Deep-red states meet 'wall of hostility' in forcing Christian nationalism on public schools

04 September 2024

On June 19, Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law a bill requiring public K-12 schools as well as public universities to prominently display the Ten Commandments in all classrooms. The backlash was swift, with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for Separation of Church and State and other groups vowing to fight the law aggressively.

The ACLU's position is that while freedom of religion is most definitely protected by the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment also states that Congress shall "make no law respecting an establishment of religion" — which, according to the ACLU, applies to state legislatures as well. And the Louisiana law, ACLU attorneys argue, is blatantly discriminatory.

Many liberals and progressives have been railing against the Louisiana law and similar ones in other states. But not all of the opposition is coming from the left; some right-wing libertarians and non-Christian nationalist conservatives have been vehemently critical as well.

This type of debate has been taking place on the right for many years. Back in the early 1980s, the late Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) — a highly influential figure in the conservative movement — was a scathing critic of the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. and the Moral Majority, which he viewed as terrible for conservatism and terrible for the Republican Party.

In an article published on September 4, Politico reporters Andrew Atterbury and Juan Perez Jr. stress that even in deep red states, efforts to promote Christianity in public schools are facing stern opposition.

"Florida now allows chaplains in public schools," the journalists explain. "Oklahoma and Texas are looking to infuse Bible lessons into curricula. And Louisiana wants to set up Ten Commandments displays in classrooms. But these efforts to push Christianity into public schools are hitting a wall of hostility in conservative-led states, including lawsuits, protests and resistance from local officials."

Atterbury and Perez add, "The clash of religion, politics and local control represents an unusual challenge for a spreading education policy model led by influential conservative leaders. And it's sparking a legal fight over the separation of church and state that could end up before the conservative-controlled Supreme Court."

One of the defenders of Oklahoma's pro-Christian nationalist policy is State School Superintendent Ryan Walters.

But Rob Miller, superintendent of the Bixby Public Schools district near Tulsa, is, according to Atterbury and Perez, "defying orders from Walters to incorporate the Bible and Ten Commandments into school curriculum."

Miller told Politico, "What we're trying to do, honestly, is protect the religious freedoms of all of our students.… from being improperly indoctrinated by teachers or by schools. There's enough court precedent and historical evidence to show that the separation of church and state has worked well for quite a long time."

Read Politico's full article at this link.

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