This week we had the opportunity to go to the Oklahoma Counsel on Public Affairs to talk about some of the policy work they’re doing on education. The OCPA is an Oklahoma think tank committed to advancing principles and policies that support free enterprise, limited government, and individual initiative. Some of their work pertains to Oklahoma but most of our discussion has to do with the tensions over religion and education seen in things like the gender and bathroom disputes, whether or not Christian curriculum should be used in public schools, and the importance of school choice.

In the beginning of our conversation, we talk about the difference between politics and policy, and I think you’ll start to hear why they have an interesting perspective on things like education, freedom, and being a Christian in America today. Their principles are not overtly Christian, but they do provide for a lot of Christian ideas and commitments to take root in our culture.

You’ll hear a bunch of voices on this episode – and because of that there are some places where the quality is not quite as good as usual.

Jonathan Small is the president of the OCPA.

Dave Bond is the VP for Advocacy, the lobbying side of the organization

Brandon Dutcher is a Senior VP and oversees a lot of their policy research.

I learned a lot in this conversation, and I hope you all enjoy it.