In public schools in Montgomery County, Md., 3- and 4-year-olds might be read the board book “Pride Puppy” and asked to spot photos of things seen while trying to find their lost dog at a Pride parade.

“Leather,” a “lip ring,” “underwear” or images of the late transgender gay rights activist “Marsha P. Johnson,” who battled severe mental illness while working as a prostitute on the streets of Greenwich Village in New York, are among the choices.

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has joined nine other faith groups in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting Maryland parents fighting to opt their children out of class when such books are read.

“As the Bible teaches, Southern Baptists believe that the family — not the government — is the foundational institution of society. As the Baptist Faith and Message clearly states, it is the responsibility of the parents ‘to teach their children spiritual and moral values,’ not the state,” said Miles Mullin, ERLC chief of staff and vice president, in comments for Baptist Press (BP). “That is why the ERLC has joined several court briefs supporting parental rights, and we are glad that the court has agreed to hear this case.”

“The decision here should not be hard,” Mullin said of the case. “Children should not be exposed to a curriculum that actively undermines the religious values of their parents regarding marriage, family, gender and sexuality.

“In this case, when parents were denied an opt-out alternative, children as young as 4 years old were forced to endure storybooks that promoted unbiblical views regarding gender and sexuality,” Mullin said. “As the court considers this case, the ERLC will continue to push back against such efforts to indoctrinate our children, even as we pray for those caught in the deceptive web of radical gender ideology that has entrapped so many.”

In the amicus brief filed March 9, ERLC joins others in asking SCOTUS to rule in favor of the parents, stating that the storybook material contradicts the parents’ sincere religious beliefs and practices, burdens their freedom to practice their religion by sharing their faith with their children, and that the parents are entitled under the Free Exercise Clause to the accommodations they seek.

“Southern Baptists believe that ‘parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth,’” the brief quotes from Article 18 of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and includes guiding statements from other religious groups represented.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the Anglican Church in North America, the Orthodox Church in America, the Diocese of Eastern America of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Coalition for Jewish Values and the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty join the ERLC on the brief.

Also supporting the parents in amicus briefs are U.S. Acting Solicitor General Sarah M. Harris, attorneys general from 26 states, 66 members of Congress, 35 members of the Maryland Legislature, as well as legal scholars, historians and others.

“Montgomery County’s decision to run roughshod over parental rights betrays our nation’s traditions and common sense,” Eric Baxter, Becket vice president and senior counsel, said in a press release announcing the broad support. “The Justices should restore the opt-out and allow parents to raise their children according to their beliefs.”

Photo credit: Storytime with Kids by AI, with CC0 1.0 license on StockCake