The Star-Telegram recently pandered to Lone Star pews by publishing an op-ed defending Texas’ decision to teach the Bible in public schools.
Christians in general and the author, an outspoken Christian and former homeschool mom, are certainly entitled to their opinion, but the U.S. Constitution clearly states that they are not entitled to religious entitlement.
And that’s what explicitly teaching the Bible in public schools is: religious entitlement.
Based on the founding documents of this nation, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution — in conjunction with that amendment’s Free Exercise Clause — form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. Combined in the First Amendment, the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause proclaim:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …
The Establishment Clause serves as a dual promise and protection, prohibiting both control of the government by religion and political control of religion by the government. Simply stated, the federal government and, by later extension, the governments of all U.S. states and U.S. territories, are prohibited from establishing or sponsoring religion. And mandating the Bible be taught in Texas public schools is not a passive, humble exercise — it’s an active sponsorship and an aggressive overreach. With all undue respect to the right-leaning Star-T, this point is inarguable.
I never homeschooled my four children. I also never saddled my kids with the terrible baggage of monotheism or theocratic exclusivity. I basically encouraged them to figure things out for themselves, chiefly because I didn’t want them stuffed like Thanksgiving turkeys with narrow belief- or value-sets, then Betty-Crockered up to accept or observe conclusions that were not their own.
A couple of my children flirt with Christianity and may consider (or someday may consider) themselves Christians. I have no problem with that. I’d be surprised if they agreed with teaching the Bible in Texas schools, but they’re certainly entitled to their own views on the subject. Neither brainwashing nor intellectual freedom is foolproof.
Personally, I have grave reservations about the Bible being taught in schools — mainly because it’s not holy. It’s quite holey.
American Christians used the Bible to justify slavery.
American Christians used the Bible to denigrate, dehumanize, and destroy indigenous peoples and cultures across this continent and beyond.
American Christians use the Bible to vilify other nations and justify absconding with those nations’ natural resources.
American Christians use the Bible to restrict women’s reproductive rights.
American Christians use the Bible to justify patriarchal primacy, control, indulgence, and abuse.
The Star-T says the Bible “has shaped human history in unfathomable ways,” which sounds nice but hasn’t been nice. The astounding, colossal hypocrisy of Christianity is quite fathomable and sinisterly apparent. Plenty of Americans — including Texans and Christians — have been onboard with all sorts of measures protecting our future — our children — against gun violence in our classrooms. Which is all well and good. But the alleged Author of All Things is something of a hack and has been a scourge for most of the rest of the world. And what his followers have done in His name is barbaric, monstrous, and evil. So, how is mandating that the Bible be placed in our children’s hands any better than a gun (or as Marx phrased it, “a dangerous drug”)?
Oh, how silly of me. That’s where the saying comes from.
God and guns.
Happy Farce of July. — E.R. Bills
Fort Worth native E.R. Bills is an award-winning author and journalist. His next book, Devil of Devils: Unspeakable Crimes in Southwest Texas, will be published on Sep 22.
This column reflects the opinions and fact-gathering of the author(s) and only the author(s) and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. He will gently edit it for clarity and concision.
