Florida lawmakers advance bill requiring high schools to offer Bible class

A bill in Florida that would require public high schools to have a class teaching the Bible advanced through its first subcommittee.

If the bill passes through the legislature, all public high schools in Florida would have to offer the class as an elective, not a requirement, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

{mosads}While the bill advanced, members of the House PreK-12 Quality subcommittee voiced their concerns about the controversial piece of legislation, specifically questioning whether the bill would follow its section title, “An objective study of religion.”

“I don’t know how you can have religious neutrality if your course is focused on just one holy book,” state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D) said during the bill’s first hearing.

She added that she would be more inclined to back the legislation if it included scriptures and texts from other religions.

However, bill sponsor and state Rep. Kim Daniels (D) said she would not be softening the language in the legislation.

“It’s for the study of the Bible,” Daniels said, according to the news outlet.

She argued that the class is “simply a literacy course” meant to study the “best-selling book of all time.”

Daniels added at the time that she would be updating the bill and would introduce it at the next committee hearing.

Earlier this year President Trump signaled an embrace of states offering Bible classes.

Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2019

Similar measures have been introduced in Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia and Virginia.