So now let's go to Ohio, where a group is bringing God to public
school Eli. Can you tell us a little bit more about that, Cynthia,
I would be delighted to guys, gals and non binary pals. It's
one of two known regions in the space that is completely devoid of any and
all reason. Ohio is in the news today because Life Wise Academy, a
nonprofit based in the state, is direct quote on a mission to put God
back in the public school day. Operating in over three hundred school districts across
twelve states, life Wise Academy takes advantage of Supreme Court rulings that allow them
to legally provide religious instruction during school hours, including prayer, singing praise songs,
and reciting scripture, as long as the instruction takes place off campus.
Critics argue that the program is bringing religious religion directly into public schools and causing
children who don't attend to either feel left out or feel pressure to attend.
This story is by Mike HIXONBAF from NBC News on March twenty fifth, twenty
twenty four. Oh my goodness, well, Helen, I know that you
got some pinions about this and I would love to hear you expand on your
opinions if you don't mind. Oh I got them, I got some pagions.
Okay, this is this is stupid and ridiculous. I am actually very
very upset about this because yeah, we know that, you know, Christians
do this like they breathe, where they will look for loopholes in the constitution
and in public spaces to bring their religion to the masses. But this is
especially insidious because it's they're coming there to preach. And what's happening is like,
you know, the kids are wearing like special red T shirts and they
go and then like during like a class like gym that they're not getting formal
instruction or lunch, they are swept into a school bus taking some place special
brought back and they have like candies and stickers, and they're talking to their
friends about it and if they recruit enough of their friends, they get a
pizza party, which so now they're using the children to indoctrinate, which is
disgusting, and school officials are just letting this happen. Now. I am
just wondering what if there was a Muslim organization doing this or something that was
Hindu or for goodness, the Satanic temple, people like, you know what,
what would happen? And it's just a sense of this whole idea and
like no illusions from the Skatiism was talking about this, and now it's like,
now we've created a situation where the sneak just have stars and that's those
stars are given to us by Jesus. And you're not part of the Jesus
club. You don't get to participate. And it's that other ring that always
happens when people think they're better than everybody else, and kids are particularly susceptible
to that, and it should not be happening during school hours. Yeah,
that was my first part of my ranch. No, it's fine, it's
fine. It kind of reminds me. And I'm pretty sure that LifeWise is
going off with a scripture that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings,
God has ordained or perfected prey. And it's almost saying not it's not almost,
but it's really like, we're going to use children to beget other children
and let them come so that they can go ahead and you know, participate
in our Jesus parade. And we are basically indoctrinating them into this whole area
so that they can come and get stickers and candy and things of that nature.
Sounds very Pinocchio to me. You remember the island where all the little
little boys turn into donkeys? Said, that's that's what That's the imagery that
has been invoked in my mind. But regardless of my imagery, Jonathan,
you actually mentioned how life Wise actually should not be allowed to buy public schools
to a system where non participants are seen as social nonconformists. Can you please
expand on that? You mute it, you mute it. I am that's
what I do. I mean, well, you know, the idea that
they can even do this is rather amazing because but the history of it's also
amazing because this has been done since nineteen fifty and predominantly by Jewish and Muslim
groups that are in their local area. I know the problem with this other
ring of other students, you know, they all wear the same T shirt.
You know, it's like you cannot other somebody more than you can't belong
to my club, you know kind of stuff. You know, we all
know what we were as kids, so that's really bad. But when it
was only in a local group, and they didn't have t shirts and they
just disappeared for a library period or something. Nobody noticed. It wasn't being
shoved in the faces of everybody else, right, But they franchised this on
their website. They have a ten point procedure for getting this implemented in your
school district. How to go about recruiting people, how to go about getting
the signatures, how about get you know. I mean, it's like doing
the planning meetings, doing the you know. It's it's a whole procedure.
There's ten steps. I'm not going to enumerate them here. It's rather sick.
But the founder, Joel Penton, has developed that and its parents to
establish a release time and that's what this is called. And the I'm just
going to go over what the Supreme Court did. The ruling was in a
nineteen fifty two US Supreme Court ruling in the case of Zorach versus Claws held
in held that release time did not violate the US consultation because it did not
amount to an establishment of In a sixty to three decision by Scotos, and
there are some rules that they put in that decision must be off school property
or government proper must be privately funded and must have parental permission, So every
one of the kids has to have assigned permissions. I can just see all
these kids, but everybody else goes, mommy, please, Yeah, exactly,
everybody else goes, and you know their mommy lets him do it,
So why can't I go? And that's the actually perfect segue because I know,
Eli, you talked about the parent's role when it comes to situations like
this, Please expand about that. Yeah, So, I mean, I
think Joe Penton justifies a program by saying, some parents want to be able
to tell their kids they're going to learn about the Bible at school because the
Bible is important to our family. And I think this is going to be
a controversial opinion, but fuck, what's important to your family not only fuck
what's important to my family too, because we're talking about public education, and
what's important to my family is not necessarily what's good for the public. What's
good for the public is being aware of what the most accurate, complete information
that we have about the world, about reality, and knowing what that says
about the biodiversity of life, about where the universe, like how it started
or what happened after it started to be specific. It's important to me that
my son learns those things because those are the things that we have a good
reason to believe that they are true. He's going to learn those in school,
but not because they're important to me or my family, but because they
are probably true based on everything that we know. When it comes to personal
belief and family values, it's not up to the school to teach that.
That's up to you. Don't pass the book on to somebody else to teach
your child the myths that you want them to believe. You do that legwork
on your own, because if you can't justify your own beliefs to your child,
then you shouldn't even hold those beliefs, let alone be teaching them,
especially to the masses. Right on, I totally concur I wish that we
had more of that sensibility, especially when it comes to our public school system.
Like you're teaching kids rhythm, what they say, reading, writing,
and arithmetic, right, not what Jesus did on that getting up early morning
on Sunday, right. That that's not your that's not your job as a
school, and especially in public schools where it's publicly funded where people are paying
their taxes in order for that particular building and teachers to be employed there.
Helen, I'm coming to you because one of the things that the article actually
talked about was life wisees and I think that we kind of touched on this
a little bit Patriot Mobile, which is a far right Christian cell phone company,
and I think that they're actually even using it in a way to be
able to kind of organize as far as, like you know, being able
to not only get the funds of resources in order for them to do these
things, but also to possibly even like you know, get the kids in
the first place. Tell us a little bit more how they actually fit into
this whole story. So, Patriot Mobile paid thousands and thousands of dolls for
the life Wise movement to get started, and they're funding it. And this
particular company has very questionable associations. And I do want to encourage our lists,
our viewers to go to the life Wise website. There is a book
that they are selling called during School Hours to implement religious teaching during school hours
and how to get around the laws. So I encourage people to just read
a little bit more about that. But let me tell you some of the
other organizations that are aligned with Patriot Mobile Turning Point USA. Again. I
mentioned this before in a previous segment segment of the Alliance Defending Freedom, Concerned
Women for America, the NRA, Counsel for Life, Students for Life America,
First Liberty, Moms of America, Moms for Liberty, Holy Ghost Ministry,
and on on and goes or Seapack. So this is a far right
Christian organization. This is not just how we're gonna go into schools and we'll
teach people, you know, teach kids to believe in Jesus and we're so
nice and we want them to be have to be good, responsible sentences,
blah blah blah. Yeah, okay, shut up. And this is this
is the thing that these these are not isolated incidents. These are the things
that are going to start to spread out more and more across the country because
they're well funded and a lot because the religious organizations there's a lot of tax
loopholes and they get to churn churn that money over and over again to push
these agendas into schools. So please go check out the Patriot on Mobile website
as well. They're a lined with some hete groups. Yeah, so,
and they're also fighting also. I have a point that the LifeWise it's also
fighting for LG E, t Q plus people to not get the same rights
as their fellow students in schools. So it's a problem. So yeah,
please go educate yourself. It's and you can get mad like me. So
that's fine that that is the whole intention people, if you don't learn anything
else from the nonprofits, to please get mad. Like Helen, there is
definitely, guys, a blurring of state and church boundaries. The more and
more we actually take a look at this story and especially how life Wise and
Patrimobile and even some of the other organizations that are liigned with them really are
telling people how to get around that whole pesky establishment cause thing. And Eli
you even talked about how and there was permission flips involved, and I think
that Jonathan and Helen you talked about it too, with parents actually participating in
this and I say, this loosely curriculum, Okay, does that make it
better or no? I don't think so. No. I think what it's
doing is it's it's giving parents disillusion that like okay, well you know,
it's giving them the ammunition to go. And like when when people when they
see people opposing this, they'll they'll like, now defend it. Well,
they're not doing it. They're not forcing your student to do it. There's
a permission, stef you don't have to sign the permission. But it's still
like, no, you're putting it right there, like school, public school,
public education should not be a vehicle for religious education. And that's what
they're doing in this case, whether it's it's tax funded or or you know,
maybe like it sounds like LifeWise is using their own vehicle, like their
own transportation, their own facilities, their own resources. So it doesn't sound
like any like tax paramonney is funding this, but it's is it legal?
Is it constitutional? It sounds like technically yes, but that doesn't that it's
just it still doesn't sit right. I just it doesn't make it okay.
Yeah, Jonathan, did you want to add anything to that? As you
are needed. You can't let me keep turning my mic off because I'm old.
I don't remember these things. Anyway, we do well to establish this
type of instruction system as skeptics and humans. The Satanic Temple might consider starting
the same give the secular kids a head start over their peers who are leading
learning the Bible in science, philosophy, critical thinking lessons they already have in
the after school Satan club. If they expanded that a little bit, they
could do it during hour, so when all the other little red T shirts
kids go do that, we could have our black and red T shirt Satanist
kids going off to secular school. Secular schools are supposed to be secular.
Sorry, kids, what they are? You don't like them? I didn't
like school either at first. Learn to love so. But we could take
all the kids that LifeWise leaves mehind and load them onto a black Satan but
with racing flames, full moon, with the settlement lights on the moon.
And it's just a thought, but I think that would be great because all
the kids would say, I'm going to go on that red bus. This
one's got flames on it and there's a moon on Yeah, that's cool,
I want to go to that one. I'm all about. What about if
the flames actually shot out of the exhaust as they were driving off to Satan's
school? Oh yeah, as well, you could do all of that.
Yeahs matter of fact, I'm even for dressing the kids in their own leather
jackets, micro leather jackets with studs, like silver studs all over them,
you know, with the emblem of the Satanic Club after school club on the
back. I think that would be absolutely stellar. And if you're listening Organizing
Board of the TST, because I know you listen to the nonprofits, hint,
hint. But as I digress, guys, LifeWise is just really blurring
the lines, don't sing, Cynthia, and blurring the lines between church state,
raising serious questions about the separation of religion and public education. It's one
thing to teach about religion objectively in a comparative religion class, which I'm really
all for, but it's quite another thing to bring religious instruction into school day,
not even after school, during the school day. I can even imagine
that these particular schools, these particular children who are leaving in the wheels on
the bus go round and around life wise academy school, are really missing out
on key subjects that they are going to need as they progress in their school
careers. And let's not let's really not forget the most important thing, which
is the potential for indoctrination and kids are impressionable, and for introducing them to
religious teachings during their formative years could shape their beliefs in a way that limit
critical thinking and tolerance for verse perspective. And I'm just really curious if you
all can just sum up some of your thoughts when it comes to this particular
story. Helen, I'm going to start with you, and then Eli,
and then go to Jonathan. I do would love to see the TSD fighting
as this by doing the exact same thing. But in the meantime, for
the parents out there that are secular or you know, or just think that
maybe this shouldn't be happening in schools, that your children get to do special
things and learn about the Bible and get taken away to some center you know,
and then are brought back. This weeks of superiority at weeks of other
ing, and it teaches children that I am more special than you because my
God is great and you should come over to my team. And it doesn't
respect the other choices as of other parents of how they raised their children.
So if you are a parent and you get any sniffings about this happening in
your school district, makes make a stake make some noise say this is not
what I payment taxes for, This should not be happening on a school property,
and then organize because that's the only way that this type of crap is
going to stop. And you have to hold your school educators and officials accountable
for when they allow these things to happen. Eli. I remember like kind
of trying to reconcile when I was a kid between like what I was learning
at school and what I was learning at church because I didn't grow up in
the church. And I remember like at a certain point, I was like,
man, I'm just not really hearing any of this stuff at school,
but like I hear this stuff at school all the time, and I just
hear that so like and it was one of those things where like you think
about how like, Okay, well, if something is true, you don't
have to be reminded of it every single Sunday. It can just be true
and then you just remember that it is and you can just that's the way
it is, and it just kind of I think that's the driving motivation behind
this, is like we have to like make sure we're keeping this information in
front of kids who still have that neuroplasticity who are still suggestible to these ideas,
because if we wait until they're adults, if we don't, if we
don't get this in front of this in front of them before they have critical
reasoning skills, they're going to critically reason out of it, and we're going
to lose our numbers. Indeed, and Jonathan, school is my only thought
at school is for learning secular and academic thing useful for a life in an
increasingly complex world. Teaching them weird fantasies and Canaanite mythology as reality is not
academic, nor conducive to learning, nor good for the child. So I
really would implore parents to think about what you're actually teaching your children and whether
that's going to help them survive in the world in the next fifty years.
And I think you'll find out religion isn't going to do that in the Indeed,
and overall, while some parents may see the value in exposing their children
to Bible lessons, we must ensure that public schools remain neutral ground where all
students, regardless of their religious beliefs, feel welcome and respect