Texas Major Battlefield in Push for Christian Nationalism in Public Schools

There is a national push to insert Christian nationalist lessons into public schools, and Texas is one of the main battlegrounds in that fight.

The Texas State Board of Education released new rules regarding public education curriculum under House Bill 1605. These rules have increasingly blurred the line between including references to religion in lessons and actual Bible study.

State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) grilled Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath in a public hearing last month on the way that Texas has implemented lessons that were supposed to include a wide range of religious references and information. Instead, Talarico showed that lessons involving Islam, which is practiced by half a million Texans, had been cut while the Christian ones had been expanded. These include lessons on the flood myth that appear to treat it as a fact rather than a belief.

“I’m a former Texas public school teacher,” Talarico said. “I’m also a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. And so I can tell you there is a difference between teaching and preaching, and in my opinion, these passages, which appear at length throughout the curriculum — I’m surprised you don’t know about them — in my reading they are preaching.”

The Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers is still analyzing the curriculum, but they are so far unsettled by it. They note that the Christian Hillsdale College and the far-right Texas Public Policy Foundation as developers of the content, further adding to the evidence that the move is more Christian nationalist than educational in nature.

“Look, there’s nothing wrong with classical education as a concept nor is there anything wrong with learning about religion and its impact on society. It is impossible to teach history without understanding the impact of religion on historical figures such as Martin Luther or Martin Luther King, Jr., for that matter,” said Zeph Capo, president of Texas AFT in a statement. “There is something wrong, though, with using ‘classical education’ as a cover for the creep of Christian Nationalist philosophy into our classrooms.”  

As of right now, schools are not required to use the approved curriculum that includes bible lessons. However, schools do receive an extra $60 per student if they do. With nearly every district in Texas struggling as Governor Greg Abbott holds finding increase hostage until he gets his school voucher bill passed, that can put the districts in a rough position.

This fight is not just playing out in Texas. In Oklahoma, Florida, and Louisiana, Republican-dominated school boards and legislatures are pushing for more overtly Christian content in public schools. The measures range from Biblical lessons to employing chaplains as counselors.

Often, there is a frightening disconnect from the supporters of these initiatives that betrays a lack of understanding and reality. Jon Arguello, a board member in Osceola County, Florida, angrily made up a baffling hypothetical scenario to justify his desire to employ chaplains.  

“If there was a student who came up here asking for ‘Hey, I want to be chemically castrated’ because I’m a transgender ideologist, the school board members on this dais would pay for the Uber to send that student to go to the clinic,” Arguello said a recent meeting. “But here, in this situation, a student comes, and they ask for spiritual guidance because they need something that is different than what we’re offering, and they want to cut it down.”

Arguello’s point of view is, unfortunately, common. Much of the push for Christian content in public schools is based on erroneous and ridiculous beliefs about other social issues, confusing them for oppression against Christians.

Texas is ground zero for this mindset, with school funding literally being held hostage until Gov. Abbott can begin funneling taxpayer dollars into church schools.