First Amendment Bluz

Last week showed that everything is indeed bigger in Texas, including Constitutional atrocities, as the state school board eviscerated the First Amendment by requiring Biblical passages to be taught in public schools.

Later in the article above (in a portion I clipped out for size), a supporter claimed it was OK because our 250 years “started as a nation of unwavering Christian values.”

Yes, so unwavering that the founding fathers specifically prescribed against the government having any hand in religion in the very First Amendment to the Constitution. But in Texas, the only Amendment they recognize is a mile-wide interpretation of the Second.

Optional religious student groups have been in place for a while now, and I don’t really have a problem with that, given the “optional” part. But once it’s required, it changes everything, especially considering they’re not including Quran or Talmud readings, or even the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s manifesto.

I can only hope that in the mandated teaching of this material, the teacher works in the Biblical exhortations to feed the poor, welcome the stranger, and turn the other cheek. Unless, of course, the Texas Board of Education releases their own version of the Bible and snips out of those Commie, Leftist, Liberal platitudes for which that book was originally known. Republicans aren’t really interested in freedom of religion; they’re concerned with freedom to be Christian. (Only without the pesky liberal Jesus stuff.)

Filing lawsuits to stop this indoctrination won’t do any good; there is a zero percent chance that the current SCOTUS will kill this action. In fact, upholding actions like this is exactly why the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation put the six conservative members there.

The infamous Project 2025 document contains many actions aimed at allowing what the Constitution clearly forbids. This is one of them.

So the only way any of this changes is at the local level. At least these new requirements won’t take place until 2030, by which time these evangelical school board members could be replaced by others who understand the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

This is me, not holding my breath, though.

The Republican machine is strong in Texas and tightening its grip on Texas politics every day. As the population of prospective Blue voters increases, so do Republican operations to curtail their voting power through gerrymandering and the usual Election Day roadblocks to voting: reducing voting machine numbers in urban areas, reducing windows for early voting, sabotaging vote-by-mail, etc. And, of course, the Feds can send ICE into all the Latino precincts to scare off the Hispanic vote. With ICE’s propensity to scoop up and detain anyone foreign-looking, US citizen or not, who would risk their life and livelihood just to cast a vote?

The Republicans have complete power in the state now and will now give it up without a fight, dirty or otherwise.