I want you to read something, and see if you find any ambiguity or waffle-language in what it says. Here it is.
Constitution of the State of Wyoming, Article 1, Section 19, Appropriations for sectarian or religious societies or institutions prohibited. No money of the state shall ever be given or appropriated to any sectarian or religious society or institution.
It appears to me that Wyoming’s Founders minced no words in saying that our tax dollars should never find their way into the collection plates of church-run schools. Never.
If you’d like a clear definition of the constitutional separation of church and state, read Article 1, Section 19 of our foundational document alongside the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment prevents government from establishing any religion, and also from monkeying around with a citizen’s right to practice any religion.
The Wyoming Constitution says that religious organizations will never get one thin dime of taxpayer money. Things don’t get much more separate than that. Things are rendered to either Caesar or to God, not to both.
And yet, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is hell-bent on violating that constitutional separation. They are pushing through legislation that would provide taxpayer dollars through public vouchers to private schools, including religious institutions, to compete with public schools in Wyoming.
That sounds a lot to me like the Freedom Caucus zealots want to establish publicly-funded madrassahs where the “Four R’s” – readin’, ritin’, rithmetic and religious dogma – will be taught to Wyoming students. One need only look toward theocratic states like Pakistan or Iran to see how that turns out.
I really don’t give a rat’s ass who teaches our kids, as long as our students are taught critical-thinking skills along with subjects that will make them good citizens of the Big Empty. But, for the life of me, I don’t see how immersing our students in Levitical Law, or the mysteries of endtime prophecy will help them one damn bit
Don’t get me wrong, I love Jesus as much as anyone does. I’m saved, baptized in the Holy Ghost, and have several gifts of the Spirit. One of those God-given gifts is the gift of discernment, and I can spot bullshit from a mile away. And the Freedom Caucus wanting to use public money to pay preachers strikes me as bullshit.
Nevertheless, they mount their pulpits and sermonize that their religious doctrine trumps our Wyoming Constitution. The zeal of their house hath eaten them up, (Psalm 69:9), and they want religious zeal to gobble up the rest of Wyoming. All on the taxpayers wallet, I might add.
If the Freedom Caucus can ram its school voucher program, including for religious schools, through the legislature, then it will be up to the Wyoming Supreme Court to maintain the crucial separation between the church and the Cowboy State.
If that happens, expect to see an army of out-of-state Pharisees…. er, ah, I mean Freedom Caucus lawyers…. argue for a religious state in Wyoming like they are arguing for the salvation of Christianity at the Council of Nicea.
They’ll thump on their Bibles, and quote the prophet Daniel to try to prove that there is no difference between religion and the state, and that taxpayer money should fund religious instruction.. They’ll try to convince our black-robed Supreme Court justices that Oklahoma, Kentucky and Pakistan agree with Freedom Caucus dogma, therefore Wyoming should, too.
But, I’ll bet a dollar to a donut that the Wyoming Supreme Court knows exactly what our Constitution has to say about that.
And now, you know too.
Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com
