#2520: Terry Batton

Terry Batton is the head of something called Christian Renewal and Development Ministries in Alabama, head of the Barbour County Tea Party, and an unhinged fundamentalist. His 2014 rant about Common Core during a state senate education committee hearing gives you a fair summary of his character; Batton complained that Core promotes “acceptance of homosexuality, alternate lifestyles, radical feminism, abortion, illegal immigration and the redistribution of wealth,” pointing out that “we don’t want our children to be taught to be anti-Christian, anti-Catholic and anti-American“ (he was referring in particular to the curricula’s perceived focus on social justice). Indeed, Common Core is a “Trojan horse at the gate of our educational system” – “Common Core, if allowed to go forward, will dilute and erode the power and influence of biblical principles in the hearts and minds of our precious children” (which is ostensibly a bad thing), and voting in favor of the curricula could potentially affect lawmakers’ fate in the Last Days, which are just around the corner: “Do you want this on your record when you come to the End of Days,” asked Batton.  

 

Batton was otherwise an ardent supporter of Roy Moore’s 2017 run for the US Senate.

 

Diagnosis: Overall pretty minor, but we bet there are quite a number of such Taliban-style nutjobs in Alabama, which makes it frightening.