An Act of the Ohio Legislature
It’s called “The Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act”, carefully inserted between lines 375 to 536 of the “regular” education finance legislation annually passed by the Ohio State Assembly. Named after the recently martyred political commentator and Christian Nationalist, the Act claims to give permission for public school teachers at; “…a state institution of higher education may provide instruction on the positive impacts of religion on American history…”.
The old “black line” was simple: teach about religion, but don’t advocate for any religion. When I last wrote lesson plans during the Covid closures, I was teaching sixth grade world cultures. Of course, religion was a huge part of the course material. I found myself explaining all sorts of major religions and their variations, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shintoism.
In the Day
In the “old days” when I started teaching, there was no question where to start. The vast majority of my students were “church-going” Christians. They were a very slight smattering of Jewish kids, and a few avowed agnostics or atheists. So most of my teaching beyond Christianity was all “new news” to the kids in my classroom.
But today, there’s a lot fewer “church-going Christians”. And there are still those few Jewish kids. But there are also Muslim kids, and Buddhist kids, and a vast majority of kids who really have no faith at all. It’s a different world, one that requires an “even hand”. Teach about the religions: leave advocacy to parents and ministers, rabbis, imams, gurus or monks. In this second decade of the 21st century, teaching about religion in suburban Central Ohio is complex.
There’s always a story. I was well aware that some of my students were Buddhist, and worked hard to give a complete explanation of their religion. Then I got an email from one of their fathers. My heart sank, I was ready for the “how dare you!!” assault for somehow screwing it up. Instead, it was a thank you note, for giving a “Westernized” explanation of the religion they practiced to his “Westernized” son . For the first time, his son was interested in their shared faith. It was a very “middle path” experience.
But advocacy isn’t just a matter of saying “my” religion is right, “yours” is wrong. As with any topic, a teacher can present a “slanted” case, that would leave the student with a biased view of what American History is. And that’s what the Charlie Kirk Education Act is all about.
Cherry Picking
I’ve attached the detailed “permissions” outlined in the list at the end of this essay. In all fairness, the Act does not “require” the teaching of these historic “points”. But it does lay out a “lesson plan” of positive Christianity through American history, to be written in “black letter law”, should the State Senate agree and the Governor sign on. Any teacher in this highly partisan world could ignore the “Act” only at their peril.
Some of it is innocuous. Of course the Pilgrims were people of faith, it’s the entire reason they risked the journey. And Thomas Jefferson did appeal to “the Creator” in the Declaration of Independence. What the “Act” doesn’t speak to, is that Jefferson’s view of “the Creator” was very different than the Christian view of the time. Jefferson was a “Deist”, who believed that “the Creator” started the world, then stepped back to watch what would happen. It wasn’t a Christian view. But that’s NOT in the Charlie Kirk Act.
The list also includes that the Pilgrims “kept” their treaty with Native Americans. That’s true, but it’s the last mention of Native Americans in the “Charlie Kirk Act”. Meanwhile, the US Government made at least 368 treaties with differing tribes, and broke almost all of them (History.com).
Mandates
The State of Ohio is trying to mandate a view of American History that would be familiar to teachers of the 1950’s. It’s one where Booker T Washington, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King (and maybe Harriet Tubman) are the extent of African American history. Where Americans pledged “One Nation, Under God” as the original intent of the “Pledge of Allegiance” (it was not). And an America where the Founders mentioned religion, not in a “generic” sense, but one dominated by Christianity.
That’s something that the Founders specifically opposed. That’s a “State Church”; the same kind that the Pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers and Roman Catholics who settled America escaped from in England. But that detail isn’t included in Ohio’s “Charlie Kirk Act”. James Madison said it best: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”.
It was the FIRST Amendment for a reason.
The Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act
When providing instruction on the topic of American history, an instructor at a state institution of higher education may provide instruction on the positive impacts of religion on American history, which may include the following historical accounts:
(A) The authentic history of the pilgrims, including the following:
(1) The organization of the pilgrims as a church;
(2) The history of the portrait of the pilgrims displayed in the United States capitol rotunda, which depicts prayer, an open bible, and the inscription “God with Us” on the sail;
(3) The religious implications of the Mayflower Compact, which was modeled on a church covenant;
(4) The treaty with the Native Americans signed and upheld by the pilgrims;
(5) The first Thanksgiving that was observed as an act of gratitude towards God.
(B) The appeals to divine power and protection embedded in the Declaration of Independence;
(C) The appeal made to the biblical exodus in the fight for independence;
(D) The religious background of the signers of the Declaration of Independence;
(E) The influence of religious leaders like Reverend John Witherspoon who signed the Declaration of Independence;
(F) The impact of the first and second great awakenings on public policy;
(G) George Washington’s direction regarding chaplains in the army;
(H) George Washington’s farewell address calling religion and morality “indispensable supports” that lead political prosperity, and their tributes to patriotism “great pillars of human happiness” and the “firmest props of the duties of men and citizens”;
(I) Benjamin Franklin’s appeal for prayer at the constitutional convention and the hiring of chaplains that followed;
(J) The influence of religion on the United States Constitution, as evidenced by the exclusion of Sunday from the allotted time for the president to sign or veto a bill and the dating of the Constitution according to the birth of Christ;
(K) Reverend John Leland’s influence that led James Madison to advocate for a Bill of Rights including the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
(L) The history of the concept of the separation of church and state dating back to its religious origins with Roger Williams;
(M) The influence and debates of Reverend John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg and his brother Reverend Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, the first speaker of the house;
(N) The historic role of the black robe regiment;
(O) The nation’s response to Thomas Paine’s, “The Age of Reason,” including Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion that he burn it, the national rejection of it, and multiple responses to it including Elias Boudinot’s, “The Age of Revelation”;
(P) The role of the Ten Commandments in shaping American law and their presence in art and sculpture embedded in the United States supreme court;
(Q) How religious influence shaped civil rights and the civil rights movement through men like Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and others;
(R) The impact of religious leaders such as evangelist minister Billy Graham on the culture of this nation;
(S) The history of the national motto: “In God We Trust,” dating back to the national anthem and traced through its appearance on currency and the inclusion of “under God,” in this nation’s pledge of allegiance;
(T) That “religion, morality, and knowledge” are essential to good government, as expressed in Article 3 of the Northwest Ordinance and Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 7.
