Special interest groups are trying to keep a ban on books in Oklahoma, but not the ones you’re probably thinking of. These books are thousands of years old, were taught in American schools from the earliest days of our republic, helped guide our founders and greatest statesmen at critical points in our history and helped forge Western civilization. I’m referring to the books contained in the Bible.  

I just announced that Oklahoma schools would incorporate the Bible into their educational curriculum for grades 5-12 in the 2024-2025 school year. The backlash has been as venomous as it has been completely predictable. Let me be clear: we will teach the Bible. 

The simple fact of the matter is that the Bible is the most consequential piece of literature in the history of Western civilization. Whether or not one chooses to accept it as the inspired word of God, there is simply no way to fully understand the history of this country, the world in which it was founded, or the millennia of human events that led up to the making of America without being at least somewhat conversant in what it contains.  

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While I have previously written at length about the Judeo-Christian tradition’s unquestionable importance in our founding, the Bible’s significance at the most critical moments of our history cannot be denied. Empirical analysis of the writings of our founding generation found that they referenced the Bible far more than any other philosophical work.  

Thomas Jefferson acknowledged that our rights are endowed by our creator in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln’s most eloquent arguments against the evil of slavery — in addition to hearkening to the Biblical truths articulated in the Declaration of Independence — were also based on scripture.  

Most notable among these was his “House Divided” speech, which drew its key imagery from Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew. His now-famous fragment on the Constitution and Union borrows from the Psalms in calling the Declaration the “apple of gold” in a “picture of silver” framed around it. Martin Luther King Jr. pointed to these same Biblical truths, when making the case to the American people during the civil rights movement.  

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American students deserve to know the role that the Bible played in American history and its role in shaping the very American idea. We owe it to them to teach them. Furthermore, we owe it to the generations before us who founded this country and preserved this experiment in liberty in self-government for us.  

We should not forget that we are inheritors and stewards of this country, and we cannot preserve something that we do not properly understand — neither can our children. It is academic malpractice not to include the Bible in our curricula and it is cultural malpractice to deny its role and importance to history and our way of life.  

Yet, we have seen the Bible driven out of public discussion, out of common knowledge and out of American schools through the left’s militant anti-theistic march through our culture and our institutions. The Supreme Court has completely ignored the role of faith in our founding for the past several decades in many of its cases driving scripture and prayer from our classrooms and schools writ large.  

To call this unconstitutional is simply absurd. Some will claim that this should be prevented by a so-called “separation of church and state.” As I have already explained elsewhere, that canard is an anti-religious myth masquerading as legal theory.  

Thomas Jefferson acknowledged that our rights are endowed by our creator in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln’s most eloquent arguments against the evil of slavery — in addition to hearkening to the Biblical truths articulated in the Declaration of Independence — were also based on scripture.  

Never mind that the Bible was an expected part of the curriculum in American schools up until about the last 60 years or so. One way to square this would be the laughable idea that our founders simply misunderstood the Constitution they wrote, which is absurd on its face.  

 
Some will say that a “living Constitution” now requires that we scrub religion from schools. But written constitutions are not “living,” they are made of words with concrete meanings printed with ink onto pulverized, dead trees. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights mean today what they meant when they were written. Teaching the Bible is constitutional. 

Put simply, the Bible was key to making America great and to making America at all, for that matter. Today, it is critical to keeping America great. We are going to teach it in Oklahoma. I welcome all challenges to this action — political and legal — and I look forward to defending this necessary, commonsense policy out in the open. Our children deserve it, and our country needs it. 

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Jocelyn Nungaray, the 12-year-old girl allegedly killed by illegal immigrants in Texas, was sexually assaulted before being strangled, according to her family and recent forensic tests.

Nungaray’s family confirmed to FOX 26 Houston on Tuesday that she was sexually assaulted before she was killed.

Two Venezuelan nationals – 21-year-old Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and 26-year-old Franklin Jose Peña Ramos – are charged with capital murder in connection with her death. The two men crossed illegally into the U.S. earlier this year.

Both suspects are accused of luring her under a bridge, strangling her and leaving her for dead in a creek.

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The Harris County District Attorney’s Office received the lab results in connection with the investigation into Nungaray’s death.

While the test results show she appeared to have been sexually assaulted, as semen was found on her, the DNA match has not come back yet, a source close to the investigation told Fox News.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement to Fox News it will have “no comment on the evidence in this case until the appropriate time.” The Houston Forensic Science Center declined to provide details.

The family now awaits the court’s acknowledgment of the new evidence, and seeks a revoked bond as they look for justice in Nungaray’s death.

Her grandfather, Kelvin Alvarenga, told FOX 26 that it is going to be nearly impossible for the family to “get rid of this feeling of loss.”

If the suspects are found guilty of sexual assault, they would be eligible for the death penalty, which Nungaray’s family opposes because they would rather the suspects sit with what they did for the rest of their lives.

“I want them to remember Jocy the rest of their life,” Melfri Vargas, Alvarenga’s wife, told FOX 26. “I want, every time they go to sleep, they remember what they did and show the others you don’t mess with our child, you don’t mess with the United States, you don’t mess with Texas.”

Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, left, and Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, right, have been charged in connection with the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston, Texas. (Harris County Jail)

With the suspects in this case being two illegal immigrants, the little girl’s death has sparked political discourse over U.S. immigration policy.

“I want them not to just use my granddaughter as a political base, but to know her name is Jocelyn Nungaray,” Alvarenga told FOX 26. “We just want to make a difference for Jocy. We don’t want Jocy’s memory or name to be easily forgotten.”

Alvarenga would like the individuals responsible for Nungaray’s death to face life without parole, stressing the importance of them being reminded every day of what they did to the girl.

“I rather for them to remember this in general population,” he said. “Life without parole, that way they can remember every night when they go to bed, the horrific deal that they did to our family.”

Her family said they are grateful for the support they have received from city and state leaders, and former President Trump.

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Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was sexually assaulted before being strangled, according to recent forensic tests. (Getty Images)

“God bless him, because at the telling of the day, I wouldn’t want my daughter’s accident to go as another statistic for the city of Houston or the state of Texas. With former President Trump reaching out, my blessings to him and God bless him,” Alvarenga said.

Nungaray’s mother, Alexis, has been struggling in the aftermath of her daughter’s death, family told FOX 26. Nungaray also had a 5-year-old brother who the family said asks for his sister every day and wishes to be with her.

“She’s a single mom and one of the hardest things for her and us to explain to a 5-year-old that his Cici will not be at home anymore,” Vargas said. “He asks when is he going to see Cici. We try to explain the best way we can to a little one. It’s not an easy thing to do. He always asks for her, he wants to go see her.”

The two suspects are due back in court in September.

Fox News’ Nate Foy contributed to this report.