Caitlin MacNeal over at Talking Points Memo has really thorough coverage of Tennessee Republicans' efforts to stop kids from learning about religions:
Following complaints from parents and lawmakers that Tennessee students were learning too much about Islam in school, a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill that would keep elementary and middle school students from learning about any religion.Rep. Sheila Butt (R) introduced the bill on Friday. It provides that schools should not include "religious doctrine" in the curriculum before 10th grade and that schools cannot emphasize one religion over another.
Just from that much, you can guess what kind of clusterfuck this is going to be. Conservative parents already think that liberals are removing God from schools and what's Sheila Butt doing? Removing God from schools. Except for the fact that it's hard for me to imagine who could possibly be more conservative than her, she's handing any opponent who wants to run to her right a great political platform. Sheila Butt is passing a law to keep kids from hearing about Christian beliefs until the 10th grade.
When this law inevitably is used to justify keeping Christianity out of school, expect these bozos to come forth with a great groan of histrionics. How could they have ever guessed that this law would be used against Christians? Oh, boo hoo hoo.
But my question is: How exactly is this going to blow up in Republicans' faces? Will it be when kids aren't allowed to sing religious songs in choir? Will it be when some non-Christian parent asks why their kids have to take Christmas off but Christian kids don't have to take their high holy days off? When will they realize that the law they're writing impacts Christians just like it impacts Muslims?
And how hard will we all laugh when that happens?
