Texas has always been known for flaunting, if not ignoring altogether, the separation between Church and State. In Texas, everyone is free to enjoy Christianity, whether they want to or not. Truly, these folks put the “fun” into Fundamentalism. (Where do you think Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © got his “the Constitution is just a g——-n piece of paper” mindset?) Now a church has actually opened what they’re referring to as their “second campus” in a public high school paid for by tax dollars. Yeah, I know: WHAT separation of Church and State?
On the one hand, I suppose there’s nothing inherently sinister about a church renting space in a school. In that sense, a church is like any other group that pays to rent space for whatever their activity happens to be. However, when a church takes a step that they characterize as setting up a “second campus” in a publicly-funded high school, it seems to me that we’ve crossed the Rubicon. This not only crosses the line separating Church and State, ti completely obliterates it. If a church can set up what amounts to a full-time presence in a public school, does this represent government-sanctioned religion? From where I sit, it’s hard to see it as anything but that. What if a Jewish synagogue, or a coven of witches, or (oh, the humanity….) a gaggle of Buddhists wanted to do the same thing? Being that this is Texas we’re talking about, I imagine that the hue and cry would be long and loud. Christianity is the majority religion, and if you believe in the tyranny of the majority, EVERYONE gets to be Christians…whether they want to or not. What about the large population of Hindu and Muslim students in the Clear Creek ISD? Would they be afforded the same opportunities if a group of believers made a donation to the school? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Realistically, though, this is not a conversation that shouldn’t even be taking place. When a church is allowed to essentially set up shop in a public school, that would seem to run counter to the separation of Church and State, and it smacks of state-sanctioned religion.
Then again, the Constitution is just a g——-n piece of paper, right?
