New religious mandates in schools raise concerns over LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of religion

New religious mandates in schools raise concerns over LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of religion

Guest Commentary by Luke Grayson-Skinner

In less than a week, Louisiana and Oklahoma’s boards of education have both decided that all public schools are required to post the 10 Commandments in all classrooms. Oklahoma took it a step further, now requiring teachers to both have Bibles in their classrooms, and teach from it.

I have problems and concerns with this for multiple reasons. The first being how my queer and gender nonconforming siblings will be treated and how many of their teachers will recite the “clobber verses.” My 15- and 16-year-old siblings are very visibly queer and have been bullied about it by other students and teachers for years. My 13-year-old brother likes to wear nail polish and has less than traditionally masculine mannerisms, which have been met with being called a “g-mo” (gay emo) over and over.

My other problems are the so called separation of church and state, the fact that the U.S. does not have an official religion and the freedom of religion stated in the Constitution.

In the U.S., it is only modernized, conservative Christianity that is being pushed while others are either villainized or disregarded. Along these same lines, what a lot of people also fail to realize, is that the Pledge of Allegiance we had to recite every morning in school, before anything else, contained the phrase “One nation, under God.” This was added by Congress in 1954, which up until that point had no reference of religion.

The right to believe or not believe

If this were any religion other than Christianity, or any non-religion, the majority of people would be very vocal about how it would be inappropriate. I fully believe people should be allowed to follow whatever they believe, and that is every person’s right. But I don’t believe people should be able to force their beliefs on another human being — adult or child.

Many people seem to forget what we learned in high school U.S. History. Namely, the pilgrims who first emigrated from England primarily left because of the religious persecution they had to endure. Even though throughout all of U.S. history, there have been many battles based in religious intolerance of others beginning in Massachusetts when they banned non-Puritans in the early 1600s.

My history of belief

Growing up, I was a part of an evangelical “mega church” in North Idaho. Until I was about 15, I believed Christianity was the only “true religion” and everyone else was wrong and going to hell for believing in anything other than what my church taught. I believed it because that’s what I was taught, what was pounded into my head since I was a small child.

As I got closer to 18, I questioned how right we actually were, if our evangelizing was actually what we were supposed to do and if it was going too far. We had Bible study during lunch, organized “See You At The Pole” (SYATP) events every year and looked down on those who chose not to participate. We got praised for bringing new kids to church or youth group each week. We got praised even more when they fully became a part of the church by volunteering and being baptized in front of the entire congregation and/or during the mass baptisms held at the lake every summer, where about 80 people were baptized in quick succession.

We were incentivized to read the Bible in its entirety in 100 days. Guilting our peers and sometimes our families into attending our church and denouncing their former beliefs was rewarded. We were given a script on what to say and how to respond to common questions or rebuttals. We were also taught how to pray with people when they decided to “accept Jesus into their hearts.” Looking back almost 15 years later, I see how messed up all of this really was, and how much brainwashing was truly practiced by our pastors and youth group leaders.

Learning about my ‘others’

In middle school I learned about different religions in the world that were “relevant” to history. We spent about a week on ancient Judaism, another few days on Islam and probably three weeks on Christianity. We received extra credit if we brought in proof that we had attended a Christian church service of some kind during those weeks. I remember classmates making “jokes” about other religions because “We all know Christianity is the only true religion.” I don’t know why it’s stuck with me all this time, but it has.

Throughout my lifetime, I have seen people in positions of power, elected officials, use the Bible to justify their hateful policies and proposed legislation, mostly toward people like me. As a young adult, I watched senate hearings about whether trans people should be allowed to use the bathroom or locker room that aligns with their correct gender. And more recently, about whether trans kids should be allowed to be who they are, whether supportive parents should be allowed to keep their children and whether doctors should be allowed to help a person medically transition. Some states have passed legislation restricting people under 25 and their ability to access hormones and gender-affirming surgeries.

Civil rights are, yet again, being stepped on by those citing religious morality, slamming open the door for more civil liberties and constitutional rights to be wiped away — for the clock to be turned back even further. I just hope that these seemingly unilateral decisions are overturned before the new school year starts in August. Otherwise, I hope families and students of non-Christian beliefs find a way to discredit it and/or insert their own religious beliefs in the classroom as a counter to the very likely oppressive practices that are to come.

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.