Amidst several efforts to undermine Church-State separation in public schools and universities, the Ohio legislature is currently considering a bill to further open the door for these institutions to promote the “positive influence of Christianity” on U.S. history.
We can act on our values of religious freedom by respecting Ohio students of faiths: tell your state legislator to oppose HB 486 today.
Background
HB 486 opens the door to breaches of Church-State separation in Ohio’s public schools and university. Cloaked in seemingly benign language giving “permission” for teachers to share information about the “positive impacts of religion on American history,” the bill is part of several policies legislators have or could enact that are creating more space for religious bias in public schools. The bill almost exclusively references Christianity and even references to “Judeo-Christian Values” are no more than attempt to connect Judaism to a dangerous version of Christian nationalism that relies on false narratives and a whitewashed framing of U.S. history.
Jewish Values
Our Jewish tradition teaches that faith should be a matter of בְּחִירָה חָפשִׁית (bechirah chofshit, free choice). The Jewish historical experience as “strangers in a strange land,” often suffering from persecution as a religious minority, informs our support for a separation of religion and state in the United States. The First Amendment made the United States the refuge of choice for Jews and others throughout the world when faced with persecution and oppression in countries without equivalent guarantees. American Jews have enjoyed the constitutionally-protected freedom to exercise religion and to organize communal lives under equal protection of the law. As members of a religious minority whose history is so dominated by oppression, we are especially sensitive to any effort to weaken the safeguards of pluralism and minority expression.
For more information
Visit the RAC-OH website, or contact RAC-OH Organizer Jacob Kraus-Preminger.
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