{"id":39867,"date":"2026-06-27T04:43:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T03:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/?p=39867"},"modified":"2026-06-27T04:43:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T03:43:58","slug":"texas-hat-entschieden-welchen-gott-deine-kinder-lesen-muessen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/texas-hat-entschieden-welchen-gott-deine-kinder-lesen-muessen\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Has Decided Which God Your Children Must Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a rhetorical trick that is as old as the blending of church and state itself: religion is called culture, doctrine is called history, and missionary work is called education. On Friday, Texas turned that trick into law. The Texas State Board of Education adopted a mandatory reading list for English language arts classes in every public school in the state. The list includes classic works of world literature. And Bible passages. Required reading, to be read in full, for more than five million students from first through twelfth grade.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What supporters present as literary enrichment is, in practice, something very different. Texas could become the first state in America to require a mandatory literary canon for every public school student. Two education experts confirmed as much. Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a professor of education at Stanford, says he knows of no other state with a comparable mandatory list. Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read Program at PEN America, confirmed the same when asked. Recommended reading lists exist in many states. A mandatory one of this kind would be unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contents of the list reveal the real objective. Third graders will read ROAR! - Daniel and the Lions' Den alongside Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web. They will also receive an illustrated version of the story of David and Goliath. Older students will read passages about Adam and Eve. Sixth graders will study Psalm 23, \"The Lord Is My Shepherd,\" alongside the religious writings of George Washington and the poetry of Langston Hughes and Robert Frost. The Bible passages are not merely referenced or quoted. They are read in full, they are mandatory, and they are subject to testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Because this is the point hidden beneath the friendly packaging of a \"literary canon\": once these texts become part of the curriculum, they can also become part of standardized testing. Parents may opt their children out of individual lessons, but doing so risks lower test scores, which in turn affect the performance ratings of the entire school district. Freedom of choice exists on paper. In practice, it carries a penalty. Tiffany Clark, a Democratic board member, a Christian, and representative from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said exactly that. She voted against the curriculum with a sentence that captures the entire debate: \"Bible lessons belong on Sundays.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The policy extends into remarkable detail, and in those details its denominational preference becomes unmistakable. The curriculum requires specific Bible translations, including the King James Version, the edition traditionally used by Protestant and evangelical churches but generally avoided by the Roman Catholic Church. Texas is therefore not simply mandating the Bible. It is mandating a particular Bible that belongs to a particular religious tradition. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly one third of adults in Texas identify as non Christian. Those families will now have to explain to their children why the public school is teaching a sacred text that is not theirs, in a translation that remains disputed even within Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arguments offered by supporters follow a familiar pattern that exposes itself the moment it is taken to its logical conclusion. Board member Brandon Hall, a Republican and pastor from Springtown, described the reform at a press conference as \"a once in a generation opportunity.\" Then he made the statement that stripped away the literary disguise: \"We are done watering down American history. We are going to teach the truth. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation, and Texas is a Christian state.\" That is not a statement about literature. It is a theological and political declaration made by a pastor helping decide the curriculum for five million children. Someone who wants to teach the Bible as literature does not say he is teaching \"the truth.\" He says he is teaching a text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n