Recent Supreme Court rulings and the continued effort in many states to push the Bible as the only true word....these things are alarming. I don't think our elected officials have been aware enough of the danger. I don't think they took people like Katherine Harris seriously enough when she said God chooses our rulers.
Baptist newspaper:What role do you think people of faith should play in politics and government?
Harris: The Bible says we are to be salt and light. And salt and light means not just in the church and not just as a teacher or as a pastor or a banker or a lawyer, but
in government and we have to have elected officials in government and we have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and
if people aren’t involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we’re going to have a nation of secular laws. That’s not what our founding fathers intended and that’s certainly isn’t what God intended. ....."It’s time that the churches get involved. Pastors, from the pulpit, can invite people to speak, not on politics, but of their faith.
But they can discern, they can ask those people running for election, in the pulpit, what is your position on gay marriage? What is your position on abortion? That is totally permissible in 5013C organizations. They simply cannot endorse from the pulpit. And that’s why I’ve gone to churches and I’ve spoken in four churches, five churches a day on Sunday and people line up afterwards because it’s so important that they know. And if we don’t get involved as Christians then how could we possibly take this back?
That was from the Florida Baptist Witness newspaper.
Interview with Katherine HarrisI think that when people like Katherine Harris are not taken seriously enough when they say these things about religion in government....when our congressmen turn their heads and let judges slip through...then we are in serious trouble. The first time a neighbor said that to us just before the war, I was alarmed. But I did not take her that seriously. Not then. I do now.
And this should be alarming as well:
A Texas School Board member who said "kiss my butt" to parents over Bible class gets promoted. That was over a Bible class in the public schools. L. V. Butch Foreman said this to parents who questioned the way religion was being taught in the public schools there. That remark was not insulting enough to keep him from being promoted to vice president of the school board.
“If they don’t have children in the class, they can kiss my butt,” Foreman said. “They’re just looking to impose their beliefs and their views on everybody, and we don’t put up with that crap out here.”
School board member rude to parentsWell, Foreman got promoted to vice president of the School Board. Virtue is its own reward.
ECISD board shakes up.Gregg named president; Foreman VPIn other business, trustees voted 6-0-1, with trustee Donna Smith abstaining, to submit a Rule 68 offer of judgment to the American Civil Liberties Union in regards to a federal lawsuit the organization filed against the school district on behalf of eight ECISD parents. The rule states district officials say nothing’s wrong with the Bible curriculum, and the rule encourages the ACLU to settle the case, said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for the Liberty Legal Institute, which represents ECISD in the suit.
Odessa residents are questioning the course on its execution. The ACLU is handling the lawsuit.
Showdown in OdessaCurrently 8 percent of public schools nationwide offer courses on the Bible. The Supreme Court has deemed these classes constitutional so long as they "present knowledge, but neither promote nor disparage belief." Odessa residents are thus challenging the course's execution and not its existence. The district chose the more controversial of two leading Bible class curricula: a course designed by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, a group run by a veritable Who's Who of conservative Christian leaders. Council board member and actor Chuck Norris has described this curriculum as the "first step to get God back into your public school."
...."The fact that Odessa schools may be carelessly implementing their new Bible course doesn't bode well for their willingness to teach the Bible in an objective, scholarly, nonsectarian fashion. Given that the Texas legislature is considering a bill to bring Bible courses such as Odessa's to schools statewide, we hope that this lawsuit will force schools to think more critically about teaching this important but sensitive subject.
Texas Freedom Network has out a new study about the religious right, and I found this statement from Texas.
TFN Report on Religious Right in TexasThe report contains sections on specific religious right leaders in Texas, including Terri Leo and Dan Patrick. It also contains a section of quotations from various people and some of them are quite interesting. Like this quote from a minister who teaches a Bible course in a public school in Texas (not Odessa but Big Springs Independent School District in West Texas):
"My hope is the end result is they read their Bible and start asking questions elsewhere and they become Christians. That's the hope of the community, too."
They fully intend NO effort to teach the Bible as it should be taught...
"in an objective, scholarly, nonsectarian fashion."NCBCPS Council board member and actor Chuck Norris has described this curriculum as the "first step to get God back into your public school.