Click here to view original article www.pawhuskajournalcapital.com
Oklahoma’s attorney general on Friday, Oct. 20 filed a lawsuit against what he characterized as a violation of the religious freedom rights of the state’s residents. Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board for approving what would be the nation’s first taxpayer-funded religious charter school. Drummond said in a statement that the Virtual Charter School Board voted, 3-to-2, on June 5 to approve an application for Saint Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School “even though the school’s sponsor, the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, has emphasized that religious indoctrination will play a prominent role.” Drummond said that his office cautioned board members that approving the application “would violate their oaths to uphold the state and U.S. constitutions,” but three board members signed the contract anyway. “The board members who approved this contract have violated the religious liberty of every Oklahoman by forcing us to fund the teachings of a specific religious sect with our tax dollars,” Drummond said in a statement issued Oct. 20. “Today, Oklahomans are being compelled to fund Catholicism. Because of the legal precedent created by the board’s actions, tomorrow we may be forced to fund radical Muslim teachings like Sharia […]