Should West Virginia promote religion in its schools? 

“This Bible is the foundational, American historical document presented during the Revolutionary era, and it’s referenced in the study of early American culture, literacy and political thought.” — Sen. Jack Woodrum, R-Summers

West Virginia Watch recently published my column detailing the failures of the West Virginia K-12 educational system. Instead of addressing these documented shortcomings, the West Virginia Senate, controlled by the GOP, passed a bill early this year requiring that the Aitken Bible be placed in schools throughout the state.

Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, sponsored the bill, saying the bible is a “historical object … like the Declaration of Independence.”

Apparently, Sen. Grady is unaware of the United States Constitution’s First Amendment which read, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” 

Judy Woodruff of PBS recently had a Crossroads segment on the “PBS News Hour” entitled, “Was the U.S. created as a Christian nation?” She reviewed how President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson and others have been pushing religion as part of our celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday.

Per a 2022 Pew research study, the American public is very divided on this topic. Less than half of Americans believe that we should be a Christian nation, but 60% think that our Founding Fathers intended for us to be exactly that.

Furthermore, this comprehensive survey revealed that almost all Americans (83%) believe that the Supreme Court should not make decisions based on the religious views of its members. Although abortion was directly addressed, it can be argued that the religious views of the six Catholics on the nine member court have had a bearing on their abortion related decisions.

Woodruff also interviewed an evangelical scholar, John Fea of the Lumer Center, who objectively put forth both points of view. This expert detailed how the views of our Founding Fathers differed.

Some of our national and West Virginia politicians are actively promoting the role of religion in politics. Apparently, they don’t understand either how this nation was formed during the “Age of Enlightenment,” or the Constitution, which states: “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

In past years, some politicians have run July 4th advertisements headed, “In God we trust,” a phrase that no Founding Father ever asked to be on our coins and was not added until the Civil War. These ads showed four Founding Fathers (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams) plus, oddly, Ronald Reagan. Each was quoted saying something positive about God. However, those quotes are extremely selective and not in context.

For example, Jefferson also wrote, “Question with boldness even the existence of a god.” “But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods, or no god;” and “The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus by the Supreme Being in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”

As Fea, the evangelical scholar, noted, Adams was a Unitarian who did not believe in the Trinity, stating, “The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” And “This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.”

As for Franklin, he wrote: “Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.” “The way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason” “I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies.” And “To Follow by faith alone is to follow blindly.”

Washington instructed his agent when hiring people to build Mount Vernon, “If they be good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa, or Europe; they may be Mohammedans, Jews, or Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists.”

Our own Declaration of Independence says, “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” 

The Constitution does not state that we are a Christian nation, despite what Trump, Vance and others (including West Virginia Sens. Woodrum and Grady) are indicating. It will serve us well to continue to keep government and religion separate for all our sakes. And that means no bibles in school.