Taxpayer money for a church school? We know where that leads

For today’s sermon on courage, I would like the church to open their King James Bibles to Matthew 27:24: “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”

While Pontius Pilate knew Jesus was an innocent man, the Roman governor authorized his crucifixion in large part because he was afraid of appearing disloyal to Caesar and losing power.

The constitutional crisis our country currently finds itself in may be new to America, but as we see in the Gospel of Matthew, the wreckage caused by political expediency began in ancient times.

Which brings us to St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a proposed online faith-based charter school in Oklahoma that is seeking public funding, a decision to be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court this year. Last summer, the state’s Supreme Court rejected the contract St. Isidore had with Oklahoma. However, Gov. Kevin Stitt objected, saying in a statement, “I’m concerned we’ve sent a troubling message that religious groups are second-class participants in our education system.”

Now, let me tell you what I’m concerned with: the 2019 audits by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma that found abuse allegations against 22 clerics to be substantiated. Alleged predators responsible for the care of children were systemically transferred by superiors from state to state from 1960 until 2018.

“The long and the short of it is you trusted us, and we failed,” Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley wrote in a public letter following the reports. “I also am sorry for the complicity and negligence of those who failed to respond adequately to reports of abuse, for whatever reason, whether they are bishops, priests, deacons, religious or lay persons representing the Church.”

While Catholic leaders in Oklahoma were applauded for acknowledging past failures, that did not protect the church from facing millions in lawsuits over those allegations and others. In fact, in 2022, 10 current and former students filed a $75-million lawsuit accusing Mount St. Mary Catholic High School in Oklahoma City of fostering “a rape culture,” saying the school “did not take reasonable steps to report or stop the rampant rape culture and ongoing sexual abuse.” A federal judge dismissed the case in 2023 because the statute of limitations had run out — not ruling on the merits of the allegations.

These are just recent headlines from one state. From 2004-23, the Catholic Church paid more than $5 billion to settle sexual abuse cases tracked by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and certain U.S. religious communities.

Whatever else you take from those examples and statistics, this much is clear: The Catholic Church isn’t hurting for cash. I can’t help but wonder why on Earth taxpayer money would be needed to fund Catholic schools.

It’s not that I’m against faith-based education. My son attended a private Christian school. But I am against any attempt to tear down the wall between church and state. Just turn to the example of Pontius Pilate to see what can happen when secular power tries to exert control over religious life.

History is full of enough evidence to warn us away from this mingling. We don’t need a test case in Oklahoma to prove the point.

In 1534, when England’s Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, King Henry VIII became the supreme head of the Church of England, breaking with the papacy. Because Henry wanted to divorce his first wife, the pope’s rule had become … inconvenient.

The king pressured English church officials who knew better into making him the religious leader as well as the monarch. And when Henry’s second wife did not produce a male heir, he had her executed so he could marry a third woman. He faced no consequences. Why? Political expediency. Parliament washed its hands of the controversy, because lawmakers could tell themselves the king was above the law and above the church. And as with Pontius Pilate, history shows the attempt to sidestep accountability was futile.

The people who founded the United States were trying to leave behind that entanglement and corruption. They embraced the 1st Amendment to keep the government out of religious life and to keep religion out of government.

For taxpayers to fund a religious school would pull us back toward tyranny.

This week White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said he wanted the country’s children to “be taught to love America.” I agree. And that begins with protecting America from becoming a theocracy.

@LZGranderson