If the constitutionality of mixing religious doctrine with public school education had seemed to be largely decided, with U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the 1960s and ’80s limiting how religious activity and teachings can be enforced, a wave of new laws and mandates in states, particularly in the South, is stirring debate and testing the bounds of what may be legally permissible.
Officials, educators and parents in those states are now being confronted by what, if any, amount of religious-infused lessons they want children to have access to at a time when many conservative Christians have been emboldened by President-elect Donald Trump and embraced the ideology of Christian nationalism, which considers the Bible a key facet of America’s history and tradition.
Read Full Article »