John Dale - January 23, 2025

This article was originally a comment in response to this post on political attack dog website The Dakota War College.

"School Choice" is a hot topic in South Dakota right now. Recently, in a committee meeting at the capitol, testimony was given regarding how the South Dakota Constitution prohibits support for sectarian schools. You can see the text of Article 8, section 16, which states:

"Public support of sectarian instruction prohibited."

From now on, I'll refer to this section as the "sectarian clause."

So, the state won't support a splinter religious group using public funding to support a revolution against the big brother church. South Dakota framers had the foresight to understand that fragmenting religious groups would wage endless ideological war against each other in a wrestling match to define the rules of engagement between man and God.

I am both aghast and impressed.

School choice is thought to include microschools, which are defined as follows:

"A microschool is a small, personalized learning environment for students that's often more flexible than a traditional school [and] can be operated as private schools, homeschooling groups, or in public school spaces."

At this point in the article, let's have a little story time with John.

When we first moved to the area, as long time homeschoolers we wanted to connect with other people who were also homeschooling. So, we tried to join a group in Belle Fourche. Upon attending one of their events, they handed us a contract requiring us to profess belief in the trinity in order to join.

My wife and I were offended and saddened for our children (and theirs), but that's not the point. Don't cry for us, because that which didn't kill us only made is stronger.

One might imagine that this group would be the first in-line to form a microschool and apply for education savings accounts should one of the two laws pass (HB1099 or HB1020).

The group that religiously pressured us was clearly a sect, and would not be able to receive funding under the South Dakota Constitution.

The state may not respect the indoctrination of children into an extreme religious world view. If the homeschool cooperative in Belle Fourche is any indication, the school choice bills would surely lose in the South Dakota Supreme Court, but the burden of proof might be difficult.

For instance, is there a standard by percentage? If 51% of the students are Catholic, a sect of Judaism, is the microschool prohibited?

I thought it might be a good exercise to attempt to clearly define "sectarian", so I turned to our Webster's dictionary with Copyright 1995 that has been in my family's custody about 30 years:

Sect - a body of persons adhering to a particular religious faith [or] denomination, [or] a group regarded as heretical or deviated from a generally accepted religious tradition, [or] any group united by a a specific doctrine.

Sectarian - a bigoted or narrow-minded person [or] narrowly confined or devoted to a particular sect

By these definitions, Catholicism is a sect. Protestantism is a sect. Even Judaism is a sect. Because of raging debates regarding the lineage of religion, the South Dakota Constitution's sectarian clause does not seem to survive attempts at consistent and fair application.

Now, for the keen South Dakota mind, this is where things get fun.

Google AI has reviewed the entirety of available literature on religious history, definitions of terms like sect, among many other things. It should not be trusted completely, but it's a good way to enter into a line of research. Google and services like it can be the pathway to, but they are not the destination of, enlightenment.

What follows is a series of questions posed to Google by our team to unravel how the sectarian clause might apply.

Q: Did Christianity exist before Catholicism?
A: Christianity began as a Jewish sect, and the Catholic Church is a branch of Christianity.

If true, Catholicism is a sect, and not eligible for state funding assuming a reasonable burden of proof can be met as to the religious dispositions of students and families, but also examination of the curriculum. The setup here seems ominously like communism, thought to be the operating system of globalist forces seeking nation-state takeover. The government has an open door to intrude on the educational operations of citizens as it continues to consume more of the earning potential of the citizens, who eventually will be unable to afford alternative schooling options.

Q: what is considered a sect of Christianity?
A: A sect of Christianity is a religious group that has distinct beliefs or practices that differ from other Christian groups

Catholicism fits this description. Every denomination of Christianity fits this description. Catholics and others will have some serious hand waving to do to change definitions to re-include themselves into state-based cash flows. It would be reminiscent of the bombastic and bold redefinition of "vaccine" circa 2021.

Q: is Catholicism a sect of Christianity
A: No, Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity, not a sect

On one hand, the search result clearly includes Catholicism. On the other hand, it directly carves-out Catholicism from a definition that fits. Is there some exploitation of Google's search results happening to shoe-horn a religious group to fit a legal definition? Like not claiming certain deductions to increase a tax return, wouldn't this be fraud?

Q: is judaism a sect
A: No, Judaism is not a cult.

Me thinks it doth protest too much!

In allocation of federal education dollars, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". But if we are to defer to Google's definition of Judaism, it would appear South Dakota's Constitution de facto "respects" the establishment of Judaism in the classroom since writ large in its ancient form Judaism could not be considered a sect (at least according to Google).

The thick plottens again.

Q: is secular a sect
A: No, "secular" is not considered a sect; a sect refers to a smaller group that breaks away from a larger religious denomination, while "secular" means not related to religion

Public schools are thought to be secular, meaning they do not teach a religion. But what about homeschools that are secular and not aligned with a particular group?

As days pass, the book we wrote keeps on giving. Our homeschool is a secular homeschool. We did not teach a particular religious world view. We never joined a church. We maintained ruthless dedication to secular ideals of logic while teaching STEM to prepare our children to fill the gap when the H1B's are finally sent home.

Secular homeschools are eligible for state funding under the South Dakota Constitution, but Catholic, Judaic, Protestant, and other religions are not.

I would argue that the state should pay-out to all secular homeschools in South Dakota retroactively.

As for the issue of microschools. How did Represenatitive Odenbach, a lawyer who passed the Bar Exam, miss this glaring issue with the microschool proposal?