May 12, 2025 • 17 mins
Freedom of religion faces a critical test in American classrooms as a remarkable Maryland high school senior finds herself barred from graduation despite her stellar academic record. With a 4.76 GPA and SAT score in the nation's top 4%, this honor student's future hangs in the balance over a two-year dispute concerning a mandatory health class that her Christian family found objectionable.
The controversy centers on curriculum changes that integrated LGBTQ+ affirming language throughout a required health course, alongside teaching materials that reportedly categorized Christians as "privileged" and non-Abrahamic faiths as "oppressed."
Despite multiple attempts to find accommodation—alternative classes, opt-out options, or modified content—the family's efforts have been rebuffed at every level, from local administrators to state education officials, ultimately leading to the Maryland Supreme Court.
This case illuminates a broader national pattern where parents increasingly question the boundaries between education and what some perceive as ideological instruction.
The COVID pandemic inadvertently amplified these tensions when remote learning gave parents unprecedented visibility into classroom content.
The resulting shock led many families to seek alternatives through private education or homeschooling, while others began challenging public school curricula more aggressively.
Beyond the immediate question of one student's graduation lies a fundamental debate about parental rights, religious liberty, and who ultimately controls what children learn in American public schools.
As this family awaits judicial resolution, their experience serves as a powerful reminder of education's place at the crossroads of our most cherished values and deepest cultural divides.
Please also visit "Mercer Moments in American History" at our YouTube Channel! We are dedicated to both current events, and major moments in American History that for some reason are now erased, deleted from our textbooks and classrooms.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Mercer Moments in American History.
Today is a special report.
I'm asking for a prayer for ayoung Maryland high school
senior.
She's an honor student andshe's a Christian.
She's supposed to, in a fewdays, walk across the stage of
all her friends and family therein a cap and gown.
(00:20):
What a wonderful moment.
But she's being deniedgraduation because two years ago
, as a sophomore, she took aclass in health and the school
board had changed the healthclass and injected some new
items in that class which herand her parents found
(00:41):
objectionable and her parentsfound objectionable, and also
some items that they calledclear Christian religious
discrimination, anti-christianbias.
I'm going to report thosethings and let you decide.
Always find at least threesources to draw from.
I invite you to go online andfind more sources, but right now
(01:01):
this young girl, this Christianhonor student, is not being
allowed to graduate.
This is Ken Mercer.
I hope you enjoy today'sprogram.
Again, I'm asking to pray forthis young girl and her parents.
When I say honor student, Ialways try to give you facts
Honor student, she has a 4.76GPA grade point average.
(01:24):
You say, mr Mercer, how can thatbe?
You get four points for an A,three points for a B, how can
she have 4.76?
Well, now their classes havecertain rigor.
They're called either AP,advanced Placement, honors
Classes or DC, dual Credit.
These classes have so muchrigor, they're so hard, you can
receive not only high schoolgraduation credit but college
(01:47):
credit.
And obviously she's taken allthese classes and I have to
applaud her and her parentsbecause this process has been
happening the last two years.
She continued to do her studies, continued to take hard classes
Again advanced placement, dualcredit, honors classes, much
rigor to where she's graduatedwith a 4.76 grade point average.
(02:10):
She also took the SAT, theNational College Examination
Test, and she scored a 1450.
That's 1,450.
That's important because thatmeans she scored higher than 96%
of American youth.
That means she's in the top 4%of all students in our entire
(02:31):
nation.
And yet this Christian girl,this honor student, currently,
as I speak, is not being allowedto graduate because two years
ago she took a health class.
Being allowed to graduatebecause two years ago she took a
health class.
So the parents and the younggirl asked can we take another
(02:54):
health class or have anaccommodation or take it
somewhere else or take theobjectionable material out of
the class or opt out of certainmaterials.
I was blessed to be in theTexas House of Representatives,
the Committee of HigherEducation and later in the Texas
State Board of Education for atotal of 16 years.
I've had parents before come tome with these same kind of
concerns, and particularly thehealth class, the health and
(03:16):
human sexuality, and ask for anaccommodation or ask to opt out
of certain sections, and I'vebeen to that battle before.
But again, the young girl andher parents have tried for two
years, since her sophomore year,to have some sort of
accommodation.
Nothing's been worked out andall of a sudden it's two years
later and this Christian honorstudent is supposed to graduate
in a few days and she's beingdenied graduation.
(03:41):
Let's talk quickly what a healthclass should be in high school
and in being required forgraduation.
This is a year-long class andyou expect things like maybe
nutrition Study, the needs forvitamins and fruits and
vegetables and nutrients Forhygiene, by washing your hands,
about coughing in your elbow,especially in the time of COVID,
about wearing masks.
Kids learn about drug andalcohol abuse, about the signs
(04:05):
and the risk and rehabilitation.
Some schools not all of them Inever could figure out why they
wouldn't talk about the lifecycle of an unborn baby, when
they form fingers and toes, whenthere's brain development, when
they have a heartbeat, whenthey feel pain.
Some schools offer a section onfirst aid, basic first aid, cpr
.
What do you do when someonestops breathing or their heart
(04:26):
starts beating?
Sextate transmitted diseases,stds I know there's other terms
now what are the diseases?
What are the risks For a younggirl, especially your chance of
ever getting pregnant, or anyrisk to the unborn children you
carry?
There's even in a lot of healthclasses a section on bullying.
Those are things that arepretty much taught throughout
the nation.
However, again throughout thenation, I've seen this exact
(04:49):
same problem occur.
A school district, either adistrict or a state board of
education, would mandate someother curriculum.
And what happened this time?
Which particularly?
And I'm going to share with yousome facts that came from again
I have three resources outthere because I like to go by
facts only but apparently whatthey injected was LBGTQ plus
(05:11):
curriculum, which is the gay,lesbian, bisexual, transgendered
.
Q plus is queer, queerquestioning.
I thought maybe in the healthclass they would talk about
biological males and biologicalfemales and avoid some of the
politicalness, but it wasdecided to enter this material
into the class.
And here's the killer when Iread through it, the board
(05:32):
apparently decided that it wouldnot be one section.
Because there's one section, aparent could say, well, we're
not going to be there for thatday or that week, but this new
ideology would be throughout thecurriculum and whether you're
studying nutrition or hygiene,or drug and alcohol abuse or
first aid or whatever, they wantyou to incorporate new, if you
(05:56):
will, ideology that, as you know, has been questioned all
throughout the nation and raisedconcerns.
What happened in this mandatoryhealth class?
My understanding again, I'velooked at at least three sources
, find some more and let me knowwhat else you find it the
school board had injected aLBGTQ plus affirming language in
(06:16):
the class.
In a health class, you thinkwe're going to talk about
biological males and biologicalfemales, and I know you've heard
this argument before about boysin the girls' bathrooms taking
showers and the girls shower onthe same sports teams competing
against them.
Well, this is also happeningthroughout our country and you
know that's happened.
But she's being deniedgraduation in a few days because
(06:37):
they found this classobjectionable and they also
complained about religiousdiscrimination, and I'll share
some of the facts there.
In August of 22, the parentsenrolled her in a health class
for upcoming sophomore year,which is required by the school
(06:57):
board for graduation, and it hadnot been the same health class
as previously offered.
So what changed was not thestudent.
The parents didn't change.
But from my research,understanding what changed is
the school board introduced thisnew philosophy.
I'm going to tell you in my 16years as elected official of
Texas when I've spoken toparents, hundreds of parents.
(07:17):
There's classroom education andthere's political
indoctrination.
Now hear what I'm saying.
I'm just making a statement.
This is from Ken Mercer, mypersonal opinion.
There's classroom education andthere's political
indoctrination and there's adifference.
And it's happened all acrossAmerica.
(07:38):
It's even happened in my homestate of Texas, but today it's
by the state of Maryland.
News reports found some of thescreenshots of the teacher's
guides.
For example, he talked aboutprivileged and oppressed people.
I'm not sure why that's in ahealth class, but the school
(07:58):
felt in the health class theyshould talk about privilege and
oppressed people and that shouldbe incorporated not just in one
section, one day or one week,but throughout the entire year
of that class.
And Christians were calledprivileged.
Now what does religion do inthe school?
(08:19):
I thought a lot of schoolsdidn't want to do religion, but
Christians and they call itAbrahamic religions, which I
guess would be Christian, jewish.
Those are privileged andnon-Abrahamic religions are
called oppressed.
Throughout the curriculumyou're taught that Christians
are privileged andnon-Christians are oppressed.
(08:39):
Oppressed groups Injected thisinto the entire health
curriculum.
If they'd not done that, wewouldn't be here right now.
This young girl would havefinished her sophomore class and
be graduating now with honorsand an incredible SAT score.
That's not happening Now.
(08:59):
One note the research that Ihave.
Apparently some parents havedecided to either move to
another district, which meansyou're going to pay, at some
states, an inter-district fee togo somewhere else.
Some parents have decided tosend their kids to a private
school.
Some have done homeschooling,but those parents are still
taxpayers and they're stillpaying for this school to
(09:21):
educate children, their children, other children.
I will tell you the parentshave followed the process.
First they went to the school,then they went to the county
school board, then they went tothe state board of education,
then they went through the courtprocess, eventually the
appellate courts, and now it'sgone to the Maryland Supreme
Court, the highest court inMaryland.
(09:42):
I will tell you there's arelated case I'll talk about
later In the same state, of acoalition of parents complaining
about using their tax money tobuy inappropriate material,
sexual material, for children.
In this Supreme Court case, theUS Supreme Court includes
parents who are Christian, whoare Jewish and who are Muslim
(10:03):
who are coming together sayingthis material for our children,
and even for some of ouryoungest children in
kindergarten, is inappropriate.
So I'm discussing the usehappened not just in Maryland
but throughout the nation.
But again we're talking aboutthe state of Maryland.
But again we're talking aboutthe state of Maryland.
The parents filed a separatebut related complaint or brief
(10:24):
against the school in March ofthis year over requesting class
documents.
They found that when they askedfor public information, the
school board quote knowingly andwillfully end of quote
knowingly and willfully withheldpublic information, which is a
violation of the Maryland PublicInformation Act.
I will tell you in Texas I'vehad this problem before and
(10:47):
parents who just want to see Imean you would think there'd be
a parents' bill of rights, asthere should be an educator
classroom bill of rights, butthe parents should have a bill
of rights to see what's beingtaught in the classroom.
Actually, any taxpayer, you'repaying for that.
But in Texas the good news iswe passed a law that moms and
dads have the right in Texas tosee what's being taught in class
(11:10):
.
The bad news is we had to passa law in Texas saying that moms
and dads should have the rightto see what's being taught in a
class and hopefully in yourstate, not just Maryland anybody
listening in your country toosome of my foreign viewers on my
podcast or YouTube that youhave a law of the same thing
(11:32):
where moms and dads have theright to see.
But I will caution you.
What I learned in Texas,especially in the health classes
.
I was in a session with ameeting with a group of my
Catholic friends Great FamilyAssociation together and they
had handouts of certaincurriculum in the health class
by the way, same time of class,but in Texas and the parents
would say, well, yeah, thatcurriculum, that's okay, that
(11:53):
module's fine, and they'd showwhat's actually taught in class.
And what the students weretaught was in no way equal or
like what the parents were toldwas going to be taught.
And some of the trick nowadaysat the computer age is two
things One, there's links inclasses, links and, of course,
if you're giving material tolook online but you're not
(12:13):
giving access to those links andthese parents are objecting to
these links, to whose sponsorsand what parents are not seeing
in the classroom because that'sin a computer link.
I will tell you.
During COVID you probablynoticed that a lot of the
classes you did class at home,school at home, right Because of
COVID, and parents would callme and say you know, I'm walking
(12:35):
by, my kid is studying historyor government.
I said, what is that?
What are they teaching youthere?
Well, parents, because of COVID, became more aware of what's
being taught.
Actually, what happened?
There was an explosion ofhomeschool, homeschooling
throughout our country.
The parents were so upset whenthey saw during COVID what was
being taught when you had schoolat home, but specifically in
(12:55):
this class, in health class.
I know in my home state of Texasthere are some districts that
actually specifically pulleddown the health class.
They did not want moms and dadsseeing what's being taught.
You know mom and dad might walkby your computer.
What is that?
What does that got to do withhealth?
(13:16):
Well, I tell you, dad, becausethese parents, again in Maryland
, were complaining in a separatefiling complaint against the
district because for freedom ofinformation not being allowed to
see what's being taught in theclassroom, which ought to be a
basic right of all parents.
And again, the classes they hadlists, provide teacher's guides
(13:38):
with lists of privileged anddepressed people groups.
What's that got to do withhealth?
And the privileged groups wereChristians and the
non-privileged or the oppressedgroups were called non-Abrahamic
Abrahamic religions.
They were oppressed.
And it invites teachers to havestudents identify people who's
(14:03):
impacted by health inequalities.
Hmm, I thought that meant maybelike if you don't have access
to good food, nutrition, fruitsand vegetables, meat.
That's not what it meant at all.
Health inequalities are quotetrans or gender expansive, lbgtq
plus people.
(14:24):
Again, I'm going to repeathealth inequality such as trans
or gender expansive, lbgtq pluspeople.
Not being hateful gets.
Given you the truth.
Ken Mercer didn't do it, thestudents didn't do it, the moms
and dads of Maryland and thatcounty did not do it.
It was a school board.
A handout said for teachers tobe aware of what's called quote
(14:47):
worship of the written word.
End of quote.
I could see a young boy or girlin a classroom say quote
worship of the written word.
End of quote.
I could see a young boy or girlin a classroom say well, my
faith says this.
My faith says we love allpeople, but this is wrong.
My faith says we care foreveryone, we show our love,
respect people, but this iswrong.
We cannot condone this kind ofpractice and ask teachers to
(15:09):
recognize are you ready for thisquote again worship of the
written word.
End of quote.
Students who worship thewritten word I guess that means
the Bible, the Old and NewTestament and to recognize.
Quote white supremacy culture.
End of quote Again whitesupremacy culture in the
(15:30):
classroom and at the students'homes.
What is going on?
What happened to the FirstAmendment?
The very first freedom we have,the very first freedom we have,
is freedom of religion.
What happened to that and whatI'm reading to you right now is
not happening in communist Chinaor communist Cuba.
(15:52):
It's happening in a placecalled the United States of
America, in the state ofMaryland.
So you can see where I'm at andyou can tell I favor the
student and the parents BecauseI've seen it Again, my 16 years
as an elected official.
I've seen it before, I knowwhat it looks like, I know what
it smells like.
I know what it smells like andit's wrong.
(16:13):
This is not unique to onecounty, this is not unique to
the state of America.
I'm telling you it's happeningthroughout a place called the
United States of America.
We need your blessings, we needyour prayers.
This is Ken Mercer of MercerMoments in American History, and
asking again today please prayfor this young girl, this young
(16:35):
senior, high school senior,christian honor student, that
she'd be allowed to walk acrossstage in the next few days and
graduate.
Pray for her mom and dad.
God bless them.
This has been a two-yearprocess and they've been there
literally standing in the gapfor their daughter and standing
for their faith and values andstanding up against what they
(16:57):
believe to be inappropriatesexual material and also to be
an attack, to be religiousdiscrimination.
Pray for the Maryland SupremeCourt and their decisions and
then pray.
I'm going to ask you humbly topray for that local school board
, that local school board.
There are some questions therethat need to be asked.
(17:19):
Do moms and dads have rights?
Do parents have the right tosee what's being taught in the
classroom?
And do school boards have theright to buy whatever they want
in material and use your taxmoney?
I report, you decide.
Thank you, my friends, pray.
(17:40):
God bless you.
You.
Welcome to Mercer Moments in American History.
Today is a special report.
I'm asking for a prayer for ayoung Maryland high school
senior.
She's an honor student andshe's a Christian.
She's supposed to, in a fewdays, walk across the stage of
all her friends and family therein a cap and gown.
(00:20):
What a wonderful moment.
But she's being deniedgraduation because two years ago
, as a sophomore, she took aclass in health and the school
board had changed the healthclass and injected some new
items in that class which herand her parents found
(00:41):
objectionable and her parentsfound objectionable, and also
some items that they calledclear Christian religious
discrimination, anti-christianbias.
I'm going to report thosethings and let you decide.
Always find at least threesources to draw from.
I invite you to go online andfind more sources, but right now
(01:01):
this young girl, this Christianhonor student, is not being
allowed to graduate.
This is Ken Mercer.
I hope you enjoy today'sprogram.
Again, I'm asking to pray forthis young girl and her parents.
When I say honor student, Ialways try to give you facts
Honor student, she has a 4.76GPA grade point average.
(01:24):
You say, mr Mercer, how can thatbe?
You get four points for an A,three points for a B, how can
she have 4.76?
Well, now their classes havecertain rigor.
They're called either AP,advanced Placement, honors
Classes or DC, dual Credit.
These classes have so muchrigor, they're so hard, you can
receive not only high schoolgraduation credit but college
(01:47):
credit.
And obviously she's taken allthese classes and I have to
applaud her and her parentsbecause this process has been
happening the last two years.
She continued to do her studies, continued to take hard classes
Again advanced placement, dualcredit, honors classes, much
rigor to where she's graduatedwith a 4.76 grade point average.
(02:10):
She also took the SAT, theNational College Examination
Test, and she scored a 1450.
That's 1,450.
That's important because thatmeans she scored higher than 96%
of American youth.
That means she's in the top 4%of all students in our entire
(02:31):
nation.
And yet this Christian girl,this honor student, currently,
as I speak, is not being allowedto graduate because two years
ago she took a health class.
Being allowed to graduatebecause two years ago she took a
health class.
So the parents and the younggirl asked can we take another
(02:54):
health class or have anaccommodation or take it
somewhere else or take theobjectionable material out of
the class or opt out of certainmaterials.
I was blessed to be in theTexas House of Representatives,
the Committee of HigherEducation and later in the Texas
State Board of Education for atotal of 16 years.
I've had parents before come tome with these same kind of
concerns, and particularly thehealth class, the health and
(03:16):
human sexuality, and ask for anaccommodation or ask to opt out
of certain sections, and I'vebeen to that battle before.
But again, the young girl andher parents have tried for two
years, since her sophomore year,to have some sort of
accommodation.
Nothing's been worked out andall of a sudden it's two years
later and this Christian honorstudent is supposed to graduate
in a few days and she's beingdenied graduation.
(03:41):
Let's talk quickly what a healthclass should be in high school
and in being required forgraduation.
This is a year-long class andyou expect things like maybe
nutrition Study, the needs forvitamins and fruits and
vegetables and nutrients Forhygiene, by washing your hands,
about coughing in your elbow,especially in the time of COVID,
about wearing masks.
Kids learn about drug andalcohol abuse, about the signs
(04:05):
and the risk and rehabilitation.
Some schools not all of them Inever could figure out why they
wouldn't talk about the lifecycle of an unborn baby, when
they form fingers and toes, whenthere's brain development, when
they have a heartbeat, whenthey feel pain.
Some schools offer a section onfirst aid, basic first aid, cpr
.
What do you do when someonestops breathing or their heart
(04:26):
starts beating?
Sextate transmitted diseases,stds I know there's other terms
now what are the diseases?
What are the risks For a younggirl, especially your chance of
ever getting pregnant, or anyrisk to the unborn children you
carry?
There's even in a lot of healthclasses a section on bullying.
Those are things that arepretty much taught throughout
the nation.
However, again throughout thenation, I've seen this exact
(04:49):
same problem occur.
A school district, either adistrict or a state board of
education, would mandate someother curriculum.
And what happened this time?
Which particularly?
And I'm going to share with yousome facts that came from again
I have three resources outthere because I like to go by
facts only but apparently whatthey injected was LBGTQ plus
(05:11):
curriculum, which is the gay,lesbian, bisexual, transgendered
.
Q plus is queer, queerquestioning.
I thought maybe in the healthclass they would talk about
biological males and biologicalfemales and avoid some of the
politicalness, but it wasdecided to enter this material
into the class.
And here's the killer when Iread through it, the board
(05:32):
apparently decided that it wouldnot be one section.
Because there's one section, aparent could say, well, we're
not going to be there for thatday or that week, but this new
ideology would be throughout thecurriculum and whether you're
studying nutrition or hygiene,or drug and alcohol abuse or
first aid or whatever, they wantyou to incorporate new, if you
(05:56):
will, ideology that, as you know, has been questioned all
throughout the nation and raisedconcerns.
What happened in this mandatoryhealth class?
My understanding again, I'velooked at at least three sources
, find some more and let me knowwhat else you find it the
school board had injected aLBGTQ plus affirming language in
(06:16):
the class.
In a health class, you thinkwe're going to talk about
biological males and biologicalfemales, and I know you've heard
this argument before about boysin the girls' bathrooms taking
showers and the girls shower onthe same sports teams competing
against them.
Well, this is also happeningthroughout our country and you
know that's happened.
But she's being deniedgraduation in a few days because
(06:37):
they found this classobjectionable and they also
complained about religiousdiscrimination, and I'll share
some of the facts there.
In August of 22, the parentsenrolled her in a health class
for upcoming sophomore year,which is required by the school
(06:57):
board for graduation, and it hadnot been the same health class
as previously offered.
So what changed was not thestudent.
The parents didn't change.
But from my research,understanding what changed is
the school board introduced thisnew philosophy.
I'm going to tell you in my 16years as elected official of
Texas when I've spoken toparents, hundreds of parents.
(07:17):
There's classroom education andthere's political
indoctrination.
Now hear what I'm saying.
I'm just making a statement.
This is from Ken Mercer, mypersonal opinion.
There's classroom education andthere's political
indoctrination and there's adifference.
And it's happened all acrossAmerica.
(07:38):
It's even happened in my homestate of Texas, but today it's
by the state of Maryland.
News reports found some of thescreenshots of the teacher's
guides.
For example, he talked aboutprivileged and oppressed people.
I'm not sure why that's in ahealth class, but the school
(07:58):
felt in the health class theyshould talk about privilege and
oppressed people and that shouldbe incorporated not just in one
section, one day or one week,but throughout the entire year
of that class.
And Christians were calledprivileged.
Now what does religion do inthe school?
(08:19):
I thought a lot of schoolsdidn't want to do religion, but
Christians and they call itAbrahamic religions, which I
guess would be Christian, jewish.
Those are privileged andnon-Abrahamic religions are
called oppressed.
Throughout the curriculumyou're taught that Christians
are privileged andnon-Christians are oppressed.
(08:39):
Oppressed groups Injected thisinto the entire health
curriculum.
If they'd not done that, wewouldn't be here right now.
This young girl would havefinished her sophomore class and
be graduating now with honorsand an incredible SAT score.
That's not happening Now.
(08:59):
One note the research that Ihave.
Apparently some parents havedecided to either move to
another district, which meansyou're going to pay, at some
states, an inter-district fee togo somewhere else.
Some parents have decided tosend their kids to a private
school.
Some have done homeschooling,but those parents are still
taxpayers and they're stillpaying for this school to
(09:21):
educate children, their children, other children.
I will tell you the parentshave followed the process.
First they went to the school,then they went to the county
school board, then they went tothe state board of education,
then they went through the courtprocess, eventually the
appellate courts, and now it'sgone to the Maryland Supreme
Court, the highest court inMaryland.
(09:42):
I will tell you there's arelated case I'll talk about
later In the same state, of acoalition of parents complaining
about using their tax money tobuy inappropriate material,
sexual material, for children.
In this Supreme Court case, theUS Supreme Court includes
parents who are Christian, whoare Jewish and who are Muslim
(10:03):
who are coming together sayingthis material for our children,
and even for some of ouryoungest children in
kindergarten, is inappropriate.
So I'm discussing the usehappened not just in Maryland
but throughout the nation.
But again we're talking aboutthe state of Maryland.
But again we're talking aboutthe state of Maryland.
The parents filed a separatebut related complaint or brief
(10:24):
against the school in March ofthis year over requesting class
documents.
They found that when they askedfor public information, the
school board quote knowingly andwillfully end of quote
knowingly and willfully withheldpublic information, which is a
violation of the Maryland PublicInformation Act.
I will tell you in Texas I'vehad this problem before and
(10:47):
parents who just want to see Imean you would think there'd be
a parents' bill of rights, asthere should be an educator
classroom bill of rights, butthe parents should have a bill
of rights to see what's beingtaught in the classroom.
Actually, any taxpayer, you'repaying for that.
But in Texas the good news iswe passed a law that moms and
dads have the right in Texas tosee what's being taught in class
(11:10):
.
The bad news is we had to passa law in Texas saying that moms
and dads should have the rightto see what's being taught in a
class and hopefully in yourstate, not just Maryland anybody
listening in your country toosome of my foreign viewers on my
podcast or YouTube that youhave a law of the same thing
(11:32):
where moms and dads have theright to see.
But I will caution you.
What I learned in Texas,especially in the health classes
.
I was in a session with ameeting with a group of my
Catholic friends Great FamilyAssociation together and they
had handouts of certaincurriculum in the health class
by the way, same time of class,but in Texas and the parents
would say, well, yeah, thatcurriculum, that's okay, that
(11:53):
module's fine, and they'd showwhat's actually taught in class.
And what the students weretaught was in no way equal or
like what the parents were toldwas going to be taught.
And some of the trick nowadaysat the computer age is two
things One, there's links inclasses, links and, of course,
if you're giving material tolook online but you're not
(12:13):
giving access to those links andthese parents are objecting to
these links, to whose sponsorsand what parents are not seeing
in the classroom because that'sin a computer link.
I will tell you.
During COVID you probablynoticed that a lot of the
classes you did class at home,school at home, right Because of
COVID, and parents would callme and say you know, I'm walking
(12:35):
by, my kid is studying historyor government.
I said, what is that?
What are they teaching youthere?
Well, parents, because of COVID, became more aware of what's
being taught.
Actually, what happened?
There was an explosion ofhomeschool, homeschooling
throughout our country.
The parents were so upset whenthey saw during COVID what was
being taught when you had schoolat home, but specifically in
(12:55):
this class, in health class.
I know in my home state of Texasthere are some districts that
actually specifically pulleddown the health class.
They did not want moms and dadsseeing what's being taught.
You know mom and dad might walkby your computer.
What is that?
What does that got to do withhealth?
(13:16):
Well, I tell you, dad, becausethese parents, again in Maryland
, were complaining in a separatefiling complaint against the
district because for freedom ofinformation not being allowed to
see what's being taught in theclassroom, which ought to be a
basic right of all parents.
And again, the classes they hadlists, provide teacher's guides
(13:38):
with lists of privileged anddepressed people groups.
What's that got to do withhealth?
And the privileged groups wereChristians and the
non-privileged or the oppressedgroups were called non-Abrahamic
Abrahamic religions.
They were oppressed.
And it invites teachers to havestudents identify people who's
(14:03):
impacted by health inequalities.
Hmm, I thought that meant maybelike if you don't have access
to good food, nutrition, fruitsand vegetables, meat.
That's not what it meant at all.
Health inequalities are quotetrans or gender expansive, lbgtq
plus people.
(14:24):
Again, I'm going to repeathealth inequality such as trans
or gender expansive, lbgtq pluspeople.
Not being hateful gets.
Given you the truth.
Ken Mercer didn't do it, thestudents didn't do it, the moms
and dads of Maryland and thatcounty did not do it.
It was a school board.
A handout said for teachers tobe aware of what's called quote
(14:47):
worship of the written word.
End of quote.
I could see a young boy or girlin a classroom say quote
worship of the written word.
End of quote.
I could see a young boy or girlin a classroom say well, my
faith says this.
My faith says we love allpeople, but this is wrong.
My faith says we care foreveryone, we show our love,
respect people, but this iswrong.
We cannot condone this kind ofpractice and ask teachers to
(15:09):
recognize are you ready for thisquote again worship of the
written word.
End of quote.
Students who worship thewritten word I guess that means
the Bible, the Old and NewTestament and to recognize.
Quote white supremacy culture.
End of quote Again whitesupremacy culture in the
(15:30):
classroom and at the students'homes.
What is going on?
What happened to the FirstAmendment?
The very first freedom we have,the very first freedom we have,
is freedom of religion.
What happened to that and whatI'm reading to you right now is
not happening in communist Chinaor communist Cuba.
(15:52):
It's happening in a placecalled the United States of
America, in the state ofMaryland.
So you can see where I'm at andyou can tell I favor the
student and the parents BecauseI've seen it Again, my 16 years
as an elected official.
I've seen it before, I knowwhat it looks like, I know what
it smells like.
I know what it smells like andit's wrong.
(16:13):
This is not unique to onecounty, this is not unique to
the state of America.
I'm telling you it's happeningthroughout a place called the
United States of America.
We need your blessings, we needyour prayers.
This is Ken Mercer of MercerMoments in American History, and
asking again today please prayfor this young girl, this young
(16:35):
senior, high school senior,christian honor student, that
she'd be allowed to walk acrossstage in the next few days and
graduate.
Pray for her mom and dad.
God bless them.
This has been a two-yearprocess and they've been there
literally standing in the gapfor their daughter and standing
for their faith and values andstanding up against what they
(16:57):
believe to be inappropriatesexual material and also to be
an attack, to be religiousdiscrimination.
Pray for the Maryland SupremeCourt and their decisions and
then pray.
I'm going to ask you humbly topray for that local school board
, that local school board.
There are some questions therethat need to be asked.
(17:19):
Do moms and dads have rights?
Do parents have the right tosee what's being taught in the
classroom?
And do school boards have theright to buy whatever they want
in material and use your taxmoney?
I report, you decide.
Thank you, my friends, pray.
(17:40):
God bless you.
You.
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