More Christian Nationalist Public School Mischief - Part I

Guess Who Is Coming To Your Public School?

(photo: unsplash royalty free)

I’m not sure what part of the phrase “public school” the Christian Nationalists don’t understand. Public means the inclusion of everyone, regardless of their nationality, religion, skin color, academic level, and a host of other identifiers that might be endless. Therefore, public school spaces are of necessity and Constitutionally, neutral zones regarding religion.

Private schools are the opposite. They are by origin and definition, exclusive. They do not accept all students and can cater to a particular religious faith or set of beliefs, whether those beliefs match science or not. That is their right as a private entity. And that is where Christian Nationalists can have all the power and influence they want…but it isn’t enough. Not when world domination is your goal.

But the Christian Nationalists simply can’t understand that the public school system does not belong to them. They are forbidden Constitutionally, and we do not live in a theocracy (yet), so public spaces cannot violate the “establishment clause” of the First Amendment. You know that clause, the one the founder, Mr. Jefferson, described as a “wall of separation.”

Things We Don’t Talk About has been keeping track of recent Christian Nationalist forays into public education in places like Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma and right here in Iowa. These folks keep finding novel ways to infiltrate public education with their evangelistic and proselytizing programs. They are very aggressive.

Recent impositions of religion into the public-school classrooms include posting the Ten Commandments, requiring teachers to teach “Bible lessons” in classrooms, Christian Chaplains in high schools, or Bible “infused” curriculum. All are evangelistic in nature and should not be allowed. Unfortunately, the Christian Nationalist MAGA state legislatures have a lock on power in many of these states and are pushing these spurious practices forward.

Then of course, there are the “voucher programs” in many states that are siphoning money away from public education to allow parents to send their children to private religious schools using public funds. These religious schools are not in any meaningful way, accountable for these funds. The private schools are much obliged and responded by raising their tuition rates…how opportunistic can you be?

These incursions don’t seem to be enough for the Christian Nationalist crusaders.

Let me tell you about another scheme. This one has been around for a while. It is called “released time” for religious instruction. And there is Supreme Court affirmation for such programs. But the released time program of your grandparents (I’ll call RT 1.0), is not the released time program of today (I’ll call it RT 2.0). Let me explain the difference.

RT 1.0 goes something like this. Prior to 1948, public schools would routinely allow religious teachers or clergy to come into the school for a period to provide religious instruction for students. Yes, this was religious instruction inside the four walls of the public school.

This type of religious instruction was usually meant for students who already were members, or their parents were, of a particular church. The instruction was typically preparation for church membership or baptism. In other words, it was religious instruction for those already possessing religious faith. Access was equally allowed to those of the Protestant, Catholic and Jewish faith.

In 1940, interested members of the Jewish, Roman Catholic, and a few of the Protestant faiths formed a voluntary association called the Champaign (Illinois) Council on Religious Education. They obtained permission from the Board of Education to offer classes in religious instruction to public school pupils in grades four to nine. Students whose parents requested were excused from their secular classes during the period of religious instruction, usually once a week, and were required to attend the religious classes; but other pupils were not released from their public-school duties, which were compulsory under, in this case, Illinois state law.

A resident and taxpayer of the school district whose child was enrolled in the public schools sued in a state court for a writ of mandamus requiring the board of education to terminate this practice. This practice was clearly unconstitutional, and in 1948 in the case of “McCollum vs. Board of Education” the religious training on public school grounds was indeed declared so. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion wrote:

To hold that a state cannot, consistently with the First and Fourteenth Amendments, utilize its public school system to aid any or all religious faiths or sects in the dissemination of their doctrines and ideals does not, as counsel urge, manifest a governmental hostility to religion or religious teachings. A manifestation of such hostility would be at war with our national tradition as embodied in the First Amendment's guaranty of the free exercise of religion.

For the First Amendment rests upon the premise that both religion and government can best work to achieve their lofty aims if each is left free from the other within its respective sphere. Or, as we said in the Everson case, the First Amendment has erected a wall between Church and State which must be kept high and impregnable.

Here not only are the State's tax-supported public-school buildings used for the dissemination of religious doctrines. The State also affords sectarian groups an invaluable aid in that it helps to provide pupils for their religious classes through use of the State's compulsory public-school machinery. This is not separation of Church and State.

Not to be deterred, the religious faithful created a new scheme. Released time from public education, during the school day, at a locale away from the school. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision in McCollum v. Board of Education, New York City began a program in which students in public schools could be dismissed from classroom activities for certain periods to participate in religious instruction elsewhere. In McCollum, the Court disallowed an Illinois program in which representatives of religious groups came to public schools and taught classes during the school day. New York's "released time" program was upheld by the New York Court of Appeals.

The case was appealed to the Supreme Court in Zorach v Clauson, 1952 and In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court held that the "released time" program neither constituted the establishment of religion nor interfered with the free exercise of religion. The Court noted that public facilities were not being used for the purpose of religious instruction and that "no student was forced to go to the religious classroom."

Since that time released time programs have been used throughout the United States as a Constitutionally affirmed practice. RT 1.0 was still a localized program sponsored by individual churches or synods, to provide religious instruction away from the schoolhouse. Most of RT 1.0 programs were not evangelistic. In other words, their purpose was to educate their own parishioner’s children, not seek out those who are unchurched or to steal them from another church. Most churches seemed content to offer religious training before or after school and dispense with the logistical problem of transporting students to and from other locations during the school day.

BUT….meet RT 2.0…LifeWise Academy.

LifeWise Academy is an interdenominational educational program founded in 2018 as a free program that provides Bible education for public school students during school hours under released time laws. It is evangelical, conservative, and uses a “franchise” model to replicate itself in community after community.

Joel Penton, a former Ohio State defensive lineman, started LifeWise Academy in 2018 as a division of his nonprofit ministry Stand for Truth. The first red flag about this group comes from Penton himself who describes public schools as a “mission field.”

Yep, your kids are being targeted, whether they are Muslim, Catholic, mainline Christian, or even atheist, as heathens ripe for the picking, right out of their secular, neutral public-school classrooms.

Lifewise Academy is using a “Plug n’ Play” model that is designed to work like a multi-level marketing scheme dependent on recruitment and donations to sustain itself. Lifewise Academy works with a local steering committee to lobby for the program in a school district, including running for school board in those places. With headquarters in Hilliard, Ohio, Lifewise Academy programs are staffed by a director, teachers and volunteers, who help transport students and assist in classrooms as needed.

How big is it? As of 2023, the organization was operating in over 300 schools across 20 states including Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Yes, my Iowa Hawkeye friends…LifeWise is right here in our backyard, targeting your kids with their message. As of 2024 more than 30,000 public school students are enrolled in the program all over the country.

In 2024, their annual operating budget is around $14 million dollars, which is funded by donations, local churches, and other non-profit organizations. LifeWise’s funders include local foundations and national philanthropic groups, but also Patriot Mobile, a wireless company touted as the “only Christian Conservative wireless provider.”

Here is a second red flag about this organization. LifeWise is a proud sponsor of “Turning Point USA,” (TPUSA) run by the MAGA supercharged activist, Charlie Kirk. Both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have criticized TPUSA for affiliating with activists from the alt-right and the far-right. The ADL has also reported that the group's leadership and activists "have made multiple racist or bigoted comments" and have links to extremism.

LifeWise has a 10-step process for infiltrating public schools. From step 1 which is “collecting signatures throughout a school district,” to step 4 and 5 which is “form a steering committee and developing a local plan,” to step 10 which is “opening for enrollment,” the process is easy to replicate.

For example, Des Moines is at step 7 “recruit your team” while Ankeny is at step 6, “gain school approval.” Iowa City is at step 8, “train your team” and they are the closest to being ready to begin enrolling. LeMars and Humboldt are close to opening. Iowa is a wide-open “mission field” for these Christian Nationalists. If you have a child in these schools, they have a big red target on their backs.

Here is an interactive map from “Parents Against LifeWise” that will show you where the Academy has already infiltrated public schools. Ohio is ground zero, but every state is a target….for my Iowa friends, look at the Iowa portion of the map. Let that sink in.

In the next installment of this series, I’ll unveil why this program is not only controversial, but dangerous, and detrimental to children. As an example, one child, when asked by parents what they learned at LifeWise that day said, “I’m going to hell.” The child was terrified.

That is just the beginning folks….stand by for part 2: “RT 2.0 LifeWise Propaganda.”