Thoughts in a Haystack

The Texas Freedom Network has organized some religious opposition to the plans of the theocratic wing of the Texas State Board of Education to inject their mythology into the state's new social science curriculum standards that the US is a Christian nation:

"What violates the Constitution is presenting material that either prefers Christianity over other faiths or depicts the Untied States as a Christian nation in some legal sense or constitutional sense," warned Derek Davis, dean of the Humanities department at the Baptist-based University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and director of the school's Center for Religious Liberty.

It's debatable whether society has become over-secularized, as some Christians complain, he said. But to assume it's happening and "to blame it on the separation of church and state, which they claim is hostile to the Founders' intentions, is patently false," Davis said.

The Rev. Marcus McFaul, senior pastor at Highland Park Baptist Church in Austin, said "the instruction of religious faith, discipleship and a life of service — one shaped by devotion and piety — is the responsibility of each faith community, whether church, synagogue or mosque. It is the responsibility of parents and parishes, not public schools."

Naturally, rational voices, even from fellow evangelical Christians, are not about to deter the theocrats:

Board member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, a leader of the board's seven members who are social conservatives, said he respected the Baptist theologians "but I listen to my own pastor."

Not to mention the voices in head:

Bradley said he's certain "there will be efforts (by board members making amendments) to preserve, protect and strengthen America's godly heritage."

If it was only Texas, that would be bad enough. But there's more to it than that:

Until recently, Texas's influence was balanced to some degree by the more-liberal pull of California, the nation's largest textbook market. But its economy is in such shambles that California has put off buying new books until at least 2014. This means that [Board member Don] McLeroy and his ultraconservative crew have unparalleled power to shape the textbooks that children around the country read for years to come.

A Texas-level education is coming to a school near you.
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