Raising kids in 2025 is a scary job. As soon as a kid has access to the internet, the influences are infinite. The internet, and social media in particular, influences kids in ways that parents cannot know, let alone approve. Shuree and I are planning to hold out on getting our kids smart phones as long as we can. That probably makes us lame and over-protective, but we want to have the lead role in raising our kids and we want them to have a childhood that prioritizes lived experience over screen stimulation.
While I am working to protect my kids and raise them on my terms, a slew of legislation has been introduced this year that is aimed at having the government dictate and direct my children’s religious upbringing.
Just like deep blue state politicians pushing woke ideology, a few big-government politicians here in South Dakota are trying to push their religion on our kids. On the House floor this week, we defeated a bill to require clergy to come into the schools to minister to your children (without your consent). Next week, we will hear a bill mandating that the Ten Commandments be posted in every single classroom AND require that teachers teach the Ten Commandments to every single kid in the school. There are other bills attempting to do the same – overstepping parents, overstepping school boards, and placing mandates on schools to push certain religious beliefs.
Promoting a particular religious establishment or mode of worship on children is not the job of government. That is the job of parents. Parents should guide the faith journey of their children – not politicians in the Capitol. Parents should choose which religious leader interprets religious text – not politicians in the Capitol. Parents should choose which religious documents are presented to their kids (and how) – not politicians in the Capitol.
The founders of our nation were Christians. They were influenced by Judeo-Christian texts. Thomas Jefferson even wrote his own version of the Bible. But, in their great wisdom and restraint, they did not try to mandate their religion to the public as had been done in the England they fled. Instead, they protected the people from government-mandated religion. That is contained in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Fortunately, for us in South Dakota, we have an additional Bill of Rights in the South Dakota Constitution that is even stronger, prohibiting preference to be given to any religious establishment or mode of worship. The Ten Commandments bill clearly violates our South Dakota Bill of Rights, and likely the U.S. Constitution as well.
Being a parent in 2025 is hard. There are influences on our kids each day. We work hard to let them learn and experience on their own, but in some areas, parents should have special protection and deference. Religious upbringing is chief among them. On behalf of parents across our state, I’ll be voting No on these measures.
Will Mortensen is a Republican state legislator from Fort Pierre, S.D. Republished by permission.
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