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The Bible Was Never Banned: America Just Forgot Its History

The Bible Was Never Banned: America Just Forgot Its History

Last updated on: July 7, 2026 at 2:44 pm by Dr. Feyi Obamehinti

The Bible Was Never Banned: America Just Forgot Its History 2026-07-07T14:44:40-05:00 Dr. Feyi Obamehinti

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For more than 300 years, the Bible was not just permitted in American public schools, it was central thread of our republic and education. The Bible Was Never Banned from Public Schools. America Just Forgot Its Own History. | Photo by Mario Heller on Unsplash.

July Is Here

Welcome to the month of July, Patheos Friends! First a shoutout to our Patheos editorial team for taking care of us well. From the reminders, guidance and monthly check-ins, grateful for all your help in ensuring our Patheos community stays strong. July comes with many observations and celebrations. This month from coast to coast, we celebrate America’s 250 years independence. There are national block parties, prayer hubs, fairs, local community events and special museum exhibitions planned all through the month. Find your favorite to engage and celebrate our 250 years as a nation. And a shoutout to everyone who has a birthday this month! Blessings and love!

Sold A Bunch of Junk Goods

We have been sold a bunch of junk goods with the phrase, “Separation of church and state.” That phrase is fiercely floating around again after last month’s Texas State Board of Education approved new mandated reading lists for public schools. For the first time, Texas public schools is requiring Bible passages and Bible stories as part of the K-12 literature curriculum. With a phased implementation approach beginning in the 2030-31 school year, over 5 million students will have the opportunity for Bible literacy. In addition to the standard literary works such as Charlotte’s Web and others that Texas students have been reading, they now can read Bible stories and passages including selections from the New Testament, excerpts from the Book of Job and other narrative Bible stories framed as classic literature.

America Has Forgotten Its Own History

This is a good thing for Texas students. The angst against this approval goes to show how America has forgotten its own history. For more than 300 years, the Bible was not just permitted in American public schools, it was central thread of our republic and education. From the simple one-room schoolhouses of colonial New England to the expanding classrooms of the early 20th century, children began their day with Scripture reading and prayer as naturally as they learned the alphabet. This was not an aberration of “theocracy.” It was the deliberate foundation of American public education. We all know that America has founding members we call, “founding fathers.” The founders intentionally wanted faith in God to support all aspects of life in their newfound land. Our founding fathers understood the impact of Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.”

America’s Founding Fathers

From our founding fathers to America’s early republic to mid-20th century, prayer was a huge part of our American public schools. That era in American history, reflected a nation that feared God, acknowledged God as priority in all its affairs, understood the importance of God in education, civic culture and the formation of the fabric of our communities that allowed Americans to live us the authenticity of the Biblical principle “love they neighbor as thyself.” Yet today, many believe that even a voluntary reading of the Bible during free time somehow violates “separation of church and state.”

Historical Amnesia

And how did we arrive at such a profound historical amnesia? The answer reveals far more about our present cultural moment than it does about the founding fathers’ intentions. When we examine that era of prayer and Bible reading in our public schools and where we are today, we find a trail of destructive impact of removing prayer from our public schools. From blatant disregard for God, to mockery of holy things, or angst towards anything godly in our culture, we can see how far we have strayed as a country.

Under God

Examining our American history, we see how during the cold war era, faith in God was part of our national identity. That was when “Under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 to contrast American democracy with atheistic communism. The removal of school prayer was not sudden! It was gradual through years of culture wars up until 1960 when prayer was finally taken out of school through a landmark Supreme Court decision.

Parental Rights Are God Given

There is an angle that some against this Bible reading is taking. They are making it seem that reading Bible stories as part of the literature curriculum is taking away parents’ rights to direct the faith of their children. That is far from the truth. Parents have the God given rights to direct the lives and not just faith of their children. Parental rights are God given and not government given. Just like the inalienable rights endowed by our Almighty Creator (God), as the Declaration of Independence approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 (Constitution) clearly states, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Revival In America

How reviving would it be, if all 50 states approved reading Bible stories as part of our public-school literature curriculum! We might just see a revival of the human conscience towards a God honoring lifestyle where our current state of vindictiveness, wickedness and evil is eradicated from all aspects of our culture. We might just see a revival of truth, common sense and love thy neighbor take off to a new height in our culture, because the truth is, the Bible was never banned from public schools; America just forgot its own history!

About Dr. Feyi Obamehinti

About Author: Dr. Feyi Obamehinti is a wife, mother, an ordained minister of the gospel, Bible Teacher, speaker, life educator, author, co-founder of nonprofits Oasis Connection Ministries and Oasis Focus Inc. Dr. Feyi as she's known professionally, co-host Oasis Connection TV and Oasis of Hope Podcast with her husband-Dr. Johnson Obamehinti- from their home in Texas. As a life educator, Dr. Feyi loves to equip people with Biblical principles to thrive in every area of life. A dynamic international and national trainer/speaker, she is passionate about helping people "see life" from God's perspective - only one that truly matters. A nationally syndicated commentator, Dr. Feyi equips leaders on maximizing their leadership for the people they lead. She is an encourager extraordinaire of the Wellness Project, ambassador of hope, community leader and advocate. You can read more about the author here.

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