It’s no secret the Wyoming Freedom Caucus wants to slash the state Department of Health’s budget. Now, thanks to a Wyoming Public Radio interview with Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, we know precisely why. Opinion As “chairman emeritus” of the far-right Freedom Caucus that controls the House, Bear’s religious roadmap to change some of the Department of Health’s core missions is frightening. Bear is also co-chairman of the Joint Appropriations Committee, the powerful panel that oversees the state budget. He apparently thinks there’s no wall of separation between the church and state that’s guaranteed in the First Amendment, at least not in Wyoming. Bear believes the Legislature would benefit from more Christian lawmakers who think alike and share his moral values. Bear wants churches to lead some aspects of state government, like mental health and welfare programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. He also thinks churches would do a bang-up job on other government responsibilities such as unemployment benefits. “When I look at the secular effort for suicide prevention today, it is woefully inadequate,” Bear said. “Woefully inadequate. The reason is because it’s never bringing in that truth that creates hope. Suicide comes from hopelessness.” Bear voted against a 2021 bill that would have required schools to adopt suicide prevention training. He also opposed a 2023 bill that established a trust fund for the new “988” suicide lifeline. I’m not suggesting that churches don’t have an important role in helping people who are considering taking their own lives. Churches also distribute food to those who need it, and that’s a great use of their resources. But the religious community shouldn’t have control over SNAP, unemployment benefits or mental health programs. The fact that Bear and so many members of the Freedom Caucus voted against putting more mental health counselors in schools  is outrageous, especially in light of his comments to WPR. The exterior of the Wyoming State Capitol is pictured during the 2024 legislative session. (Ashton J. Hacke/WyoFile) Bear said in an ideal world, he’d like Wyoming to focus less on mental health programs and psychiatry. He claimed the latter takes “a Marxist view of humanity.” I don’t know why Bear has it in for the Department of Health. He appointed a three-person JAC subcommittee to examine the department’s budget at a series of public meetings and report back to the full panel. The subcommittee was chaired by a Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, and had a Senate ally of the caucus, Sen. Dan Laursen, R-Powell. With the department’s $2.2 billion biennial budget targeted by Bear, I shudder to think about potentially devastating cuts to health services. There will be time to focus on the Appropriation Committee’s version of the budget from now through the next session, which convenes Feb. 9. Wyomingites should share any concerns to the committee and their legislators. But voters should pay attention to how Bear views Wyoming’s government and how it could be improved if only more people would go to church (as long as it’s a Christian church with God-fearing people) to keep the devil at bay. “Number one, we need to draw a line in the sand,” Bear said. “We’re not going to go down this path any further.” What guides his decision-making? “Number one is morality,” Bear explained. “And then if it’s not a moral issue, then I go with the constitution. Is it constitutional or not?” If there’s no issue with those two, he said he goes “with the preponderance of my constituency.” Does Bear give any weight to the concerns of anyone but Christians who share his views? According to him, it’s the Freedom Caucus members’ alignment on moral values that gives the group its power. “You need to have good Christians in office,” Bear said. “Not that to be in office, you have to be a Christian, but as Christians, we should try to get as many Christians in office as possible.” Rep. John Bear, the then-chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, listens as Gov. Mark Gordon delivers his State of the State address to the Wyoming Legislature on Feb. 12, 2024 in Cheyenne. (WyoFile/Ashton J. Hacke) When Bear describes state government, he sees a straight path to the Freedom Caucus obtaining the ability to pass its conservative agenda, and it begins with more people attending church. “From my point of view, we’ve taken 100 years to get to this point,” Bear said. “That’s not going to be an easy, quick solution, because basically you’ve got to cut taxes and put the money back in people’s pockets, right? Those people have to actually start going to church. So there needs to be revival.” How about a revival of the separation of church and state? The United States was not, as Bear and many others believe, founded as a Christian nation. Freedom of religion guarantees the right to freely exercise one’s faith and to be free from government imposition of religion. What former President Jimmy Carter said gets to the heart of the influence of the Freedom Caucus: “There’s no doubt that the Christian right has gone to bed with the more conservative elements of the Republican Party. And there’s been a melding in their goals when it comes to the separation of church and state.” And from constitutional scholar and comedian George Carlin: “I’m completely in favor of the separation of church and state. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up on their own, so both of them together is certain death.”  The post Beware of budget cuts that envision churches in charge of social safety net appeared first on WyoFile . ...read more read less