Act Now! Woke Anti-Religious Activists Attack Christianity at the State Board of Education
Next week, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) will vote on the first round of instructional materials that will be adopted after the Texas Legislature passed HB 1605 (a law that streamlines the textbook process and allows parents to review instructional materials). However, many Leftist and radical organizations have attacked some of the OER materials that refer to different passages in the Bible and mention religious liberty in the United States. Those references include:
- Teaching students about the “Golden Rule”
- The Good Samaritan
- The Prodigal Son
- A story about Queen Esther
The publisher of these materials, which follow a “classical” model of education, make references to religion in order to help with student reading comprehension and understanding of common phrases in the English language.
Radical organizations claim that the mere mention of Christian references is turning “Public School into Sunday School”. These “woke” activists even received help from Representative James Talarico who challenged Commissioner Morath during a Texas House Education Committee, angry that students would sing the Christmas song “Away in the Manger”, among other things.
These attacks are an effort by the Left to not just erase all references to Christianity or religious liberty in the classroom, but to replace them with radical, “woke”, and LGBT materials. As we have seen before, these Leftist groups don’t want a neutral classroom, they want a classroom where their beliefs become the religion students adhere to. Keep in mind that the organizations that are opposing the mention of religion in the instructional materials are the same organizations who advocated to keep sexually explicit materials in the school libraries during the 88th legislative session!
As a parent, you have an opportunity to speak up! Tell the Texas State Board of Education that they should not reject the OER instructional materials because of their religious content. Tell them to stand up for students being able to study religion in a literary and historical context.
If you are a parent, educator, or concerned citizen who wants a voice on this issue. Please show up and testify! The opposition is bringing buses of people who oppose religion from all over the state to testify.
Registration for testimony is open NOW and will close Friday, September, 6th at 5 p.m. Please register to testify at the meeting on Tuesday, September 10, at 8 a.m. for Agenda Item 1. Register your position as “For”. Link to testify: https://sboe.texas.gov/about-tea/leadership/state-board-of-education/sboe-meetings/public-testimony-registration
If you cannot make it to the SBOE meeting, please send an email. Tell the SBOE that you support religious references taught in a literary and historical context in the classroom. Let them know that the opposition is being hostile to Christianity and that books should not be rejected simply because they mention stories from the Bible. You can email the SBOE members by submitting an email at this address: sboesupport@sboe.texas.gov
For more information, please read our blog on the study that Leftist organizations released on the materials.
If you have additional questions, please send an email to mcastle@txvalues.org.