The Freedom From Religion Foundation is castigating a newly enacted Utah law that will require public school students — beginning as early as third grade — to study bible passages as part of the state’s social studies curriculum.
Under HB312, signed into law last week by Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah public schools must incorporate selected bible passages referenced or “alluded to” in U.S. historical documents into required classroom instruction for students in grades three through 12. The law directs the state to embed these passages into core social studies standards, with implementation set for the 2028–29 school year.
“Our Constitution, not the bible, is the foundation of American law,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The Constitution makes no mention of a god or religion, much less any ‘allusions’ to the bible. Its principles are what students should be studying, such as why the First Amendment bars religious tests for public office and government establishment of religion.”
Gaylor called the new law a “mischief-making Christian nationalist piece of legislation intended to prey on the youngest captive audience of school children by deliberately giving them the false impression that our country is based on religion. It is an affront to the history of the secular roots of our nation.”
The law requires instruction to “focus … on religious texts’ literary forms, historical context, and documented influence on American civic thought and the state’s founding history rather than on theological or doctrinal questions.” But FFRF warns that requiring teachers to present and interpret biblical passages, particularly to students as young as third graders, will inevitably blur the line between education and religious endorsement.
The law risks creating confusion, division and constitutional violations in classrooms. Teachers will be placed in the untenable position of presenting religious texts in a way that puts the focus on the bible, instead of U.S. history. Students and families who are not religious may feel marginalized or coerced. Utah is home to a religiously diverse population, including millions of residents who are atheist, agnostic or religiously unaffiliated, as well as adherents of non-Christian and non-Mormon faiths.
“This law mandates the inclusion of religious scripture in public school instruction — and it does so in an unprecedented way,” says FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “We are not aware of another state requiring bible instruction through statute this broadly and in this level of detail.”
The standards will not be implemented until 2028, but FFRF will be closely monitoring its rollout.
FFRF is urging Utah parents with concerns about this curriculum to contact the organization.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including hundreds of members in Utah and a chapter in Salt Lake City. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
