Don’t pretend that education’s neutral
The Supreme Court rules 6-3 that parents have an opt-out right when LGBTQ+ books are introduced in their children’s classrooms (June 29 TFP), and Justice Sotomayor dissents that “civic vitality” is jeopardized by such deference to “parents’ religious beliefs.” On the opposite page in this TFP edition is this headline: “Americans divided on religion’s influence in public schools.”
The never-ending debate over religion and schooling, with its related tussles over vouchers and private schools, is partly resolved by the recognition that education rightly understood is always religious in the broad sense of that term. Education is about the formation of persons according to a particular view of what constitutes personhood. Some schooling is mere instruction — say CPR training — but when a child spends six hours a day with the same teacher, the hours-long interaction is far more than instruction. Invariably the deeper issues of the meaning of life, including our sexuality, are addressed, sometimes explicitly and often subtly. Similarly, whether there is or is not a God may be addressed either directly or in the latter case simply by omission.
From the court on down to any single classroom, we are not served well by pretending that education is neutral with regard to religious conviction.
Gary Lindley
Lookout Mountain, Georgia
We need PBS now and for the future
As a teenager, I, like many teens, argued with my dad about who had dominion over the remote control. You see, when I learned of Shakespeare in English class, I wanted to find somewhere I could watch Derek Jacobi playing Hamlet. Or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth, as we were reading in class. I wanted to access PBS however I could for content that I could find nowhere else on television.
To satisfy the argument, my mom provided me with a 13-inch, black-and-white TV of my own. I watched so many great PBS shows. And that was just the beginning of my love affair with the kind of great television that is only seen on PBS.
Years later, I would have the opportunity to work for WTCI-TV as its director of donor services. I loved learning about new shows on “Mystery!” or “Masterpiece Theatre,” seeing the data on how PBS children’s shows help teach subjects like math and reading to young minds, and I would work there through America’s great love affair with “Downton Abbey.” I learned the true value of public television in a full-circle kind of way.
Today, our public television is facing an existential threat. I know that PBS is considered one of the most trusted news sources in our country. I believe that we need public media, now more so than ever.
I value PBS and what it has meant to me throughout the years, and I hope that it can be there for generations to come who will choose to access PBS however they can.
Cynthia Wilson
Dalton, Georgia
WTCI-TV board member
ICE agents ignoring requirements for ID
According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE officers are required when taking or attempting to take immigrants into custody for deportation to identify themselves and present warrants if asked.
Social media videos and news footage around the country have shown that many ICE agents simply ignore the DHS requirement for ID. In some cases ICE agents have falsely identified themselves as local police. Often some of these agents wear masks and plain clothes to deceive immigrant targets.
Here’s what should concern every American. With some ICE agents unwilling to divulge their identity or declare their status, how easy would it be for kidnappers or imposters to snatch fearful immigrants — women or children — and slam them into a van never to be seen or heard from again and used for whatever nefarious reason.
Perhaps Trump, DHS head Kristi Noem and ICE officials should reconsider how their agents conduct themselves before some horrendous tragedy occurs, if it hasn’t happened already.
Greg Williams
Signal Mountain
No kings protests patriotism at its best
On June 14, people across America participated in a national day of defiance. The widespread protests, dubbed “No Kings,” declared that we will tolerate “no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
This was not our first organized protest against monarchical rule. After colonial militia fired the opening shots against British troops in 1775, 56 delegates of the Continental Congress met on July 4, 1776, to sign the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming one self-evident truth that would undergird our self-governing principles: That all men are created equal with inalienable rights to include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
A decade later, the newly independent nation adopted the Constitution establishing an executive branch to be headed by an elected president. George Washington would define the office. One precedent he set was how to address the president. Titles with monarchical undertones, such as “His Majesty” and “His Highness the President,” were proposed by the Senate. Washington dismissed these in favor of simply “Mr. President,” further confirming that America would have no more kings.
Just as our forefathers fought then to throw off the yoke of monarchy, we must fight now using every weapon available, including peaceful protests, to ensure that America has no thrones, no crowns, no kings. And we’ll do this because this is what democracy looks like. This is what patriotism looks like.
Catherine Ferrell
Cookeville, Tennessee
God bless us, every one
Now that Independence Day celebrations are upon us, I am writing to say, “God Bless America.” And Zimbabwe. And Belarus. And Yemen. And Canada. And Western Sahara. And Denmark. And Vietnam. And Ethiopia. And Ukraine. And Finland. And Turkey. And Greenland. And Slovenia. And Hungary. And Romania. And Iceland. And Qatar. And Japan. And Paraguay. And Kenya. And Oman. And Libya. And Nepal. And Mexico.
And all the other nearly 200 independent sovereign nations.
Alan McMurray
McDonald