In the education context specifically, she sees a clear connection between the school choice movement that has long sought to send taxpayer funds to private schools and the push for greater religious involvement in the public sphere.
“Christian nationalists are clear they want to replace public education with religious education because it indoctrinates a new generation of Americans in their faith and their lie that America was supposed to be a Christian nation,” she added.
An uncertain road ahead
The differing interpretations of what the establishment clause should mean are on stark display in Oklahoma.
Walke, whose church embraces social justice causes, finds no common ground between her idea of Christianity and what conservative like Walters espouse, saying that Christian nationalism “is an ideology that insists on a particular kind of Christianity being practiced, and not simply practiced in the home, but also expressed as a form of government.”
In his office in the modernist-style state education building a few miles across town, Walters sidestepped a question over whether he considers himself a Christian nationalist, saying it means different things to different people.
“What I believe is that the Founders believed it was essential for the future of this country that we protect religious liberty,” he said. “And I was elected to help protect that religious liberty that’s come under attack in our school system.”
Returning to the issue of prayer in schools, Walters said he saw the long-standing prohibition as part of a “war against Christianity” that has prevented people from expressing their religious views.
“We have to make sure that no one in a public school system ever sees another individual pray,” he added. “I think that’s an absurd position that is not in line with the Constitution.”
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