Gov. Matt Bevin wants students to celebrate a holiday on Oct. 3 – and no, he isn’t talking about Mean Girls Day.
This Thursday, Bevin wants kids to bring the Holy Scripture to class and take part in “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” an annual event that encourages students of all ages to take the religious text into the classroom.
“I would encourage you, please, don’t just bring your Bible to school, but read your Bible. Bring it, share it with others. If you have an extra Bible, bring it and share it with somebody who doesn’t have one, who maybe has never read this book,” Bevin said Tuesday in a video posted on social media.
The Judeo-Christian principles that are bound in this book are timeless, containing an amazing amount of history, knowledge, wisdom and guidance…
“Bring Your Bible to School Day” is sponsored by Focus on the Family, a national Christian organization that has come under fire in years past for support for “conversion therapy,” a widely dismissed practice that seeks to “cure” LGBTQ people of their sexual orientation.
Bevin did not mention Focus on the Family in his video but instead touted the impact the Bible has had on him and said a reader doesn’t even need to have a religious affiliation to appreciate the messages in the Bible.
“This is an extraordinary book,” the governor said. “You don’t even have to be a person of faith to recognize that this is the most well-read, most published book in the history of the world for a reason. … I would encourage you, please let this be a document that is an important part of your life.”
“Bring Your Bible to School Day” is a national event. Focus on the Family said in a promotion video that more than 650,000 students participated last year. Bevin also promoted the event in 2018.
During Bevin’s time in office, Kentucky lawmakers have approved “Bible literacy” courses to be taught in public high schools, despite concerns from the American Civil Liberties Union, and in the most recent legislative session passed a law requiring all public schools to display “In God We Trust” in prominent on-campus locations.
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Written by Lucas Aulbach. Cross-posted from the
Courier-Journal via the Kentucky Press News Service.