America’s public schools serve 90% of our students. This includes young people from every conceivable religious background as well as kids who come from non-religious homes. Public schools must offer secular instruction and ensure that classes such as biology, history, sex ed, and civics are not tainted with religious bias.
When public schools teach religious doctrine, they usurp parental rights.
Public-school curricula must reflect our heritage as a religiously neutral nation.
Creationism is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. It is not science. Courts have ruled repeatedly that it’s illegal to teach creationism in public school science classes in any form, including “intelligent design.” AU and the ACLU represented parents who successfully challenged the teaching of intelligent design in science classes in Dover, Penn.
Age-appropriate, medically accurate, evidence-based sex education for public school students is an important component of a young person’s education. These classes must be grounded in science, not based on patriarchal religious beliefs or “abstinence-only” programs. Furthermore, classes in human sexuality must be inclusive of LGBTQ people.
We study history to learn what happened, not cover up the painful parts of our past. White Christian nationalists not only offer a warped “Christian nation” view of history, they also seek to downplay historic injustices against people of color, Native Americans, religious minorities, immigrants, women, and LGBTQ people and whitewash the real struggles in American history.
The Do No Harm Act will help ensure that our laws are a shield to protect religious freedom and not used as a sword to harm others by undermining civil rights laws and denying access to health care.
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