I keep wanting to tackle other topics in this blog, but the Texan culture warriors just won’t take a break, so I won’t either.

Despite the assertions of too many, the United States is not and has never been a Christian country. Our founding fathers, particularly Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, advocated for a separation of church and state to protect religious freedom and prevent government overreach into religious affairs. They believed that the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”) and Free Exercise Clause (“or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”) created a “wall of separation” between government and religious institutions. The 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause incorporates the First Amendment’s protections, including the Establishment Clause, to the states, ensuring that state governments cannot infringe upon religious freedom. 

Yet Texas continues to push Christianity in schools. In 2021 Texas passed legislation requiring schools to display “In God We Trust” signs as long as they are donated by a private foundation. Last May Governor Abbott signed a bill requiring schools to post the Ten Commandments even though last June a Federal Court found a similar bill from Louisiana unconstitutional. And this session lawmakers are even pushing bills to allow a religious study or prayer period in schools. (texastribune.org)

All of this would be bad enough, but last November, Texas adopted Bluebonnet, a bible-infused curriculum, making it, “the first state to introduce Bible lessons in schools in this manner, according to Matthew Patrick Shaw, an assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University.” Critics maintain that even with recent revisions, the lessons remain biased toward Christianity, are sometimes misleading, and teach complex topics better suited for older children. Others warn that the materials overstep parents’ rights to make decisions about the role of religion in their kids’ lives. (abc7ny.com)

Texas won’t even reveal the authorship of the bill or its cost, claiming that the work falls under a disaster declaration that the Governor used to speed up the delivery of supplies during the pandemic. This clearly intentional lack of transparency and this rationalization have not satisfied some state Board of Education members, who say the curriculum borders on proselytizing and promotes a distinctly evangelical view of American history. The curriculum extends its Christian focus and is not always age-appropriate or accurate. For example, “A teacher’s guide for a third-grade lesson on ancient Rome, for example, devotes eight pages to the life and ministry of Jesus — presenting many of the events as historical facts, scholars say. But the Islamic prophet Muhammad isn’t named anywhere. A kindergarten lesson on “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” draws parallels to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. And an art appreciation lesson walks 5-year-olds through the creation story from the Book of Genesis.” (www.the74million.org)

Other concerns have been identified by Mark Chancey, a religious studies professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who said he submitted over 80 comments to the state. He points out distortions in the story of Queen Esther, and his analysis showed that the authors relied overwhelmingly on a 1978 version of the Bible that he called a “distinctively evangelical translation” that was “made by evangelical scholars for evangelical Christians.” (Ibid.)

And the bill is suspiciously similar to others produced by Christian right bill mills in a national push to provide model legislation to help states embed Christianity in their schools.  (www.the74million.org2)

Proponents like Jonathan Covey, director of policy for Texas Values, argue that the First Amendment “does not demand strict governmental neutrality towards religion…There is nothing the U.S. Supreme Court has laid down requiring equal time or equal treatment among religious sects.” (www.the74million.org3)  https://www.the74million.org/article/in-close-vote-texas-approves-reading-program-laden-with-bible-lessons/?utm_source=The+74+Million+Newsletter&utm_campaign=fb1300fd77-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_07_27_07_47_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_077b986842-fb1300fd77-177359832 The courts have often disagreed, so lawsuits will continue to be filed.

There is some good news. “Texas won’t force districts to use the materials, but is offering up to $60 per student — a total of $540 million — to any that adopt the program. That’s an incentive many are unlikely to turn down at a time school systems are projecting deficits and calling for tax increases to offset them.” (www.the74million.org) Indeed, many of the largest districts in Texas are choosing not to adopt this reading program or to use only parts of it. Texas has 1200 public schools and about 600 charters, but between May and late July, only 144 districts and charters had ordered the materials, and only one of the 20 largest districts intends to use them. (www.the74million.org4)

Yet the Texas Education Agency continues to push the program. It insists that free state support will help students perform well on tests, and it made the materials available months before other options. State lawmakers authorized contracts with businesses to “promote, market and advertise” Bluebonnet and appropriated $243 million to districts to help with implementation costs, like coaching for teachers. (Ibid.)

So: a reading program infused with Christianity that is biased, non-inclusive, inaccurate, not nuanced… what could go wrong? The hypocrisy of leaders and parents who insist that parents should decide how to raise their children in all arenas, including religion, while they embed a specific religion into state curriculum, is staggering. And Texas is not alone in this pursuit. Our constitution and basic rights are being assailed, and we need more public reaction to stop it.