Steven Singer has a new view of the recent Supreme Court ruling that the state of Missouri is obliged to pave the playground of a church.
If churches are going to receive federal funding, he writes, they should pay taxes.
What is more, think long term. Church schools that receive federal and state funding should expect to meet accountability standards for their curriculum and their hiring practices. Separation of church and state protected religious institutions from government regulation and control. Well, that’s over.
What conservatives seem to forget is that the wall of separation between church and state wasn’t erected just to protect the state from influence by religion. It also was set up to protect religion from the state.
Once you have money flowing from one to the other, regulations are soon to follow.
Expect your cute little parochial school to put away the Bible and replace it with “The Origin of Species”.
What? Your faith compels you to believe in the Creation of Man by God and not scientific evolution of organisms through heritable traits? I guess you’ll just have to teach the controversy.
Some people in America still think that there’s value in having both public and private schools. They seem to think that it’s actually a benefit having school systems where people are taught differently. But this new ruling paves the way (pun intended) to breaking down the walls between each type of institution.
Yes, public schools will become more like religious schools. But religious schools will also become more like public schools.
The entire education system will become one big watered down whole. And – giggle – those pushing for it actually call the process “School Choice”!
Oh the plutocrats will do their best to cover it all up with culture war nonsense. You’ll hear hours of cable news blather about poor conservative bakers fighting not to make cupcakes for gay people. But behind this high profile grist for the mill will be active efforts at homogenization, government overreach and oligarchy.
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