Church and State: Headed for a Make-Up?
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have anything against conservative Christians. I don’t have anything more against conservative Christians than your average east coast-turned-Texan lesbian fond of international travel and expressing what she thinks. Truthfully, sometimes I use “unfriendly” words to do so, words like “fascist” and “national socialism revisited” and “moral perversion,” but they’re always apt. I make it a point not to use the wrong words; I’m not really a vocabulary snob so much as I’m obsessive-compulsive about making sure that I always use the right words. I believe that conservative Christians have just as much right to be horribly misguided as anyone else, as long as it doesn’t destroy the life or karma of anyone but themselves. Of course, I don’t remember the last time a group of hostile agnostics bombed an abortion clinic, or the last time some militant Taoists decided to make school children cry by telling them that they’re going to hell if they don’t sign their name at the bottom of a spiritual contract that they’re legally (or morally, at least) too young to comprehend. I mean, what is this, the Godfather? “Either your brains or your signature are going to be at the bottom of that contract…” Sign here, or go to hell. Wow. Remind me not to hire them as my morale-boosters. I suppose (sadly) that Machiavellianism is alive and well in the Bible Belt.
Today, a North Texas school district had yet another day of inservice, talking about being positive in the classroom/school, which is a valid message. The location of the meeting? A church. Not just A church, mind you – THE church known for being the most conservative, homophobic, and active church in the area. Why would a state agency have a meeting at a church, you ask? (You SHOULD ask. I asked.) Because the keynote speaker today… was one of the church elders, and he talked about bringing God back into the classrooms. God… classrooms… wait, wait. Did I miss something? I mean, I know Thomas Jefferson wasn’t popular among his contemporaries, but even they agreed that this whole Jebus-government affair was a bad idea for all involved. It’s not even the straightforward advancement of a particular religion (because educators were not given the option of where the mandatory government-funded meeting was held); this, I would argue, is worse because it’s covert, because it happens behind the backs of parents and students. It’s like slipping Soylent Green into the mystery meat, rather than just saying outright that food is scarce, so we’re going to start eating people.
It’s just dodgy. But then… welcome to the Bible belt.
