Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has not violated a federal court order after a lawsuit entanglement with some of the state’s college professors, as declared by federal Judge Mark Walker on Jan. 12.
Some Florida university professors sought legal action after DeSantis requested colleges turn in their spending for academics focused on inclusion, diversity and the controversial critical race theory, as reported by the Associated Press.
This lawsuit came less than two months after the same federal judge blocked DeSantis’s “Stop WOKE” Act, as it served to keep ideologies like critical race theory from being taught in the classroom. The college professors against the DeSantis administration believed the request for information on diversity and critical race theory broke this order to pause the “Stop WOKE” Act.
When the act was blocked by Walker, he wrote, “Our professors are critical to a healthy democracy, and the State of Florida’s decision to choose which viewpoints are worthy of illumination and which must remain in the shadows has implications for us all.”
Although Walker had concerns which led him to block “Stop WOKE,” one of the bill’s additions as of last March noted that: “Students shall develop an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping on individual freedoms, and examine what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purpose of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions.”
When DeSantis first signed House Bill 7, he made it clear in a press conference that he didn’t want any person to feel isolated because of their race. Classes would teach African American, Hispanic and women’s history, but it would not be legal for teachers to indoctrinate or teach students that any one person was superior, inferior or racist because of their background or skin color.
DeSantis is not the only governor in the fight against critical race theory. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas put out an executive order to ban the teaching of CRT in schools.
“As long as I am governor, our schools will focus on the skills our children need to get ahead in the modern world, not brainwashing our children with a left-wing political agenda,” Sanders said in her inaugural speech.
The debate about what should and should not be taught in the classroom has extended far beyond race and critical race theory and has found its way into the church. With huge pushes toward social justice as the core for many churches, there seems to be a growing divide between denominations and within individual churches as was seen in the United Methodist Church split over ordaining and performing marriages for LGBTQ persons.
For Christians, it is crucial to remember that going along with the ways of the world will always seem brighter on the surface, but the rewards we seek are in heaven. By allowing the Lord to make our paths straight (Prov. 3:5-6), we will have a foundation against the ideologies that vie for our attention that only God deserves.
Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator and Staff Writer intern for Charisma Media.
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