by Diana Chandle in the Biblical Recorder

On any given day in Montgomery County, Maryland, public pre-K or elementary classrooms, students might encounter books promoting storylines that gender is more a construct than a biological fact.

U.S. Supreme Court justices grilled attorneys over practical applications and the common sense of what would happen if the school system allowed parents to opt their kids out of class when such books are read, just as parents are allowed to opt their kids out of physical education class.

Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) President Brent Leatherwood believes the justices are skeptical of the school board’s reasoning.

“It was clear during the oral arguments the court’s conservative wing was highly skeptical of Montgomery County’s claim that the gender ideology books are mere exposure to different ideas, not coercive instruction that burdens traditional religious beliefs,” Leatherwood told Baptist Press (BP).

“Our brief before the court in the case makes the same arguments,” Leatherwood said. “We should pray that a clear majority unambiguously rules for these parents and allows them the simple right to protect their children from this material without forcing them out of public schools.”

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 ERLC on the brief.

The opt-out option was discontinued a year later, leading the coalition of Christian, Muslim and Jewish parents to file the lawsuit, Mahmoud v. Taylor.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case by June.

See the full article in the Biblical Recorder

Photo credit: Children Reading Together by AI, with CC0 1.0 license on StockCake