The Cynthia Chronicles

In a way, you have to admire State Board of Education member Cynthia Dunbar. It can't be easy to establish oneself as the craziest person on that undistinguished body, given the fierce competition that exists for that title, yet she nonetheless manages to stand apart from the pack.

In her book, One Nation Under God, Dunbar argues that the country's founding fathers created "an emphatically Christian government" and believed that government should be guided by a "biblical litmus test."

Dunbar endorses a belief system requiring "any person desiring to govern have a sincere knowledge and appreciation for the Word of God in order to rightly govern."

She calls public education a "subtly deceptive tool of perversion." The establishment of public schools is unconstitutional and even "tyrannical," she writes in the book, because it threatens the authority of families, granted by God through Scripture, to direct the instruction of their children.

Her book was not written for the general public, said Dunbar, whose 16-county area includes Fort Bend and Brazoria counties and part of Travis County.

"It's mainly an educational tool to the body of Christ," Dunbar said, adding that Christians appear to be targeted once they become active politically.

You know, I don't think it's too much to ask for someone who has power over the state's public education system to not believe that said system is a tool of Satan. I also don't think it's too much to ask for a few prominent Republicans to offer some criticism of Dunbar and her whacked-out worldview. Seems to me it's extremists like Dunbar who have done so much to give the Republican Party a bad name lately, and that a little public disavowal might go a long way towards keeping some of those "critical middle" types from straying further away. But hey, what do I know? Keep it up, Cynthia. The campaign materials for your future opponent are writing themselves as we speak.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 06, 2008 to Show Business for Ugly People