New Orleans          Am I the only one who has noticed that a lot of the culture war markers that conservatives are laying down these days are largely performative and little more than political theater.  That’s not to say the fact that this is what they believe gets traction with their base isn’t scary, but it is to say there’s a certain lack of reality to it all.

A prime example is all the whooping and hollering around the country centered on the MAGA-right Republican state school superintendent in Oklahoma, Ryan Walters.  He infamously announced that he had directed all the public school teachers in the state to become Bible thumpers and instruct students in the good book.  Evangelicals and conservative congregations applauded the effort.  Other red state legislators leaped on board and indicated that they wanted to impose the same or a similar rule.

All it all, it was quite an amazing performance and certainly a national headline grabber.  So, what happened now that schools are in session in Oklahoma?  Pretty much no change.  As the Times reports, “…as schools open around Oklahoma this month, there’s little evidence that the Bible’s presence is any changed from last year or the year before.  No Bibles appear to have been purchased, and no curriculum changes have been announced.”  In fact, eight of the largest school districts in the state went public with the fact that they had no immediate plans to change their curriculums.  One problem may be that the state provides some of the resources, but that’s dependent on the legislature, and American school boards are notoriously local political and administrative jurisdictions with their own polices and procedures separate from the state.

Teachers say they have received no marching orders.  Oklahoma teachers aren’t exactly easy to herd.  Many may remember that Oklahoma teachers joined those from West Virginia and elsewhere in surprising many by striking to push back on their legislatures. The head of the union says “We have not heard of one district saying publicly they’ll do what Superintendent Walters has said he’s mandating they do.”  As the president of the Tulsa school board in the state’s largest district said, “It’s largely propaganda.”  A social studies teacher called Walters’ act “theatrics.”  None of this likely bothers Walters, since as long as he gets the publicity, that’s more important to him probably than the policy.  In fact, he seems to be doubling down to try and change the way the social studies and history is taught in the state with the help of Project 2025 funder and promoter, the head of the Heritage Foundation.

This kind of “cheap political theater,” as Times-Picayune columnist Clancy DuBos calls it, is not limited to schools and the Bible.  DuBos was making this point about similar showboating by the Louisiana state treasurer John Fleming for his attack on Bank of America and efforts to remove them from handling state depository accounts.  Fleming climbed on the soapbox claiming BofA had “debanked” two Christian organizations – the Indigenous Advance Ministries and The Timothy Two Project International.  Fleming wasn’t alone.  He joined a dozen other Republican state treasurers in a letter of complaint to Bank of America.  Unfortunately for them in the effort to grab notice in the culture wars, they didn’t really research the fact that Indigenous Advance Ministries says its business is “  ‘dedicated to pursuing the recovery of overdue invoices’ for its clients –i.e. debt collection – and that Timothy Two Project International has operations in Cuba, ‘a country that is sanctioned under the Trading with the Enemy Act.’”  DuBos doesn’t stop there, but also notes the irony that Fleming is lining up with the left which has also advocated boycotting Bank of America for its financing of oil and gas projects, gun manufacturers, and other “baddies.”

Sadly, irony has no meaning in any of these performances when the only point is appealing to the cheap seats and not worrying about real policy, the truth, or, as surely they hope, any consequences.