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<\/a><\/p>\nCharles Foster Johnson<\/p>\n
\u201cTexas public schools serve all children from every conceivable faith tradition and no faith tradition,\u201d said Charles Foster Johnson<\/a>, executive director of Pastors for Texas Children. \u201cThey are public institutions that must not favor, advance or establish any religion. Religion\u202fis for the congregation, home and individual. When it becomes a tool of the state, both get corrupted every single time.\u201d<\/p>\n It was one of the bill\u2019s champions, Republican State Rep. David Spiller, who disclosed the small number of districts that opted to establish official prayer and Scripture reading times during noninstructional hours, The Tribune<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n \u201cI respect their opinion. They know their communities,\u201d Spiller said. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say they can\u2019t come back and revisit it. But this is not a mandate. I\u2019ve said very clearly from the start, this is not a mandate bill. The only thing that\u2019s mandated is if they consider it. They don\u2019t have to adopt it.\u201d<\/p>\n But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick<\/a> previously described the measure as essential to religious freedom in Texas: \u201cI prioritized SB-11 to make sure religious freedom is not infringed upon in Texas, ensuring our students and educators have the right to pray on school grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n Ken Paxton<\/p>\n Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a> described the law as an explicit attempt to promote the teachings of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Texas classrooms, we want the word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed and prayers lifted up,\u201d he said. \u201cTwisted, radical liberals want to erase Truth, dismantle the solid foundation that America\u2019s success and strength were built upon, and erode the moral fabric of our society. Our nation was founded on the rock of Biblical Truth, and I will not stand by while the far-left attempts to push our country into the sinking sand.\u201d<\/p>\n SB-11 was one of several measures approved by the Legislature to enshrine conservative Christianity in Texas public schools, including measures to use unlicensed school chaplains<\/a>, to display the Ten Commandments<\/a> in classrooms and to adopt an optional Bible-infused<\/a> curriculum.<\/p>\n But The Tribune reported many districts were skeptical about how to handle parental consent requirements while others disapproved of adopting a system that endorsed conservative Christianity.<\/p>\n Alex Kotara<\/p>\n \u201cIn reality, there was no need for it,\u201d said Alex Kotara<\/a>, vice president of the Houston-area Karnes City School Board. \u201cIt passes the buck to local school districts to make that decision, but it also does it in a way that requires them to also opt out \u2014 not just opt in \u2014 which then, from an elected official standpoint, puts you in a position where, when they boil down a convoluted, kind of contradictory bill to a sound bite, it\u2019s going to be that we did not allow prayer in school.\u201d<\/p>\n The landslide rejection of SB-11 followed months of active campaigning by civil and religious rights groups opposed to the law\u2019s abandonment of church-state separation and how the law might affect the treatment of children from non-Christian or non-religious families.<\/p>\n \u201cIf SB-11\u2019s prayer policy is approved, schools will be required to track consent forms, designate non-instructional time for prayer, identify private prayer spaces and ensure non-participating students are not coerced to pray,\u201d more than 160 Texas faith leaders said in a letter sent to all school districts<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n The letter was organized by Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Texas Impact and other groups concerned about attempts to blend conservative Christianity and public education.<\/p>\n \u201cStudents who do not opt in might be bullied and ostracized, and students may feel pressure to opt in to gain favor and time with teachers or coaches,\u201d the letter said. \u201cState-sponsored prayer time will also cause division among students based on their religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n David Segal<\/p>\n That only a few districts embraced the law demonstrates Texans were not fooled by the conservative Christian aims of SB-11, BJC Policy Counsel Rabbi David Segal<\/a> said March 10. \u201cThis massive rejection of state-organized prayer proves Texans value the separation of church and state. Student-led prayer is already allowed in our public schools, it just shouldn\u2019t be a government-run program.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what democracy looks like,\u201d said\u00a0Carisa Lopez<\/a>, deputy executive director of the Texas Freedom Network.\u00a0\u201cAcross Texas, people of every faith \u2014 and no faith \u2014 came together to protect our shared right to practice religion freely, without the government telling our children when, how and what to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n The separation of church and state promised in the Constitution gives students and families, not politicians, the right to decide how and when to practice faith, said Rachel Laser<\/a>, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. \u201cThe resistance to implementing SB-11\u2019s state-organized prayer periods in Texas public schools should send a message to state legislators that Texans don\u2019t support the Christian nationalist agenda of imposing one set of religious views on all public school children.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Related articles:<\/p>\n 160 faith leaders urge Texas schools to reject forced prayer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n