(OPINION) Driving kids to Vacation Bible School would become a misdemeanor in Nebraska if a recent proposal by Nebraska Senator Megan Hunt (D) passed into law. Hunt proposed to “amend” a bill that would protect children from adult-themed drag performances (LB371) by striking all the language and replacing it with similar language to bar children from attending a “religious indoctrination camp” instead.
Hunt’s amendment (AM74), filed on January 23, defined a religious indoctrination camp as “a camp, vacation Bible study, retreat, lock-in, or convention held by a church, youth group, or religious organization for the purpose of indoctrinating children with a specific set of religious beliefs.”
The amendment would prohibit anyone under 19 (Nebraska’s age of majority) from attending such a camp and declared anyone 19 or older who “knowingly brings” someone under 19 to a religious indoctrination camp to “be guilty of a Class I misdemeanor.”
The amendment would also prohibit anyone under 21 from a “religious indoctrination camp” with alcohol, “regardless if such alcoholic liquor is being served as part of a religious ceremony.” Finally, the amendment slaps a $10,000 fine per offense on “any business, establishment, or nonprofit organization that hosts a religious indoctrination camp” and permits underage persons to attend.
The amendment specifically targets Christian parents, churches, and faith-based organizations in its sweeping ban on virtually all youth outreach efforts — including communion, in some denominations.
The legislator who introduced the amendment said she did it “to make a point.” “It won’t pass,” tweeted Hunt. “I would withdraw it if it had the votes to pass.”
Somehow, she expects others to take her point seriously when she doesn’t even take her own job seriously. But it’s not immediately obvious what point Hunt was trying to make.
One option is that Hunt is legitimately concerned about the safety of children. This option is suggested by the one subsection of her amendment that does not parallel the language of the original bill:
“There is a well-documented history of indoctrination and sexual abuse perpetrated by religious leaders and clergy people upon children. Abusers within churches and other religious institutions often use events like church or youth-group-sponsored camps and retreats to earn children’s trust and gain unsupervised access to such children in order to commit such abuse.”
In other words, because some wolves don sheep’s clothing, Hunt suggests shepherds should never gather the flock. It’s hard to consider this amendment with a straight face. Ultimately, by declaring that she would withdraw the amendment if it stood a chance of passing, Hunt herself admits that child safety isn’t her true motivation.
Another option suggested by this added subsection is that Hunt’s point is mere “whataboutism.” If you think kids are being groomed at drag shows, says Hunt, what about grooming in the church? Sadly, sexual abusers do target children in the church, and every crime is one too many. But Hunt tries to prove more than the evidence will justify. Words such as “well-documented” and “often” imply that everyone knows that abuse is rampant at church camps. But if that were really true, parents would keep their children home. (READ MORE)
