I would like to point out a flaw in the position of Eric Christensen, who was quoted in the Daily Monday, that many fall prey to when discussing the issue of the relation of church and state.

The flaw is that “church” and morality and any similar ideology all fall under the category of “church” in the First Amendment and are therefore are excluded from the public classroom.

According to this view, the classroom should be a place of moral neutrality where no moral point of view is held and all are free to choose what to believe as they wish.

All this without the terrible oppressiveness of suffering another person who claims to have the true moral system.

As Christensen himself says, “It seems to me that the organization feels that their beliefs are right, and that they should force children to feel the same way.

“Schools are for information, not for moral character building.” And that “Personally, it makes me fear putting children through school if they [Christian educators] do get anywhere with this line of thought [incorporating their religious and moral beliefs into their curriculum].”

But here comes the problem — Christensen doesn’t like the Christian, or any point of view, so he says, forcing its way into the classroom.

So what does he hope will happen in response?

“I believe that if either group gains any traction, it will be stopped by the [American Civil Liberties Union] immediately. This whole belief system may last a while, but hopefully it’s not going to get anywhere.”

Christensen wants his point of view forced in while forcing the Christian view out — and he wants it to happen through legislation.

But what happened to his condemnation of people who think they are right forcing children to feel the same way?

Here the fundamental flaw comes out again stated differently — thinking that there is such a thing as moral or, more broadly, ideological neutrality.

There simply is no such thing. Christians, Christensen, Dr. Avalos, etc., all have their view that they want legislated into the classroom.

Everyone has their point of view, and the goal is not to kid yourself into thinking you are neutral while everyone else is close-minded, but to be right!

Peter Swanson

Co-Founder

Truth Bucket