My daughter, a senior in high school this year, came home from school two days ago and told me about a question her teacher had asked in class that day: “Define good.”
Before I go any further, some context — we live in Texas. Texas’s Republican leadership decided, over many parents’ objections, to integrate the Bible into our children’s curriculum and to require the Ten Commandments be hung in every public school classroom, from elementary through high school. Several Texas school districts are now being sued by coalitions of parents across the state seeking to restore the separation of church and state.
But, back to the question, “Define “good.”
Mr. Russell teaches twelfth-grade United States Government classes. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Archaeology and Religion and a Master’s in Military Chaplaincy — credentials that, as I’d soon learn, shape the way he thinks about the world far more than his job title lets on. After he asked the question, naturally, the kids began brainstorming the perfect definition, some shouted out their answers like know-it-all seniors do when a question sounds easy enough to not think too hard about. Mr. Russell kept pushing them to go deeper. Their answers weren’t correct. Then the bell rang, and everyone filed out without giving it a second thought.
Everyone, that is, except my daughter. It stuck in her crawl all afternoon. By the time I picked her up, she was still turning it over, and she talked about it the whole ride home. She said, the definition of good is the absence of evil. Wrong. Then she said, good was having kindness and empathy - practicing good morals. Wrong again. She was stumped. I told her what I thought it was. That the definition of good was to be kind, honest, empathetic and just. Something a person of excellent character would do to produce the best possible outcomes in any given situation. I gave myself a pat on the back for that and she looked at me noticeably pissed and her voice audibly shrilling, “No! Kids said those things and he said that wasn’t it.”
Alright, what the fuck? Who the hell is this guy and what’s he getting at? I grumbled to myself.
She spent the evening chewing on it — really chewing on it. I could tell it had actually gotten under her skin. Then yesterday, she walked up to Mr. Russell before class and gave him her answer. Still, he told her it was more than that. Curious now, she asked him the obvious follow-up, well, what is it, then?
She said he told her with a sparkle in his eyes and big smile across his face as if he was giving her the secret to the universe and proclaimed, “good equals the deity. God.”
I rolled my damn eyes so hard I think I pulled a muscle, then went straight to my laptop, fired it up and pulled up Mr. Russell’s email.
Hi Mr. Russell,
My daughter came home really engaged after your class discussion on defining "good" — she said the question stuck with her all evening, and she came back to you today with her own answer. I appreciate that you're pushing students to think critically rather than settle for easy answers — that's exactly the kind of teaching I want for her.
But…
She mentioned that when she asked what your definition was, you told her "good = God." I'll be honest, my own understanding of what makes something good is quite different from that, and I'd like to understand more about how you're framing this in class. Are you presenting it as one philosophical or religious perspective among several (alongside secular or philosophical views on ethics), or as the answer to the question?
I ask because, as I understand it, Texas public school teachers can teach about religious and philosophical frameworks in a neutral, academic way, but shouldn't present a particular religious claim as settled fact. I just want to make sure I understand how you're approaching this before I think through how to talk to my daughter about it.
Sincerely,
A. Bateman
I hit send.
My husband and I were running errands for our other daughter’s birthday today when the familiar notification ding alerted me to a new email. I ignored it because we’d waited until the last minute to shop and were now racing a tight deadline. Frankly, I’d forgotten about the email entirely by the time we finished. Not until I was sitting in the carpool lane, boxed in between cars, waiting like everyone else for our kids to come out, did I remember, Oh shit! I had an email to read.
It was Mr. Russell.
Hello Ms. Bateman,
Thank you for reaching out; I appreciate the opportunity to clarify.
I do not endorse or assert any particular religion or faith. My perspective is entirely philosophical. The Declaration of Independence and the broader framework of the founding documents appeal to a higher power—referred to as the “Creator”—to establish the
basis for our rights. As Jefferson wrote, all people are “created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” These rights are understood to exist independent of human authority: they are not granted by individuals or governments
and therefore cannot be revoked by them.
Belief in any specific religion or faith is not required for this concept. The essential point is that rights derive from a standard external to humanity. Without such a foundation, rights would rest solely on the decisions of people or governments and could
be withdrawn by the same authorities. The Declaration anchors rights at birth in this higher source precisely to avoid that contingency.
Please let me know if you would like any further clarification.
Sincerely
Mr. Russell
He dodged my question and pivoted to a different claim entirely, that the Declaration of Independence grounds rights in a "Creator." That's an argument about the source of unalienable rights, not a definition of "good." Those are two separate philosophical questions, and he was conflating them to sidestep the one I actually raised.
So, I responded.
Hi Mr. Russell,
Thank you for the response, but I don’t think it answered the question I asked. I understand the argument about the Declaration of Independence and rights being grounded in a Creator — that’s a claim about the source of rights, which is a different question from how you’re defining “good” for your students.
My daughter reported that when she asked what your definition of “good” was, you told her “good = God.” That’s the specific statement I’m asking about.
Can you tell me directly:
1. When you told her “good = God,” was that presented as one philosophical or religious framework among several (alongside secular or other ethical views), or as the answer to the question?
2. Separately from the Declaration discussion, do you teach “good = God” as a settled definition in class, or as one perspective among competing ones?
I want to be clear I’m not asking you to avoid discussing religious or philosophical frameworks academically. I’m asking whether a specific theological claim was presented to students as settled fact rather than as one view among others.
A. Bateman
And hit send.
This is where we’re at. And it’s only day ten into the school year.
Already fielding a possible phone call about theology from my kid’s government classroom. Ten days in, and I’m having to explain to a grown man with a master’s degree why his personal beliefs don’t belong in front of thirty seventeen and eighteen-year-olds who don’t know how to push back the way I can.
Some would say I’m wasting my time. Ask me why I’m making such a big deal out of one comment, one email, one teacher. I don’t give a damn. Because I guarantee this won’t be the only email I send this year. This isn’t about one comment. It’s about what happens when nobody says anything — when parent after parent decides it’s not worth the fight, and a hallway conversation quietly becomes doctrine. I refuse to eat the shit they’re serving, and I refuse to raise my kids in blind obedience, to a teacher, a textbook, or a state legislature that thinks it knows better than I do what my children should believe.
They need to understand the whole world — not just one narrow hallway of it someone else has decided to show them. They need to know there’s a difference between being taught how to think and being told what to think, even when the person doing the telling is kind, well-meaning, and sincerely convinced he’s right.
Especially then. Good does not just equal God.
If a paid subscription isn’t in the cards right now, I completely get it — truly. But if you’ve ever read something here and thought “damn, she needs to keep doing this,” you can throw a few bucks in the tip jar over at Buy Me a Coffee.
☕ buymeacoffee.com/eeviebateman
No pressure. No guilt. Just me, asking nicely, with my hand out like a very earnest raccoon who writes controversial essays.
Thank you for being here. Seriously. You make this worth doing.
~Eevie
As a retired teacher, I love your letter! Keep responding until he answers your question! I guarantee he is carefully working on and stressing over his next response. Letters from parents are the most stressful part of the job. Hold his religous zelot feet to the fire every time he tries to push his religous views onto your child!
I'm so done with the indoctrination of our kids... you are a better human than me, I would have just pulled her and told the teacher to go fuck himself. I have zero patience left for the cult of christ. Looking forward to his answer though, thanks for sharing this with us.