With a battle brewing over the Texas State Board of Education’s potential to emphasize the importance of the Bible and the Christian faith in American history classes, American Civil Liberties Union members are expressing deep concern.
“On every single front, Texas is the least progressive state I’ve ever lived in and the biggest issue I see here is this insidious business of slipping it into the schools where we have vulnerable minds and peer pressure to boot,” said ACLU member Russell La Claire. “I am deeply concerned about that.”
The Texas affiliate of the ACLU held their annual meeting Saturday, focusing on religious freedom in Texas in light of recent changes made to the science curriculum by the board of education, as well as potential social studies changes.
In March, the board voted to allow creationist revisions of science course material, by altering language in the curriculum that indicated the “sufficiency and insufficiency” of evolutionist theories. The ACLU testified against the measure.
“It’s the climate in Texas that makes us very interested in [religion],” said Dotty Griffith, the ACLU of Texas’ public education director. “We are always against any initiative of government-imposed religion. We’re all in favor of teaching about religion, but we are not in favor of proselytizing or promoting one religion over another.”
Griffith said she is sure the ACLU will also testify against the potential social studies changes.
Last month, the board appointed six experts to review the social studies curriculum.
Three of the appointed reviewers suggested the emphasis on Christianity. One of them, David Barton, is a former vice chair of the state Republican Party and founder of WallBuilders, a group that promotes Christianity in American history; another is the Rev. Peter Marshall; and the third is Daniel Dreisbach, a professor of public affairs at American University.
Terri Burke, ACLU Texas director, said the experts are questionable.
“Our biggest concern, frankly, is the process by which they make these determinations,” Burke said. “Where do these experts come from? Who are these experts? Somebody who has been the co-chair of the state Republican Party is, in my opinion, not an expert on history.”
Susan Herman, the ACLU national president, assured members in her keynote speech Saturday that Texas is not the only state in the U.S. concerning the union.
“As I’ve been meeting people over the last couple days, with typical Texas pride, people have been telling me that you have the worst civil liberties violations in Texas,” Herman said. “But you have some competition.”
She listed a series of cases the ACLU has taken on in states ranging from Arkansas to Michigan and said that, even with the election of President Barack Obama, the ACLU still has work to do.
“Can the ACLU close up shop? Maybe put a nice banner across the door saying ‘Mission Accomplished,’” Herman asked as the audience that erupted in laughter and negative shouts. “We need the ACLU to keep pushing.”
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the devil for sure as people like you endorse abortion and gay marriage and everthing that is bad"
SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; DIPLOMAT; ONE OF TWO SIGNERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATESThe general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.1 There are many more quotes on the record made by the founding fathers. Should not these papers and statements by studied as well. This would give a TOTAL picture of how our country is formed. Now, if the Bible is nothing more than a book, what do people have fear from it? The Bible is the most Feared Book in the World.