Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission continues Christian Nationalist assault on public education

Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to today’s Religious Liberty Commission hearing on religious freedom in public education:

“Yet again, President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission demonstrated that its true purpose is to advance a Christian Nationalist agenda and impose one narrow religious view on the nation’s public school children. The speakers at today’s hearing made that clear – from the former high school football coach whose attorneys spun what one federal judge called a ‘deceitful narrative’ to recast his coercive post-game prayer rallies with public school students as quiet, personal, private prayers, to a public high school history teacher who has likened public schools to a ‘mission field’ where she engages in ‘spiritual warfare’ to oppose LGBTQ+ students’ identities.

“The majority of speakers at today’s hearing are affiliated with Christian Nationalist organizations working to obliterate church-state separation, turn public schools into Sunday schools and misuse religious freedom as a license to discriminate. The commission continues to ignore the true threats to religious freedom in public education: Christian Nationalist mandates to display the Ten Commandments, teach the Bible as truth, infuse curricula with Christianity, install school chaplains and impose coercive prayer on students, to name just a few.

“Today’s meeting has been an outright assault on our country’s promise of church-state separation. That promise is central to true religious freedom. It means that families – not politicians or public school officials – get to decide how and when children engage with religion. The commission should be joining Americans United in demanding a national recommitment to church-state separation as the best way to defend religious freedom for all – our inclusive public schools and our democracy depend on it.”

Americans United submitted extensive written public comments to the commission on Sept. 22 and Aug. 30 that explain the true threats to religious freedom in public education. The most recent comments explain public school officials’ rights and responsibilities regarding religious freedom; dispel the myths surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (in which AU represented the school district); and how private school vouchers undermine both public education and religious freedom.