Bible Re-evaluated in Texas

 

(4 minute read)

To ban or not to ban

A lot of coverage has been given to the banning of the bible by a Texas school district.  I did a smidge of digging and discovered that the bible was not in fact banned from the libraries of that district.[1]  (The “digging” that I did took less than 15 seconds and I type slowly.) Complaints of various books were lodged so the district, in keeping with their new policy, is re-evaluating all those books to see if they meet the appropriate criteria for removal.

However, there are librarians in Texas facing book banning issues from “woke”[2] and “triggered”[3] Trumpers.  In other words, books that some parents or even a single parent don’t like can get banned.[4]  Books in general that are banned are often banned because of ‘sexually explicit’ themes.  So, we can expect parents from other religions or that are atheist to respond in kind to the culture wars started and encouraged by Trump.  Chaos and division are hallmarks of his.

Back in May[5] I wrote that Republicans, now known as the Trump Party, were going to mess around and get the bible banned.  Guess what?  That school district in Texas is getting close.  It won’t be the last to wrestle with this issue created by the Trump Party.  I don’t know what the new standards are for the Texas school district are but if they allow the bible back in the library they’re pretty loose, depending upon how one feels about rape, incest, murder, abortion, slaughter, mutilation, and pornography.  I referenced the appropriate scriptures in one of my blog posts so I’m not going to do that again.  All in all it comes down to one thing.

The eye of the beholder.

How did we get here?

            This next section is a little lengthy but ties into my main theme which will end up being about all that Evangelicals want to either ban or have control over.

            The short answer is Evangelicals, the old Republican Party, the Trump Party and Trump.  Without going into greater detail about the timeline the religious right led by key evangelicals started making their move seeking power during the Regan years.[6]  They realized that their followers could be easily manipulated into being a voting block over one issue. 

Abortion.

Now the funny thing is Regan signed into law a liberal abortion rights law when he was governor of California.[7]  At that time it was one of the most liberal in the nation.  But Evangelicals committed to and played the long game.  They started their final push when Trump sought the Presidency.  He needed their voting bloc and was malleable to their agenda because of his lack of character and moral compass.

            The religious right needed power at the upper level of government to compensate for their decline in relevant numbers as a percentage of the population.[8]  Evangelicals need laws passed to enshrine their powers and control to compensate for their declining numbers.  The Trump Party is giving them secular power along with a seat at his table. 

            On average membership in churches has been declining 10% every 5 years.[9]  Millions have left the church and I mean church in the whole people are the church sense not just the physical sense.  The pandemic will continue to have an effect on religion as well.  Just like so many small businesses, thousands of small churches also failed.  Empty church buildings now dot the land.  There will be more of them with each passing year if current trends hold.

            Evangelicals realized that their influence was in a slow inexorable decline. They made their move.

We’re reaping the results.

Alienation

            In addition to abortion and banning books the Religious Right has other issues on their agenda like getting Christian prayer back in schools, advocating intolerance for LGBTQIA+ folx, controlling or even banning contraception methods, outlawing some forms of consensual sex between adults, getting government funds for Christian schools, indoctrinating children in public schools with their beliefs, being able to discriminate against those they don’t agree with in the public sector, rejecting other faiths and changing our Constitution to be more theocratic. While not pushing for a full blown theocracy they want at least to be in a power sharing relationship with government at all levels, like Iran or the Saudi Arabia.

            The problem is their agenda put them in conflict with the Christians that don’t share their world view of intolerance and exclusion.  The conflicts that they exacerbated within the faith have worsened the decline and created even more divisions.  They are in the process of achieving their goals.

But at what cost?

---

[1] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/anne-frank-diary-banned-texas/

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/woke-meaning-origin

[3] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/triggered

[4] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/i-am-not-upset-i-m-enraged-administration-asked-school-librarian-to-take-down-banned-books-display-after-one-parent-complained/ar-AA10Sz0M?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=c7736bb97ec54222b3747537285f8cc1

[5] https://yadayadayadablahblah.blogspot.com/2022/05/ban-bible-20-minute-read.html

[6] https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133/

[7] https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/local-history/story/2022-06-28/from-the-archives-reagan-signed-california-law-easing-access-to-abortion-55-years-ago

[8] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

[9] https://www.christianpost.com/news/membership-declines-in-the-united-methodist-church.html