One of the loudest proponents in support of Amendment 2 is a religious lobbying group known as the Family Foundation of Kentucky. This group of eight men has an oversized influence in our legislature and our media. Its current executive director, David Walls, is a constant presence in Frankfort, feeling so comfortable there that he had to once be chased off the floor of the Senate when he was there in violation of the rules. Walls and members of the Family Foundation, despite representing the opinions of eight men, are frequently the go-to for reporters and talk shows looking for someone to give a far-right opinion on laws or issues in Kentucky.
Recently the Courier Journal published a series of articles about Highlands Latin School, a school co-founded by Martin Cothran, one of the Family Foundation’s members. Highlands Latin School has long promoted its high achievement among its students, including its ACT scores and National Merit Scholars. The Courier Journal series addressed concerns among former students and parents that these results are not achieved by superior teaching or education, but rather through a draconian culture and judicious pruning of underachieving students that leaves many students being pushed aside.
In response, the Family Foundation published an editorial subtly entitled Attacks on Christian Schools Reveal Hostility to Christianity Itself. In it, the unidentified author states:
While more could be said about the piece’s overt claims, what deserves greater attention is its attack on Christian education in general, and how those attacks reveal a greater hostility to the Christian worldview itself.
The larger article is a screed against criticizing Highlands Latin School and a defense of voting Yes on Amendment 2 that says:
Supporting Amendment 2 is a means to push back on this anti-Christian worldview that is antithetical to the gospel in two ways. First, supporting Amendment 2 would allow for the state to consider funding mechanisms that provide Christian parents a possibility to send their children to a school that aligns with their worldview. This is, of course, the most obvious direct result. However, Amendment 2 and its immediate effects also send the message to public school boards and administrators that it is time to let go of these harmful ideologies.
Messages of victimization like this from the Family Foundation and others got me to thinking.
What exactly is a “Christian worldview”?
The Pew Research Center states that 76% of Kentuckians identify as Christian. That’s over 3,424,000 Kentuckians.
The Pew Research Center breaks down those individuals into several dozen separate denominations of Christians, all going to even more individual churches within their communities.
Of those 3,424,000 Kentuckians, how many do you imagine agree on what it means to be a Christian, even in the same church?
It’s safe to assume that among the 43,169 public school teachers in our Commonwealth, a similar percentage also identify as Christian. Can we assume that those who have come out against Amendment 2 don’t see criticism of the amendment and private schools as an attack on their own faith?
I grew up in a Catholic home going to a Catholic mass, hearing the words and actions of Jesus in Sunday Mass, and having open discussions with my family about matters of faith and the world. My “Christian worldview” was shaped by my family, my interactions with others, the words and deeds of Jesus, and my life experience. To me, a Christian worldview is one that tries to make this world a better place for those who have the least power, agency, and money in our world. Being Christian is not trying to be God or pretending to know what he wishes, but rather living as Jesus taught us. It means realizing that we’ll all fall short, but that we should always strive to do better.
I have no illusions that my Christian worldview is shared by everyone or is the “right” one. But I know it’s one that is shared with many friends and acquaintances who are far more devout in their faith than I am. And it’s one that I have come to after decades of contemplating faith, observing the world, and developing my own faith-influenced worldview.
Sadly, the Family Foundation and far too many of our politicians subscribe to a personal worldview that there is only one appropriate worldview for a “Christian, and it’s one defined by those eight men. It’s one with a simplistic view of morality, one that demonizes those who don’t subscribe to their narrow interpretation of faith, and one that assumes that the Family Foundation has a higher grasp on what it means to be a Christian than anyone who may disagree with their political and social views. For that reason alone, their desire to justify taking tax money for their “Christian worldview” should give us all pause.
In Louisville and throughout our state, our public schools are full of the very people that Jesus implored us to be there for. The poor. The hungry. The hurting. The homeless. The people whose families are broken.
These people will not see their lot in life magically improve because Kentucky diverts public funds to private schools. Private schools have no mandate to serve all children. They do not have to provide them a spot. They have no mandated mechanism to feed poor students, and few have appropriate services in place to help meet the needs external to education that our public schools currently try to provide. As we’ve seen locally and elsewhere, the internal mechanisms that give us transparency into the operations of public schools do not exist in private schools. And that lack of transparency can lead to years of systemic problems, including horrific abuse of children.
The Family Foundation knows that if Amendment 2 passes, few poor students will find a place in private schools, and those that do may not see the same basic needs met. Amendment 2 will open the door for unscrupulous people opening questionable schools just for a chance to take some of the tax money up for grabs. Maybe their Christian worldview thinks that’s okay. Mine does not.
In a world where we are increasingly divided, I think it’s time that we speak out and push back on the people who wish to define the faith and beliefs of others, and have our voices heard about why WE believe as we do. There is no singular “Christian worldview,” nor is there a majority of Christian worldviews that believes public funding for private faiths is a great idea. In fact, it’s one this nation’s founders railed against.
A vote against Amendment 2 is not a vote against faith, Christianity, or your God. It’s an acknowledgment that our public schools serve a vital purpose that should not be undermined by diverting money to private institutions. I urge everyone to vote No on this Amendment and reclaim your faith voice from those who seek to undermine it for their own political purposes.
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Written by Rob Mattheu. Cross-posted from Medium.
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