Texas Board of Education Fanatics At It Again
Today the social conservatives, creationists and religious fanatics who dominate the Texas State Board of Education are continuing their deadly serious effort to redefine the Constitution as an explicitly Christian document and stop teaching children one of the key concepts behind the United States — the separation of church and state. Texas Freedom Network is live-blogging this latest appalling meeting.
11:23 – Kelly Shackelford, head of the Liberty Institute/Free Market Foundation, the Texas affiliate of the far-right Focus on the Family, is up. Shackelford argues that the words “separation of church and state” aren’t in the Constitution. Neither, we might say, is “fair trial,” “separation of powers” “checks and balances” and other basic constitutional principles. Shackelford thinks “separation of church” is being used to “abuse” the freedom of students. He wants students to contrast the intent of the Founders (or what he believes was the intent of the Founders) who wrote the Constitution with the phrase “separation of church and state.”
11:32 – Board member David Bradley calls separation of church and state a “myth.” He notes that the Ten Commandments adorn federal buildings like the Supreme Court.
There’s a live video feed (RealAudio format, ugh) at the Texas Education Agency website.