Southwest
Without the Bible, schools don’t have a prayer. Oklahoma has a solution
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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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Southwest
Shark attacks 4 people at Texas beach on Fourth of July: police
Multiple people were injured in a shark attack while on a beach in Texas on the Fourth of July, authorities confirmed.
The South Padre Island Police Department and the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area confirmed to Fox News Digital that four people were injured during the encounter with the ocean predator on South Padre Island in the state’s southern coast.
Police said that the attacks happened at approximately 11 a.m. local time along Beach Access 14, near Wanna Wanna Beach Bar and Grill.
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First responders from the South Padre Island police and the fire department provided treatment at the scene before one of the male victims was transported to a nearby hospital, police said.
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Authorities said that the man was “severely” bitten in his leg.
A police spokesperson did not provide an update on the man’s condition. Information on the three other incidents was not immediately available.
Game Warden Capt. Chris Dowdy told The Associated Press that the attacks happened in the span of two hours along the beach.
Based on witness reports and images on social media, Dowdy said, authorities believe a single shark about 6 feet (about 1.8 meters) long was responsible.
Video posted on social media appeared to show a badly injured person being pulled onshore following the attack. Blood could be seen in the water as panicked beachgoers burst into tears. Several bystanders appeared to collect a belt to use as a tourniquet.
Law enforcement said that they are patrolling the shore for sharks.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Evacuation orders issued for trails at Mt. Baldy amid fast-moving wildfire
Evacuation orders have been issued for the Mt. Baldy Ski resort as firefighters battle fast-moving wildfire burning in steep terrain, authorities announced.
“Mt. Baldy Ski Resort Lift#1 is open to for hikers to assist in evacuation,” SBSC fire officials said in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “There are NO evacuations orders or warnings for the community of Mt. Baldy.”
The “Vista Fire,” which was burning just northwest of Lytle Creek, was first reported at around 10 a.m., with crews from the San Bernadino County Department assisting crews from the San Bernardino National Forest Service.
At that time, fire officials said the blaze, which was not threatening homes, was at 9 acres.
In an update just before 3 p.m. by officials at Cal Fire, the wildfire had grown to some 100 acres.
Officials said that more than 250 firefighting personnel have been assigned to the Vista Fire. So far, there have been no reports of any injuries.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Southwest
Missing Arizona woman's body found days after husband arrested
A missing Arizona woman’s remains have been found after she was reported missing, and her husband arrested in connection to her disappearance, the Flagstaff Police Department said on Friday.
According to a statement obtained by FOX 10, the remains of Kelly Paduchowski were found Friday at around 10:00 a.m.
“Recovery efforts are active, and due to the investigative efforts in progress, the location of the discovery will not be disclosed at this time,” the statement read.
Kelly Paduchowski, 45, was reported missing Sunday night after her husband reported that she never returned home following a jog and swim, launching nearly a week-long investigation into her disappearance.
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Daniel Paduchowski, 58, Kelly’s husband, filed a missing persons report after she failed to come home on the evening of June 30, when she went out for a jog and swim, according to police.
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Investigators said that on June 30, the day that Kelly went missing, cellphone data from Kelly’s phone was traced back to the area of the Schultz Creek Trailhead around 10:20 a.m., where Daniel was seen in the same area around 11:30 a.m. the same day.
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Police also interviewed family members and other witnesses throughout the course of the investigation and determined that evidence from the home of Kelly and Daniel shows he assaulted her.
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Prior to finding Kelly’s body, police said, based on current evidence and information, they believed that Kelly may be the victim of a homicide.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Flagstaff Police Department for comment.
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