Fundies should stop imposing Christianity; get out of Texas.
Texas will soon mandate Bible readings for all public school students, per a proposal approved by the Texas State Board of Education. It's not enough that they've banned school libraries from stocking books ranging from The Diary of Anne Frank to the acclaimed Great Twinks of American History series. Texas is poised to eliminating school courses on world affairs and cultures, and will "significantly expand lessons on communism." Do the changes include readings from any other religious texts? Or from The Children's Pop Up God Delusion, perhaps? The Satanic Bible? Will the lessons on communism say anything positive? Oh, honey.
Susan Perez, the founder of "Citizens for Education Reform" based out of Lubbock, Texas is cited as a key proponent of the mandates. Citizens for Education Reform has no website I could find. Their Facebook page has only 237 followers. Their key activity up until now seems to have been praying outside Lubbock school campuses, and running the "Lubbock County education indoctrination tip line" where the concerned and unoccupied can report any education overreach or indoctrination or students". Ms Perez was also part of whatever this is:
But why would "Citizens for Education Reform" let such a small footprint stop them dreaming big? Fundamentalist Christians have had big wins in Texas already. They've already forced the display of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in the state. Who knows what that is meant to accomplish. The Ten Commandments do nothing to inspire faith in God in students who don't believe, and they don't provide a guide to moral living in any relevant way to kids.
Still, failure to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms has been blamed for the degeneracy of modern youth since at least the Columbine Massacre, as if the killers would have looked up from jotting down their plans, seen THOU SHALT NOT KILL on the classroom wall, and said "oh right! We can't do this massacre thing. God said not to."
Maybe the Ten Commandments boosters have faith that Texan school students will be warned against creating graven images, but the real reason this lot wants Ten Commandments in schools isn't to inspire and strengthen children in their faith; it's a reminder to everyone else in the school system - teachers, administrators, students - that they are in charge here.
Even if I hate what "Citizens for Education Reform" are doing, I can see why they're doing it. The Bible says that in this life, we are promised toil and hardship, and that for Christians, the world is not their home, and a better one awaits as long as they keep to the true path. What a comforting message that must be, especially if you live in Lubbock, Texas.
Lubbock was voted toughest city for weather in the US. It's boiling hot in summer, running out of water, and prone to tornadoes. It's ranked n the top 5% of US cities for crime, with the rate of violent crime more than twice that of Texas as a whole. 49% of Lubbock households face financial insecurity. There's PFAS, chromium 6 and arsenic in the drinking water and the air quality is often bad. The urban environment is described as trash strewn and ugly.
And schools are underfunded, with some forced to close altogether (I guess those Ten Commandments wall hangings must have been expensive).
Given all that - if you're of a mindset that protecting the environment and reducing hardship for your fellow citizens is that evil communism business - why wouldn't you cling to the hope of a better world to come? Well, by finding better places in this world, which in the US would be most places that aren't Lubbock, Texas. If Ms Perez has the wherewithal to organise political campaigns, I'd imagine that unlike many of her townsfolk she has the resources to leave Lubbock. And she should, if only so she was inspired to see beautiful places that aren't Lubbock and meet people that aren't part of the evangelical culture of Lubbock and be so inspired she's too busy embracing the beauty of the world to pray outside schools and play school book cop.
Speaking of moving states and on a depressingly serious note over 400,000 trans people have moved states since the start of Trump's second term, forced to flee laws and regulations that threaten their lives and identities, and the violence such laws engender. This internal displacement creates its own issues, with trans people struggling to find jobs and housing in often higher cost of living areas, and without access to local support networks and mutual aid. I've no hopeful note to add here, but today I will pray that if Susan Perez won't expand her world view, she at least stubbs her toe really hard, which won't do anything to support trans people but will make me feel better.
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