Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Talk is cheap

"Oklahomans may soon be able to get specialty license plates inscribed with 'In God We Trust,'" the Tulsa World reports today. "The Senate on Tuesday voted 44-0 for Senate Bill 2, which would add the new plate to the state’s list of specialty tags."

Slogans that will fit on a bumper sticker (or license plate) are all well and good, and I commend state Sen. Jay Paul Gumm (D-Durant) for authoring this legislation. But I've got a better idea: Instead of sloganeering, let's empower some children to attend private schools where "In God We Trust" is a day-to-day reality.

As I've said before, suppose a public-school teacher took that license plate off her car, brought it into the classroom, and hung it on the bulletin board. And suppose she said, "Students, you need to know that it is in God we trust. Really. Christianity is a comprehensive worldview, and in my classroom God's Word is the interpretive principle of every subject."

That, of course, would not be permitted. Even if an individual teacher happens to trust in God, the schools themselves are agnostic as matter of law and public policy. In the ACLU we trust.

So here's my modest proposal this Ash Wednesday. Let's pass a school-choice tax credit which would empower Oklahoma youngsters to attend a school where they can learn to love the Lord their God with all their minds.

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