I can't be the only one who is profoundly disturbed by the content of New Jersey's new school curriculum requirements, as discussed in former Bar President Thomas Pol's essay "'God, Gays & Guns' Are Back in New Jersey Gubernatorial Politics" (Law Journal, Sept. 27, 2021). Make no mistake: the new curriculum requirements are a gateway to teaching controversial Critical Race Theory principles that many, if not most, parents would surely reject. And as anodyne as their catch-phrase wording appears to be (who could object to the principle of "tolerance," for example?), the goal of these requirements is to indoctrinate students with progressive ideology. 

If you doubt this, look at the targets of Mr. Prol's essay, which appear to include churchgoers as well as those who own guns. Disagree with us on how to teach "diversity" and "inclusion," goes the message, and you must be one of those gun-toting Neanderthals, hypocritically attending church on Sunday. Worse, you must be a Republican.

The purpose of education is to teach students how to think, not to proselytize to them, particularly on controversial social issues. What business is it of the schools—or politicians—what children or their parents believe about "diversity" or "equity," let alone how these concepts are defined by the latest social justice movements? Children are already prohibited from bullying other students, and otherwise acting in a biased or offensive manner. But the progressive organizations that steer the passage of these laws want ideological conformity in thought—not just in deed—which is chilling. Children don't completely shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door.