It’s not often that I agree with The New York Times’ J6-Obsessive-in-Residence David French but his June 20th column, while a lay-up, was square on the mark. French, like most of the sentient media lambasted Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry—his first year in office—for his wont-survive-legal challenges mandate that the Ten Commandments is posted in every state public school. French does wander off into some jousting of social conservatives, he can’t help himself, but let’s stick to that antiquated badly-framed poster that was a staple of public schools, including my own, decades ago.
French, a devout Evangelical Christian—although his Times beat is mostly confined to tired Trump jeremiads—who “believes in God and the divine inspiration of Scripture, but I do not believe that documents radiate powers of personal virtue.” He adds, sensibly, that while growing up in Kentucky, before religion was wisely taken out of public schools, “My classmates and I were not better people because of the faded posters on the walls.”
I don’t remember whether religious or “patriotic” artifacts were gathering dust at Huntington High School as a teenager in the early-1970s, but they were omnipresent in my grade-school classrooms, displayed prominently to the left of the blackboards, along with a picture of the current U.S. president. My friends and I didn’t think twice about them, or for that matter reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance” every morning, which in retrospect is creepy, although at the time it was a rote part of the day, like saying, “Good morning, Miss Connelly” at homeroom. And all school assemblies began with singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which again didn’t bother me, although I always wondered why you were supposed to put your hand over heart while mouthing the words. I like the song, and the lyrics (the red glare of the rockets and bombs bursting in air is still boss), although you’d think by now that its mandatory kick-off to sporting events would’ve been ditched as jingoistic baggage.
Same as the ubiquitous “In God We Trust” that’s everywhere. This morning I looked at the back of a $20 bill—Andrew Jackson is still on the front, even after the “progressive” promise of Harriet Tubman or Oprah replacing Old H. years ago, which shows just how glacial government action is—and there was “In God We Trust” at the top. Why? Money’s money, and it’s a minor point, but why no stink about that from Democrats, who specialize in minor points? Same with presidential sign-offs of “God bless America,” and court witnesses forced to affirm “So help me, God.”
The phalanx of cultural totems and controversies at public (and some private) schools today is a general, not particular concern, as my kids are well beyond that age. Nevertheless, in an era where children are lucky to emerge from school able to read, and maybe write, aren’t these social symbols—whether it’s religious nonsense, BLM murals, Pride flags and so on—an unnecessary distraction? And spare me Sen. Josh Hawley’s call for the Bible’s return to schools. (I wasn’t subjected to Bible readings as a student, and thank God, since I got my fill at Sunday School and church services.) I’m not advocating bare walls in classrooms, but rather the elimination of stock symbols. Better to have student artwork, good and bad, hanging, and maybe cool movie posters or prints of famous paintings. It’s hard to believe that Picasso’s “Guernica” would cause a stir, or given a teacher’s taste, something from Wayne Thiebaud, Basquiat or Georgia O’Keeffe. Maybe that would spark the imagination of some pupils.
(It goes without saying that the best way to improve conditions in public schools is to smash the teachers’ unions, and hire a Peace Corps-like wave of young men and women just out of college, pay them well, offer tax incentives, whatever it takes. They’d comprise the New Pepsi Generation.)
Back to French. He writes: “Altering constitutional law isn’t the only motivation here: a version of Christian mysticism is also in play. There is a real belief that the Ten Commandments have a form of spiritual power over the hearts and mind of students and that posting the displays can change their lives.” That’s larding it on. I suppose there’s more religious fervor in the Deep South, but if French really believes that Mike Pence-like politicians think the “hearts and minds” of youngsters can be changed by the Ten Commandments, he’s either naïve, or more likely, just baiting cultural conservatives, which is a useless exercise.
—Follow Russ Smith on Twitter: @MUGGER2023
