Emboldened by court rulings and election victories, the Christian right is outspoken as it pushes its moral views through the Texas Legislature.
Testifying this month against bills that would put more Christianity in Texas public schools, the Rev. Jody Harrison invoked the violent persecution of her Baptist forefathers by fellow Christians in colonial America.
Harrison hoped the history lesson would remind Texas senators of Baptists’ strong support for church-state separations, and that weakening those protections would hurt people of all faiths.
Instead, she was rebuked.
“The Baptist doctrine is Christ-centered,” Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, responded sharply. “Its purpose is not to go around trying to defend this or that. It is to be a disciple and a witness for Christ. That includes the Ten Commandments. That’s prayer in schools. It is not a fight for separation between church and state.”
Harrison was not allowed to reply, but in an interview said she was stunned that a lawmaker would question a core part of her faith. The exchange, she said, perfectly encapsulated why she has fought to preserve church-state separations — the same religious protections that Campbell said are a distraction from bills that might bring school kids to Christ.
“It was a wake up call,” she said. “I don’t think people — even many churches — realize that this is going on right now, and that is alarming.”
That statement perfectly encapsulates the problem. The Senator (I’m sure knowingly) is presenting her preferred version of Christianity, which includes the Ten Commandments and Christian prayer forced upon children. Because it’s her version, it’s the “right one.”
Of course, anyone who does even a surface level of research knows that Christianity is full of varied experiences and interpretations. Many versions do not include the ten commandments as necessary guidance, and many do not believe in performative prayer or prayer that is not from the heart.
But the purpose is control, so all of that nuance is worth a hill of beans to people like the Senator. Christians who don’t fall in line are no better than non-believers to them.
Post the Satanic version. There’s no way to argue against it without directly promoting Christianity at the expense of other religions. That might be the purpose but it won’t hold up in court.