Promoting Christianity in Public Schools a Bad Idea

 A couple of weeks ago the Texas State Board of Education in an 8-7 vote has decided that public schools will have the option to use Bluebonnet Learning curriculum which now includes religious teachings, mostly Christian, as part of reading and language arts as well as history and social studies. There are a few references to other faith traditions but they are token mentions grafted on so the publisher can says the curriculum isn’t biased. The best part is that school districts are being bribed by the SBOE to use Bluebonnet Learning as they’ll get extra state funding for using it.

The Christian holy book is of course the bible, but the various Christian sects can’t even agree on a bible let alone doctrine.

Since the King James version is the most widely used, more than half of Americans use it. For the sake of argument let’s say it is the version chose to work from. Do you remember or did you ever learn that the King James Bible was demonstrably written with an agenda? King James I of England caused it to be written primarily to solidify the power of the Church of England and himself by providing a standardized English translation that would promote religious unity within the kingdom. Some scholars, such as Michael G. Rather Jr. of McNeese State University, argue that certain passages were translated with specific intent to subtly support the King's power and the established order.

Are we sure we want to be teaching public school students using a text that promotes a purported “God’s chosen” as the ultimate authority for the leader of our government. That didn’t work out well for James I successors and our founding fathers knew it when the Constitution was written.

The men who wrote the United States Constitution and the amendments were all familiar with the problems caused by mingling religion with governance. The English Revolution of 1688 which saw King James II deposed over his preference for Catholics had occurred in the lifetime of many of their grandparents and as educated men they would have known about it. In addition those men would have been aware of similar turmoil suffered in Scotland and Ireland as well as all across Europe since the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in 1517. James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution as well as author of the First Amendment, was involved in passage of the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 which is an important precursor to the constitution because for the first time ever many of the protections of individual rights later found in the Constitution were codified in it. The important passage to note for the purposes of this discussion is "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion". Article VI says in part “no religious Test shall ever be Required as a Qualification To any Office or public Trust under the United States” making clear that no matter a person’s religion or even lack thereof they cannot be prohibited from holding public office.

The first amendment expands on that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, …”. The intention is clearly to prevent the government from selecting a national religion and thus leave it to the individual to choose on their own what if any religion to follow. That is exactly what Texas Republicans have done in deciding to offer Bluebonnet Learning in our public schools.

Why do Republicans insist on reverting to a failed idea especially when it is contrary to the very founding fathers they claim to revere?

Published in the Seguin Gazette - December 4, 2024