Quote of the Day: “Religious” Does Not Equal “Christian”

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


From the Livingston Parish News, reporting on Rep. Valarie Hodges’ sudden U-turn on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s voucher program for private schools in Louisiana:

Hodges mistakenly assumed that ‘religious’ meant ‘Christian.’

Hodges, it turns out, thought the voucher program was just fine when it meant that state money would be going to Christian schools that deny evolution and sprinkle their lessons with lots of Bible verses. Then she found out that our pesky Constitution treats Islam as a religion too, which meant that Islamic schools would also qualify for vouchers.

Oops. But not to worry. I have little doubt that School Superintendent John White will figure out a way to “muddy the waters” so that Islamic schools somehow never quite seem to qualify.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate