Texas just passed a law that gives extra funding to public schools that teach the Bible.
Checked my Texas municipal property taxes recently. We’ve dropped ISD funding by 30% over five years. Meanwhile, city police spending has surged by 25%.
So I’m paying slightly less than I did five years ago, but over $1k/year of that has simply been a transfer from teachers to cops.
Are you comparing raw dollars or percentage of property tax? Accounting for inflation and the increase of your property value? What about the whole situation where Texas collects the taxes but only disburses up to some amount to schools. Probably easier to just look at the ISD financials. Just need to remove all expenses for non education activities, like sports and administration. I wonder if the ISD funding also gets used to pay for ISD specific police. Just asking questions, without actually doing the work, betting teachers have lost way more than 30% in 5 years. Texas government is actively trying to prove that public education doesn’t work so they can justify privatization, and bring back legal segregation plus religious schooling funded by taxes.
Are you comparing raw dollars or percentage of property tax?
Raw dollars. I paid $2980 to HISD in 2019 and $2035 to HISD in 2024. Incidentally, my housing price has increased 20% over this same time.
Texas government is actively trying to prove that public education doesn’t work so they can justify privatization, and bring back legal segregation plus religious schooling funded by taxes.
Yup
That’s never gonna happen as long as Republicans are fascist religious extremists, and the only other option literally still thinks God talks to them directly.
Biden, 81, told Stephanopoulos, 63, that he doesn’t intend on exiting the race, and only a higher power intervening would make it happen.
"Look, I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I’d get outta the race,” he said, adding, “The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down.”
Republicans dove head first into religion, so that means the only other option Americans get is a “benevolent” deluded religious person.
Because no matter how bad Republicans get. Our only other option will always meet them halfway.
I don’t disagree about the GOP, but that quote doesn’t say what you’re asserting it does, lol. He doesn’t say that God talks to him in your quote, he was giving a hyperbolic example of what would make him drop out. Ironically, he dropped out almost immediately after this.
He’s a lifelong devoted Catholic…
When Catholics pray, it’s too God. And they believe God shows them signs for guidance.
Biden believes he communes with God.
That is not something modern society should want in a leader
Which is the entire point of this post …
Maybe I’m even more cynical, but it feels like us evangelical christianity is being used as a tool. A gullible fool.
So all these old gheezers are vaguely pushing for a US Christian nationalism… But coronated someone who doesn’t really care about that beyond how they can elect him, and basically shoved their values out the the party’s window.
And US youth is increasingly less Christian. Including Trump supporting youth.
So… I’m not even worried about this long term, relative to everything else to worry about. There will be short term scares, but post Trump Trumpism is not going to be very religious.
Evangelical Christianity has absolutely been used as a political tool for the past generation.
France passed such a law.
In 1905.
The only way religion should be handled in school is in a philosophy class
Which should talk about religion at most, not teach religion. You can talk about what religions believe and the differences between them, but you shouldn’t teach the religion itself.
History already has a class and last I looked religion was only touched on for the crusades and jihads. Religion should have its own department to allow in-depth discussion of it in all its many flavors.
Yes, religious study. Theology is part of religion.
Does that kick in at the primary and secondary levels now? Pretty sure that’s the levels that are getting all the cristofascist attention these days. And theology is taught from a religious perspective so guaranteed to be heavily slanted. No, I’d like to see all levels of education beyond preschool treat the subject of religion completely neutral and explore all of them not just the big ones. Would likely be enough material there for at least a 2 year program
I think you misunderstood what I tried to say there. Philosophy isn’t about religion, theology is. Philosophy does approach a lot of subjects religions tend to talk about. But it itself is not specifically about religion.