After nominating a senatorial candidate in the Republican primary who had cheated on his wife and was indicted for a number of crimes but was backed by Trump, against a fairly clean conservative who Trump didn’t like, the Texas Board of Education approved the reading of Bible stories to bring Christian teachings into Texas classrooms. They didn’t care about the First Amendment to the Constitution which prohibits the favoring of any religion. Texas is already one state that passed a law to make certain the Ten Commandments were posted in every school classroom. This has been blocked by the federal judiciary for the time being. (A 45 year old Supreme Court precedent exists prohibiting the Ten Commandments from being posted in public schools. However, the current conservative Supreme Court could conceivably overturn it.) Perhaps the Ten Commandments should be posted in Ken Paxton’s house and office, Trump’s GOP candidate who beat Cornyn.
The State of Texas would like to bring Christian teachings to school classrooms- hence the Ten Commandments and required reading of Bible stories. According to the Associated Press, assigned readings will include Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and excerpts from the New Testament, which will start in 2030. There has been a backlash to these new regulations from some teachers who are concerned about forcing New Testament readings on Muslim, Jewish, and atheist students. Supporters of the readings feel that they fit with the Judeo-Christian traditions of the founders of the nation and should be familiar to all citizens. They also believe that biblical passages helped shape American history and culture and it is important that citizens know them.
Texas also allows schools to hire chaplains to counsel students and provides an optional Bible-oriented curriculum for students and parents who request it. A mandatory reading list for every grade includes Biblical passages, essays and books. Picture books for early elementary students also tell Biblical stories such as Daniel in the Lion’s Den and David and Golliath. Passages about Jesus from the New Testament are encountered by the fourth grade. In middle-school and high school, further New Testament passages about Jesus, his sermons and the Kingdom of God are utilized. There is no other state in the union with a similar emphasis on religious teachings in public schools.
There is complete disregard in Texas for the First Amendment to the Constitution which forbids Congress from making laws respecting an establishment of religion, which is felt to be valid for all levels of government.
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020