Minnesota GOP Bill Requires Teaching That “Sickness, Death, Disease, And Pain” Are Caused By “The Creator”

From the text of Minnesota Senate bill SF17:

To advance critical thinking skills in history and science, a school district must provide instruction to students in grades 9 to 12 exploring the contrast between the scientific facts on how sickness, disease, pain, suffering, and death relate to the existence of complex living organisms and how sickness, disease, pain, suffering, and death are a consequence imposed by the Creator of complex living organisms.

Hemant Mehta reports at The Friendly Atheist:

Republican State Sen. Glenn H. Gruenhagen is a newly elected state senator, but he previously served in the State House from 2010 until 2022. He’s a climate denier and Christian Nationalist who falsely “believes that our rights come from God and not from man or government.” There’s been no mention of the bill on Gruenhagen’s own social media pages. In the past, however, he has promoted the group run by Christian pseudo-historian David Barton.

Gruenhagen first appeared on JMG in March 2013 when he introduced a friend on the Minnesota House floor, claiming that the man is now ex-gay and married with three children. Gruenhagen then called homosexuality an “an unhealthy, sexual addiction,” with his friend going on to claim that gay activists “recruit sexually confused people.” The pair worked together on a failed attempt to ban same-sex marriage.

A Minnesota lawmaker, State Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen, has filed a bill to force public schools to teach students that “sickness, disease, pain, suffering, and death are a consequence imposed by the Creator.” https://t.co/xEh76xjl7M

— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) February 15, 2023