Louisiana lawmaker needs lesson in religious freedom

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/07/louisiana_lawmaker_needs_lesso.html

Published: Sunday, July 08, 2012, 8:00 AM
By Jarvis DeBerry



Rep. Valarie Hodges voted for Gov. Bobby Jindal's controversial voucher bill, but now the Republican from Watson is full of regrets. What accounts for her change of heart?

Was it the government's approval of Ruston's New Living Word school, which plunks down its students in its Sunday school classrooms and teaches them with DVDs? Or the approval of Westlake's Eternity Christian Academy, which defends the existence of the Loch Ness Monster as part of a larger strategy to debunk evolution?

Nope. Hodges expresses no fear of our money being used to teach that the Flintstones frolicked with Dino. What's got her spooked are the Muslims. Did you know that they could apply to participate in the Louisiana Scholarship Program and the state might have to let them?

Well, yes, you probably did know that, and even if you're not a supporter of the governor's voucher program, your opposition probably has nothing to do with your fear of Muslim schools. But as the Livingston Parish News reports, "Hodges mistakenly assumed 'religious' meant 'Christian.'?" Her support of the governor's bill was based on that myopic view of the world.

More hilarity at link