If you thought the completely made up controversy over Critical Race Theory was the bottom of
the barrel as far as your child's education was concerned, today comes the news that at the National Conservative Conference, an annual meeting of conservative politicians, thinkers, and religious leaders, the attendees pushed for a move towards dissolution of the separation between church and state and introduction of religion in public education. A statement of principles signed by the conference members said
“Where a Christian majority exists, public life should be rooted in Christianity and its moral vision, which should be honored by the state and other institutions both public and private..."
From the article on NBC News about the conference comes this other nugget:
The Bible, the signatories agreed, should be taught as a source of “shared Western civilization in schools and universities.”
It is tempting to think of this particular issue as one that the GOP has picked up purely to drive their faithful to the polls. Sadly, it appears that today's Republican party has been completely taken over by the evangelical movement that espouses a devotion (if selective) to Christian theology and takes (parts of) the Bible literally.
Republicans have already refused to consider any measures to keep children safe in school other than having more armed guards and arming teachers(!). Even in the wake of a complete breakdown in law enforcement at Uvalde, there seem to be no new ideas from the GOP except guns, guns, and more guns.
Republicans have also refused to protect children from the consequences of sexual attacks on them, as was seen in the case of the 10-year-pregnant child from Indiana who had to travel to a different state for an abortion. In Florida, Republicans are thinking of backing out of the National School Lunch program because it does not allow discrimination against any child due to race, gender, or sexual identity.
Then there is the concerted attacks across the country on books that teach our children factual history. The Florida Education Department took exception to a set of mathematics textbooks, saying that they had elements of social-emotional learning that were not appropriate for the curriculum.
Taken as a whole, this paints a really worrying picture for the future of public education in this country should Republicans come to power, both at the state level and at the federal level. It appears that the sanctity of life they tout so much stops at birth, and from then on, children are to be kept hungry, indoctrinated with Christian religious principles, and left to fend for themselves against shooters and sexual predators.
Is this the America we want for our children? An America where they will have fewer rights, be more unsafe, and have fewer opportunities and prospects because of inferior education?
If we don't want this future to come to pass, let's pledge to vote Democrat in the upcoming midterms and all future elections so our kids can have the same American dream that we came here for.
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