Republican Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois raised her concerns over the absence of faith in public schools during a panel discussion at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.
Called "Town Hall: Pupil Propaganda," the discussion focused on issues surrounding education in the U.S., including the teaching of sexually explicit material and LGBT ideology to young students.
According to the Christian Post, the Republican lawmaker who wants God back in public schools argued that the presence of such sexually explicit material in education today was caused by the Biden administration's attitude of being "openly hostile to our American values."
She added that she has constantly debated with U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who she alleges "sent out an order to all public schools stating that if a teacher or student says that there are two genders, that they're guilty of harassment." Miller raised a concern that this order sets up teachers to be "fired" and students to be "disciplined."
During the panel discussion, Miller also recounted how she directly asked Cardona "how many genders are there?" However, he refused to answer the question.
Candace Owens, a prominent conservative commentator who moderated the panel, accused public schools of "active child abuse" by intentionally teaching children "the wrong ideas, purposefully confusing them, particularly in matters of sexuality." Upon identifying the problems in American public schools today, the panelists then offered solutions.
"The problem is that we kicked God out of our schools," Miller argued. The Republican lawmaker highlighted how America was "founded on Judeo-Christian principles" and that Scripture itself had said, in Jeremiah, that "they refused to listen to the Word of God and they ended up having no shame."
Miller lamented that she witnessed the consequences of God's absence in public schools. The Republican lawmaker explained that children today have been told that "they come from nowhere and they're here for no purpose," which she believes is the main "problem." Instead, she offered that kids must be told that they were "created by God" and that they have a "gift" and "purpose."
Miller is not the only Republican lawmaker who is pushing back against sexually explicit material in education. Earlier this month, NBC 4 Washington reported that Virginia's Senate voted on a bipartisan basis to pass a Republican-sponsored bill ordering the U.S. Department of Education to establish rules for school boards to inform parents when their children are assigned to read books with sexually explicit material. The measure was passed after a 20-18 vote.
Republican leaders argued that it is a common sense way to empower parents to have a say in their children's education. The bill's langauge also classifies as explicit the same sexual content that is banned on Virginia state employee's computers. Republican Senator Bill Stanley argued that the bill is "not a matter of censorship" but a "matter of notification."
The new Virginia legislation on sexually explicit materian in education will require public schools to establish a system of notifying parents of the said material ahead of time so that they have an opportunity to review it and sign off on it.
Stacy Langton, a stay-at-home mom from Fairfax County, Virginia who now runs a grassroots organization of concerned parents named "Mama Grizzly," believes that while the measure is a step in the right direction, the efforts are not enough.
Langton said during the panel that there is a need to "close a loophole that we have in some of the laws in this country in every state that is exempting these types of materials in libraries."
