Richard Land, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said it well, “You should never want the state to be deciding what is the correct understanding of religion. The last thing any devout follower of Jesus should want is government control of religion. The government will always get it wrong and pious followers of Christ will have their consciences violated.” It is the job of the Church and parents to teach Christian doctrine, not the job of the state or its agencies.
The usual suspects are up in arms over a proposed public school curriculum in Texas. “Bible-infused curriculum sparks Texas-sized controversy over Christianity in the classroom” reads the breathless headline from one education publication. From the ominous reports, one would think that classrooms in the Lone Star State were being converted into Sunday schools. One Democratic state representative called it “egregious.” But the reality is different.
The Texas Education Agency posted the educational curriculum in May. It’s still subject to approval by the Texas Board of Education. The materials are not mandatory, but there are incentives for school districts that opt in.
A cursory reading of the materials shows that while the curriculum features many stories rooted in the Bible, they are also joined by lessons from other religions. What’s more, there are connections between history and Christianity, such as Esther’s heroic advocacy for the Jewish people in Persia and contemporary anti-Semitism, analysis of the religious content in Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” and an explanation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath told The Washington Post, “There is content, where relevant, that provides information on various religious traditions.