Most of the notable church-state curriculum debates were put off until today in the Texas Board of Education's meeting to revise Social Studies standards. Yesterday did see the successful addition of Wisconsin v. Yoder to the list of Supreme Court cases students should know (There, the court ruled compulsory education beyond the 8th Grade is not applicable to Amish children whose parents object on religious grounds.)
In a telling moment ahead of today's final vote, the Board opened with a prayer by member Cynthia Dunbar, who said:
Whether we look to the first charter of Virginia, or the charter of New England…the same objective is present — a Christian land governed by Christian principles.
I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.
Thanks to TFN for the quote and the video of Dunbar's invocation, which you can watch here.
[UPDATE: Thomas Jefferson was voted out, then back in again to the curriculum. See Texas Freedom Network live-blogging here. Watching this meeting the last 2 days to see how school standards are set in Texas makes sausage-making look positively quaint in comparison.
2nd UPDATE: The Board has voted 11-3 to change the government standards to include the following:
Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America and guaranteed it free exercise by saying that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and compare and contrast this to the phrase ‘separation of church and state’.
Of course, this language leaves the false impression that there is some difference between the religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment and the legal doctrine of "separation of church and state."
3rd UPDATE: The Board voted 9-6 to adopt the Social Studies standards as revised.]
