Yesterday’s newsletter mentioned the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which the Supreme Court handed down an important ruling about parental and religious rights. The original suit was brought by Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox Christian parents in Montgomery County who didn’t want their elementary-school children to be exposed to picture books that valorize gay marriage and child transsexualism. At first, they had been allowed to opt out of these parts of the curriculum, but the school board changed this policy in 2023. Asma Uddin explains the court’s ruling in favor of the parents:
Critically, the court didn’t say that merely exposing children to ideas contrary to their faith is unconstitutional. [Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel] Alito acknowledged that not every curriculum dispute triggers a free exercise claim. The key, he explained, is the combination of normative messaging and institutional reinforcement. . . . Ignoring procedural pluralism—by eliminating opt-outs and dismissing religious objections as mere bigotry—risks violating constitutional protections.
In fact, it’s hard not to look at the case and wonder why the school board decided to push the envelope so far. Timothy P. Carney has an answer:
The governing class of Montgomery County believes that it should undermine religious values because it believes that religion is bad. It believes it is the job of the public schools to replace the parents’ religious worldview and belief systems with their own secular, individualist worldview.
When Muslim parents and students petitioned the county government, seeking an opt-out, the liberal councilwoman Kristin Mink attacked their viewpoint as the position of “white supremacists and outright bigots.” (She later issued a non-apology.)
This is hardly the only evidence of anti-religious animus. [In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic], Montgomery County was one of the only municipalities in America that tried to bar Jewish and Catholic schools from opening, and emails revealed the county officials’ disdain for these schools and the parents who send their children there.
Read more on Washington Examiner: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3457229/montgomery-county-hates-religious-parents/