Christian Nationalism gains another foothold in Texas

Also, don't delay checking your voter registration

In what now seems like ancient history, Republicans in this state once fought vigorously for the right of local school districts to control much of what went on within their schools. The state has always had some bright red lines for districts to follow but the interference was much less than it is today.

For instance, then you could teach real history without fuzzying it up so that some wouldn’t be offended by the truth about slavery and racism.

Those with a memory might recall when Republicans set out to do away with the State Board of Education, which seemed a bad idea to many (myself included), but, hey, then as now the Republicans were in control.

And the party was successful. Away went the board, no more heinous control from Austin.

Well, not exactly.

As it turned out the local boards weren’t all that gung-ho about following the path laid out in Republican wet dreams. Those boards were interested in education and wanted to listen to educational experts, not party hacks about what they should do. They did not follow the course Republicans believed that they should.

So, the GOP quickly reversed course and told us a State Board of Education was badly needed to enforce standards. The Legislature approved a bill to reestablish an elected board.

That didn’t exactly work out as planned, either. Not all the Republicans won, which means that, still, the party could not do everything it wanted.

Democracy can be such a drag, don’t cha know? Those dang people don’t always do what they are supposed to do.

That may be a clue to current events.

There was still the Legislature who could pass laws to, uh, “improve” the schools, though. They had already done this by requiring testing each year to make certain that students are learning the so-called “minimum standards.”

As anyone who follows education knows, these tests have been an abject failure in the quest to provide better education, putting even more pressure on already overburdened teachers.

The fact that testing is a failure naturally has not kept the Republican-led state government from continuing to demand them.

There seems to be no end to the steps conservatives are willing to take to inculcate their worldview onto the schoolchildren of Texas.

A bill passed in the last legislature is beginning to make an impact in Texas schools. You may not have heard of it and the weakened media largely failed to warn us what was happening.

The new law is dubbed the “In God We Trust” law. It requires that schools post a sign everywhere it can, just so long as the signs are donated by a private party or group.

That avoids any legal problem with the state spending money for establishing a religion and perhaps stopping lawsuits.

It was Senate Bill 797 and though you’d probably never guess this, it was authored and guided through to passage by none other than our own Pine Curtain State Sen. Bryan Hughes.

Who would have thought that something like this would come out of East Texas?

If you believe this will be easily overturned by the courts and, thus, not be allowed, you’re almost certainly wrong.

“In God We Trust,” is the official national motto, made so by the U.S. Congress way back in 1956. Yes, that’s right, more than 60 years ago. It has already survived numerous court challenges.

You may have believed that “E Pluribus Unam” — “From the Many, One” — was the national motto. That was picked by the Founding Fathers to go on the Great Seal of the United States and was the motto of the United States for years.

In 1956, however, the threat of godless communism was just too much. To illustrate the difference between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R, our motto was changed during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Now it will probably be hung in every room in every school in the state. There will be no shortage of groups that offer up free signs.

From a purely personal point of view, this is not a problem for me. I’m a believer. I’m just one person, though. My beliefs should not be allowed to dictate yours. That’s what America is all about, or should be.

I don’t want to force my beliefs on anybody, most especially those who don’t agree. Most other religious folks I know completely agree. Christianity means nothing if it is not a personal choice.

Republicans should be warned that posting such signs and mottos won’t work in the way they hope. They cannot engineer a society of believers with a few signs, despite what they might earnestly believe.

Without a change in which party controls the legislature, though, this law isn’t going away and, truthfully, there are bigger battles to fight across Texas government. This is just a prime example of how Republicans can chip away at certain principals that were important to the Founding Fathers and barely create a ripple.

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It is almost September, meaning that you have just over a month to register to vote in the November general election. That may seem like scads of time, but it is not. Don’t forget that the Republican legislature has done its best to suppress your right to vote.

If you have ANY questions about your voting registration status, you should go to https://www.votetexas.gov/register-to-vote/ to find out. Don’t wait or you may find yourself uselessly complaining on the day after the election because the candidate you wanted to win did not.

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Phil Latham also writes another column on Substack, “American Slave Stories,” with a goal of keeping the struggles of the slaves alive in our memories. To support, please subscribe. The cost is $5 per month.