On Jan. 28 the Iowa State Daily Editorial Board published an article titled “Stop introducing useless bills.” The main point of the article was that the state legislature only has a limited time, so they should focus on education and water quality. Putting aside the fact that the very first bill the State Legislature passed was about water quality, one of the two examples the Editorial Board chose is hardly useless. 

One example is HF 2031. This bill would give public high schools the option of having religious based social studies electives. The article says “This bill is clearly nothing but a way for the politicians who proposed this bill, like Dean Fisher and Skyler Wheeler, to keep their Christian voter bases happy.”

The history of the Bible, how it spread and Christianity’s divisions is the history of western civilization and Europe. Ever since Constantine converted, almost every event in European history has deeply involved Christianity. So why is a class understanding that “insane?” 

Just because the Iowa State Daily Editorial Board disagrees with the bill does not mean others cannot agree with it. The purpose of having 100 State Representatives who each represent a different area of Iowa is to propose bills that each area finds important.

Maybe a majority of Iowa Representatives do not agree with HF 2031, but a majority of Sioux County does. Our republic is built of the debating of ideas so let’s debate them. Instead of declaring that every bill you do not like is useless, let our system work.