Gov. Matt Bevin told students to celebrate “Bring Your Bible to School Day” on Thursday by doing just that – bringing their Bible to school.
“This is absolutely your right to do this, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise,” he said in a Facebook video posted Tuesday night.
The “Bring Your Bible to School Day” has been ongoing for four years, he said. It is a student-led initiative and last year kids from 50 states brought Bibles to school to celebrate the event.
Bevin said the students should use the Bible as a “point of conversation with our students. Celebrate the wisdom of that book.”
The governor has put religion at the forefront of his administration. He called 2016 and 2017 the year of the Bible and has gathered with leaders in West Louisville to start walking prayer groups as a way to curb violence.
“You look at all the division, all the vitriol and all the animosity that’s striking us in this nation, how fragmented people are,” Bevin said on the video. “If we followed biblical principles like treating others as you would want to be treated, loving your neighbor like yourself, simple stuff. This is the kind of thing we should celebrate.”
“Bring Your Bible to School Day” launched in 2014 to counteract the misperceptions created by students being denied their rights – the opportunity to pray and read their Bibles.
Both of those activities are allowed in public schools and, as long as a student doesn’t disrupt class or harass other students, they can freely express their faith.
In 2014, the first year of the event, 8,000 students participated and it has grown dramatically. In 2015, 155,000 young people were involved and the number jumped to 356,000 last year.
The goal is to have at least 500,000 young people from kindergarten to college bring Bibles to school on Thursday.
Bevin’s Facebook post had more than 23,000 views with 1,088 shares and 1,400 reactions as of 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“I love the idea of young people bringing their Bibles to school,” he said. “I want to encourage every young person in Kentucky on Oct. 5 to bring their Bible to school.”
By Kentucky Today
