Jackson County School Board Defies the Constitution to Promote Bible Man
by Charles Miller - Executive Director, Secular Coalition for Alabama
I am disappointed but not surprised that the Jackson County school board has decided to continue hosting Bible Man assemblies in its elementary school. By endorsing this affront to religious liberty and the Constitution the board has set itself up to lose a costly legal battle. This is simply poor public policy at a time when budgets are stretched and schools struggle to offer basic instruction.
It seems that State Senator Shadrach McGill missed some of the basic instruction in American History and Government. Otherwise, we are at a loss to explain how he could make this statement quoted in an al.com article published today:
“We were established to be a godly nation, a Christian nation,” McGill said Wednesday. “We need God in government. We need God in the public school. The more we trend away from God, the more we suffer – morally and spiritually.”
McGill says his views about the Bible Man are shared by the majority of his constituents.
Neither the United States nor Alabama Constitutions establish anything like “majority rule” of a Christian state. Our founding Fathers wisely established America as a Secular Republic where everyone is free to practice their own religion without government dictating their faith. At the same time, every religion has extraordinary freedom to establish their own institutions to promote their beliefs in their own way.
Alabama is becoming more religiously diverse and it is essential that we resist the rising tide of theocracy and impulse to grant one religion privilege over another. Churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques already have extraordinary freedom to teach their adherents, each according to their own doctrine. Involving the government to promote religion only serves to dilute religion and trample the rights of those of a different religion or none at all.
When situations like this arise, it is important to think about it in terms of the other person’s religion. How would the people of Sand Mountain feel if Quran Man or Book of Mormon Man were proselytizing in their schools? Or how do some Christians feel who disagree with some of the doctrine Bible Man is teaching their children?
I think they would be among the first to protest and we would support them in a fight to protect everyone's rights and keep our government and public institutions religiously neutral.
