'In God We Trust’ - the bills Christian nationalists hope will ‘protect religious freedom’
Christian hardliners on the religious right have introduced new bills to impose their values in at least six American states in the opening days of 2019. The early legal moves have been tracked from Alaska to Florida as mostly Republican legislators make use of off-the-shelf ‘model bills’ generated by Christian nationalists in a playbook called Project Blitz.
President Trump just tweeted support for Bible courses, but it’s already legal to teach about the Bible
Bible courses in public schools appeared to get a high-visibility boost Monday when President Trump tweeted about a group of states proposing such classes. “Starting to make a turn back? Great!” he tweeted. As a Bible scholar, I’d join with the president in affirming the value of a good grasp of the Good Book.
Multiple States Move to Expand Government Expression of Religion
A coordinated push by religious groups is resulting in an explosion of legislation across the country that mandates the inclusion of “In God We Trust” in schools and other constitutionally dubious public religious expressions. With a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, activists are hoping any litigation will result in important judicial victories that serve as long-term precedents for the expansion of religion into the public sphere.
