Last week, SCOTUS heard oral arguments to determine whether or not Oklahomans’ tax dollars should be available to fund religious schools. On its surface, this seems like a pretty open and shut case: the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment says, at the risk of oversimplifying, we’re not supposed to do that. But — surprise! — the conservative members of the court seem to have other ideas.
In the grand scheme of things, this might seem like one of those things that’s both bad but also predictable. And when you spend your days watching videos of American citizens being grabbed off the street by plainclothes goons and shipped off to — perhaps — a foreign gulag, you might be tempted to throw up your hands and say…fine. Send my tax money to religious schools.
But that would be a terrible mistake.
The case centers around St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which petitioned the state’s charter school board to be considered a charter school, entitling it to receive state funding. The petition was granted, triggering a lawsuit, which eventually won out in the state’s Supreme Court. The justices agreed: allowing tax dollars to be allocated to religious schools violated the Establishment Clause and state law.
Enter SCOTUS.
To most of us, using our tax dollars to support religious indoctrination feels like a violation of our rights. But in a twist, that’s the exact argument Justice Brett Kavanaugh is using to destroy the separation of church and state — but in reverse. He’s suggesting that it’s a violation of Christians’ rights to deprive them of our tax dollars.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Andra Watkins, whose Substack, For Such A Time As This, is essential reading for anyone wanting to learn more about the history, motivations, and future trajectory of Project 2025, joins Lisa Senecal to break down what’s really at stake here.
We have a lot to worry about. This is much, much bigger than an online Catholic school in Oklahoma. This is a holy war.
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