oklahoma public schools on CNN on Tuesday.
The two sparred as Brown continued to press him to answer if the more graphic elements in the Bible were acceptable in the classroom.
“Will you allow teachers to teach all aspects of the Bible? How are teachers supposed to know what of the Bible to teach and what not to teach? It’s a simple question,” she asked again, before referencing the conservative figure’s fight to eradicate pornographic books from school classrooms and libraries.
“Let me be crystal clear: The Bible is not on the same plane as ‘Gender Queer’ and ‘Flamer,’ Walters retorted. “These are pornography.”
“We have academic standards that tell our teachers that you are to talk about the Bible in reference to the Mayflower Compact, letters from a Birmingham Jail, the Declaration of Independence,” he continued. “It‘s very clear from primary sources that these individuals referenced in our history, they referenced the Bible. So, look, when it‘s historically accurate, we’re absolutely going to include that. I mean, think about how absurd it would be to teach about the Pilgrims if you don‘t mention their intention for moving to the New World? It‘s crucial and we‘re not going to allow the radical Left to continue to push a false history on our kids that said that faith played no role. Well, just read the history. It’s clearly there.”
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A new mandate in Oklahoma requires public school teachers to incorporate the Bible as a reference in history lessons, the school superintendent argued. (iStock)
Brown continued to push back on Walters’ arguments, offering counterpoints to his stance on the influence of the Bible and Christianity on the founding of America.
“We should note… God is not mentioned in the Constitution. It is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, but not a Christian God, right, and it also says that all men are created equal. And one would argue it‘s not creating a stature of, ‘If you‘re a Christian, if you believe in the Bible, you are of a higher stature,’” she responded.
Walters maintained his argument and told the CNN host, “People can be offended by that, they may not like it, but they can’t rewrite our history.”
“To censor the Bible out of our schools is to create our schools to be state-sponsored atheist centers,” he continued. “Our position is purely historical.”
The new directive from the top education official requires all public schools in Oklahoma to add the Bible and the Ten Commandments as “instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels.” The religious text will be referenced as appropriate in the study of “history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion…as well as for their substantial influence on our nation’s founders and the foundational principles of our Constitution,” the memo states.
Walters said in the memo that his directive aligns with educational standards approved in May 2019.
Although Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law last week requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom by 2025, Walters says Oklahoma is the first state to require the Bible be used in all classrooms, effective immediately.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this article.
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The family of Brianna Aguilera, the Texas A&M student who fell to her death from a high-rise apartment in November, is suing two organizations for allegedly overserving alcohol ahead of the 19-year-old’s death.
Attorney Tony Buzbee on Tuesday announced a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Travis County against the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Economics and Business Association.
“It is illegal to serve minors any amount of alcohol in the State of Texas. It is reckless and irresponsible to grossly over-serve a group of minors at a University of Texas football tailgate to the point where those minors lose their physical faculties and ability to control themselves,” the lawsuit states.
Aguilera died when she fell from an Austin high-rise apartment following a Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football tailgate at around 1 a.m. Nov. 29, according to police.
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An image provided by the family of the young Texas A&M student, Brianna Aguilera, found dead in Austin over the weekend. (GoFundMe)
A police investigation later determined Aguilera died by suicide despite her family’s claims that she was killed.
Brianna Aguilera was found dead in an apartment hours after attending a tailgate party. (Facebook/Brie Aguilera)
According to the filing, the alleged “egregious over-serving of minors” led to Aguilera’s death. Witnesses described her behavior over several hours as “shifting from upbeat to disoriented and ultimately grossly intoxicated,” the suit says.
Brianna Aguilera holds a sign congratulating her on her acceptance to Texas A&M. (Instagram/brie.aguilera)
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Buzbee said the lawsuit is also intended to support the ongoing investigation into the events of that night by allowing the firm to seek phone and text records, documents and data and to compel witness testimony.
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The lawsuit requests a jury trial.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
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Nobody handles oil quite like Texas and a fresh supply of Venezuelan crude could soon be headed to the Lone Star State’s coast.
The first barrels of thick, tar-like crude could arrive as soon as next week at ports across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, where dense clusters of refineries are built and bred to process heavy oil.
The development follows President Donald Trump’s Tuesday evening announcement that Caracas will transfer up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., worth about $2.8 billion at current market prices.
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Venezuelan children swimming near an oil tanker docked at a pier near the refinery of the state oil company PDVSA. (Jesus Vargas/picture alliance/Getty Images)
“The Gulf Coast concentrates most of our refining capacity, and those refineries were built or revamped over the years to process extra-heavy crude similar to what is produced in Venezuela,” explained Jaime Brito, executive director of refining and oil products at OPIS.
“From a market perspective, additional volumes of extra-heavy crude entering the U.S. refining system would be an extraordinarily positive development,” Brito said. “It would allow refiners to operate more efficiently, something they haven’t been able to do for years and could help keep gasoline and diesel prices at better levels because refiners would have access to cheaper crude and more optimal operations.”
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He added that tankers could arrive within five to six days if they leave Venezuelan waters on Thursday.
Because Gulf Coast refineries supply a large share of the nation’s fuel, shifts in how efficiently they operate can ultimately ripple through to prices paid by U.S. consumers.
Texas oil refineries are poised to benefit from additional crude oil supplies. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The arrival of 15 to 25 oil tankers carrying up to 50 million barrels of crude is only a fraction of what Venezuela could ultimately supply.
With more than 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, it holds the world’s largest oil endowment — eclipsing long-standing energy heavyweights like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait.
Despite its vast reserves, U.S. sanctions have effectively blocked most Venezuelan crude from reaching the U.S. Gulf Coast, leaving Chevron — operating under a special authorization — as the sole exporter of limited volumes.
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A Chevron Corp. flag flies on the drilling floor of a Nabors Industries Ltd. drill rig in the Permian Basin near Midland, Texas, on March 1, 2018. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
That disruption has been felt most acutely in Texas, which anchors the nation’s refining hub and hosts several of the country’s largest heavy-crude refineries.
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A renewed flow of Venezuelan barrels could also intensify competition in the heavy-crude market, particularly between Venezuela and Canada, Brito said.
“You’re going to have fierce competition between Canada and Venezuela, which benefits American refiners and gives them more flexibility to potentially lower fuel prices,” he said, adding that he was speaking strictly from an oil-market perspective.
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A security guard was fatally shot outside a Houston restaurant Wednesday evening after a confrontation with another man, authorities said.
The shooting happened around 6:15 p.m. outside Connie’s Seafood Market Restaurant, the Houston Police Department said.
Police told reporters that the security guard, who was working for the restaurant, was standing in the parking lot when a fight broke out between him and another man, FOX26 Houston reported.
Police said the security guard was shot at least once. He was rushed to a hospital where he later died.
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A security guard was fatally shot outside a Houston restaurant Wednesday evening after a confrontation with another man, authorities said. (Houston Police Department)
Authorities did not immediately release the name of the victim.
The suspect was last seen running away from the parking lot after the shooting.
The security guard was working for the restaurant at the time of the shooting. (Google Maps)
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No details about the suspect or the circumstances that led to the altercation have been released as of Thursday morning.
Houston police were reviewing surveillance footage as they search for the shooting suspect. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle, File)
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Officials said investigators were reviewing surveillance footage and speaking with witnesses to get a description of the suspect.
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