Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com  

We’ve all heard these old adages. “You can’t force a round peg into a square hole.” “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

There are a lot of other things we shouldn’t try to force. We can’t force someone to think we’re handsome, beautiful, witty, or charming. We can’t force our kids to date or marry the one we choose, and we can’t force a sushi hater to love eating sushi.

In the U.S., we can’t force someone to believe in one brand of religion or any religion at all just because that’s what the majority believes or that’s what politicians think would make them more popular.

But It’s happening.

Louisiana passed a law requiring every public-school classroom (from kindergarten to university) to display the Ten Commandments in large, easily readable font.

Oklahoma’s state superintendent, recently ordered the Bible to be taught in every public school saying, “Separating church and state is a myth.”

Project 2025 is a Heritage Foundation blueprint creating an authoritarian theocracy based on Christian values for the second Trump administration.

It’s easy to shrug and say, nothing to see here. After all, there have been groups trying to shatter the wall between church and state since the Supreme Court’s 1962 decision in Engle v. Vitale banning organized public prayer in schools.

In the 1963 case known as Abington v. Schempp, the Supreme Court’s majority held that “mandatory religious activity as part of a public school’s curriculum, such as Bible readings and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.” The Supreme Court’s majority later ruled in Stone v. Graham (1980) that posting the Ten Commandments in public classrooms had “no secular legislative purpose,” and therefore violated the Constitution.

So, why worry?   

We don’t have the Supreme Court of the 1960s or even the 1980s. We have the Trump Court, which overturned 50 years of precedent on abortion and gave the president immunity from prosecution for official acts—something never mentioned in the Constitution.  

If recent Iowa legislative history is an indicator, Governor Kim Reynolds won’t resist matching or exceeding the religious extremism of Louisiana and Oklahoma.

But put aside court rulings and legislative pandering. Forcing religion on someone is just a bad idea. We should learn from history. It begins with violence and ends with rebellion. No one wins.

I know diversity has become the right’s new dirty word. But public schools are meant to be welcoming to all students, whether or not a student practices any religion.

I’m not sure why they want public school teachers to be their theologians. After all, they’ve accused them of being “groomers,” pornography distributors, and “woke.” Wouldn’t they want parents to oversee religious education?

It’s like going to an auto mechanic to get a haircut. They have neither the training nor the temperament, and you’ll leave with bad hair.

I taught both English and history and referred to the Bible when it was relevant to what I was teaching. I also referenced TV shows, movies, and real life. That’s how you teach. 

Mandating Bible teaching is a way to force feed one brand of religion to kids. The result will be like what happened when I was in third grade. The teacher on lunch duty thought it was a good idea to force me to eat stewed tomatoes. I warned her I couldn’t, but she forced the issue. Her reward was shoes covered with vomited stewed tomatoes.

I am a Christian, but not one who believes public school is public Sunday school. Those wanting public schools to be Christian better be careful what they wish for. There are a variety of Christian teachings, but denominations approach them differently. So, even if their wish came true, it might be the wrong Christian flavor for them. Also, literature teachers help students learn how to critically analyze literature. That’s not what Christian fundamentalists want to have happen to their inerrant Bible.

Religion is a personal decision. It can be beautiful and comforting, but if forced, the beauty and comfort disappear.

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Editor’s note from Laura Belin: Those interested in this topic may also enjoy Rabbi Neal Schuster’s recent commentary: “Louisiana, keep your hands off my Commandments.”

Top photo is by Bruce Lear, published with permission.