'Religious freedom' bill ignites controversy

SANDUSKY — Republicans wonder what's wrong with letting students have a Bible study group. Democrats ask why Republicans don't want schools to teach science.House Bill 164, the Ohio Student Religious Liberties Act of 2019, is the latest culture war flashpoint dividing Democrats and Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly.It's authored by state Rep. Tim Ginter, R-Salem, an ordained minister who has pastored churches, and co-sponsored by state Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron.When HB 164 was approved by the Ohio House 61-31 on Nov. 13, sending it to the Ohio Senate for further action, every vote against it was cast by a Democrat. All but two of the "Yes" votes came from Republicans. Area lawmakers who voted to support the bill included Swearingen, state Rep. Bill Reineke, R-Tiffin, and state Rep. Dick Stein, R-Norwalk.House Bill 164 says students who want to meet for religious reasons should have the same access to school facilities before, during and after school as students in secular clubs and organizations. Students would also be allowed to wear clothing expressing a religious viewpoint.The measure also says students can include "religious expression" in completing school assignments. And the bill "prohibits public schools from rewarding or penalizing a student based on the religious content of the student's homework, artwork, or other assignments," according to a bill summary on the House website.Critics of the bill claim it opens the door for a student in a science class to attack the theory of evolution or to cite the Bible and incorrectly say the world is only about 6,000 years old.In a weekly update email sent out Friday to supporters, the Ohio Democratic Party said the bill was part of the Ohio Republican Party's "radical agenda" and said the bill "would allow teachers to mark religious-based answers as correct on exams — even if they disregard scientific facts."Ginter, pointing to a section of his bill saying that grades would be calculated using ordinary academic standards, says such claims are false."The bill does not create any new religious rights. It only clarifies what the courts have consistently maintained in regards to religious expression in public schools," he said in a news release.Swearingen said that's his interpretation of the bill, too. He said he does not see the bill as opening the door for students to attack evolution in science class."Science teachers need to be able to teach science," he said.Swearingen said the bill protects religious liberties for everyone, including Muslim girls who want to cover their hair.He said he doesn't see why supporting religious freedom has to be a partisan issue."I actually was optimistic this would be a unanimous passage in the House," Swearingen said.Snopes.com, the Internet fact-checking site, took on the controversy with an article, "Does Ohio Bill Let Students Give Wrong Answers Based on Religion?" and it was illustrated with a photo of a plastic dinosaur standing on a Bible opened to the first chapter of Genesis.The Snopes author, David Mikkelson, said the allegation is "unproven," noting the law is more nuanced than its critics allow.Thomas Sutton, a political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University, said the measure is "another front in what we call the culture wars" and comes on the heels of battles over abortion in the Ohio General Assembly.Republicans tend to be elected from rural districts that have many religious conservatives who would favor bills such as HB 164, while Democrats generally are elected from more urban and suburban districts, Sutton said.Sutton said he believes the language in the bill could inspire a lawsuit depending on the situation.State Rep. D.J. Swearingen discusses gun background checks and vaping during "Between the Lines" on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019.Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656), who is chiefly remembered for using the Bible and other sources to calculate that God created the Earth in 4004 B.C.