Davison's Doodle

Maybe Oklahoma State Reps Need AP History Courses

I guess every State legislature has its issues and cast of characters.  Here in Oklahoma ours are colorful, and too often, overtly applying their religious perspective in their duties.  Those that are overtly “Christian” rarely remember the “least of these” in their creating of laws for our citizens, tax law, and restrictions on corporations.  Rather, they have plenty of time for the revisionism of American history to fit their narrow eschatological world view and notion of what America is in God’s salvation story.  The most recent example is a vote to remove funding for AP History Courses by blowing the “Common Core” whistle, a program that few in our Statehouse support, because it does not allow States or Local School Boards to have their own facts (that’s my cliff notes on the objections to Common Core).  Read more in the article from the Tulsa World.

I am not politically active, but this motivated me to send the email below to my State Representatives: Rep Dan Kirby and State Senator Bill Brown.

Sirs,

I trust you are well today.  ​I’ve not attended any of your meetings nor voted for you.  I am one of those “independent” voters.  ​I am a fairly new resident of Oklahoma having lived here less than five years, but during this short time I’ve discovered that our State government spends more time legislating segregation from these United States in education, voting rights, healthcare, economics, and marriage equality rather than writing laws that unite and create just systems that benefit the poor, working poor, middle class, wealthy, and corporations alike.

The newest example is HB 1380.  I’m emailing to express my concern about this bill, that from my brief research, is designed to ​further ​segregate Oklahoma students from quality education through AP Courses in our public schools.​ How is it that concerns over “American exceptionalism” matter in quality education?  It appears that some of our citizens have become sensitive about being thanked or labeled “exceptional” rather than humbly serving and learning from the mistakes of our history.

I urge you to vote no on HB 1380, and any legislation, that segregates Oklahoma from participating in our Federal government unless white Republicans are in charge.  I am concerned that in the 21st Century some of our State representatives are associated with groups like, The Black Robe Regiment, that one could argue is an American version of a religious fundamentalism that is label the Taliban in another part of the world.  This kind of eschatological divine right revisionism of American history has no place in modernity and no place in any of the Statehouses in our Nation.

Thank you for taking a moment to read this email, though I know that it will be a staff person who reads and responds on your behalf.  Please don’t respond if it is a canned, “thank you for your concern.”  I’m not interested in being placated.  What I can tell you is that your support of this bill, HB 1380, would be a reason for me to vote against you in the next election because supporting this kind of bill will tell me about your values and view of what America is an ongoing experiment in democracy.

​I will remember you in my meditation and pray God’s grace for you.​