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Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Ten Commandments Bill Is the Latest Example of Forcing Religious Texts in Public Schools
Texas has become the latest state to pass a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. The bill, which is already being legally challenged and is unlikely to pass constitutional muster, is part of a recent trend of red states attempting to inject religious texts into the classroom. Senate Bill 10 requires public schools to "display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments." The poster is required to only contain the text of the Ten Commandments and must be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall. Further, if a school doesn't have an acceptable poster in each classroom, the bill requires them to accept any privately donated poster. The bill was passed by the Texas state House on Saturday and overwhelmingly approved in the state Senate with a 28–3 vote on Wednesday. While S.B. 10 has not yet been enacted, Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbot said in a social media post earlier this month that he would sign the bill if it passed the Legislature. Similar bills have been recently signed into law in Louisiana and Arkansas. While Louisiana's Ten Commandments bill tried to avoid legal scrutiny by directing schools to only use private donations, not public funds, Texas' bill makes no such distinctions. The bill states that a school "may, but is not required to, purchase posters . . . using district funds." Louisiana's bill was halted in federal court last November, shedding doubt on the Texas bill's ability to survive a First Amendment challenge. The day after the bill was passed, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and several other groups announced that they were suing to stop the bill from becoming law. "We all have the right to decide what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice. Government officials have no business intruding on these deeply personal religious matters," reads a Thursday statement from the ACLU. "S.B. 10 will subject students to state-sponsored displays of the Ten Commandments for nearly every hour of their public education. It is religiously coercive and interferes with families' right to direct children's religious education." The post Texas Ten Commandments Bill Is the Latest Example of Forcing Religious Texts in Public Schools appeared first on
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ten Commandments in Every Classroom: Texas Bill Nearing Law
This article was originally published in The Texas Tribune. Come September, every public school classroom in Texas could be required to display the Ten Commandments under a requirement that passed the Texas legislature Wednesday — part of a larger push in Texas and beyond to increase the role of religion in schools. Senate Bill 10 passed the Senate 28-3, despite a federal court ruling that a similar Louisiana law violated a constitutionally required separation of church and state. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The bill preliminarily passed the House 88-49 on Saturday — the Jewish Sabbath day. The Ten Commandments forbids work on that day, Rep. James Talarico noted in an effort to highlight legislative hypocrisy. The lower chamber's initial approval came after more than two hours of debate and despite last-ditch Democratic efforts to water down the law, including giving school districts the opportunity to vote on the policy, and adding codes of ethics from different faiths into the bill. On Sunday, the House passed the bill 82-46, but clarified in it that the state would be responsible for any legal fees if a school district were to be sued over the policy. The bill now goes to Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it. Sponsored by Sen. Phil King, a Republican from Weatherford, the bill requires every classroom to visibly display a poster sized at least 16 by 20 inches. The poster can't include any text other than the language laid out in the bill, and no other similar posters may be displayed. 'It is incumbent on all of us to follow God's law and I think we would all be better off if we did,' Rep. Candy Noble, a Republican from Lucas who is carrying the bill in the House, said during the floor debate Saturday. Supporters argue that the Ten Commandments and teachings of Christianity more generally are core to U.S. history, a message that has resurged in recent years as part of a broader national movement that considers the idea of church-state separation a myth. That movement fueled Texas' push to require schools display 'In God We Trust' signs if they were donated by a private foundation — signed into law in 2021. In 2024, the State Board of Education approved Bible-infused teaching materials. This session, lawmakers have advanced bills that allow a prayer or religious study period in school, and one that would require teachers to use the terms 'Anno Domini' (AD) — Latin for 'in the year of the Lord,' and 'Before Christ' (BC) when expressing dates. Proponents of King's bill also say making the Ten Commandments more prominent in schools will combat what movement leaders see as a generations-long moral decline. Texas is one of 16 states where lawmakers have pursued the Ten Commandments bills. Although the Supreme Court ruled against a similar Kentucky law in 1980, supporters in Texas and beyond find support in the current makeup of the court's justices and in the 2019 Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which found a football coach could lead prayers on the field after games. But Robert Tuttle, a professor of religion and law at George Washington University, said allowing a private individual to pray — as in the Kennedy case — is different from displaying the Ten Commandments in the classroom. Last June, a federal court struck down a Louisiana law requiring all public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments — the first state this decade to pass such a law. The state is appealing the decision. 'The constant presence of a sacred text in the room with them is effectively telling them, 'Hey, these are things you should read and obey,'' Tuttle said. 'That's not the state's job — to do religious instruction.' He also said that despite the Supreme Court trending in a more conservative direction, its decision Thursday that leaves in place a prohibition on the establishment of a religious charter school in Oklahoma could mean that the Court, for now, is not throwing out that principle. During Texas legislative committee hearings, opponents from free speech and civil rights groups — some of whom waited till 4 a.m. to testify — said the policy could send a message of exclusion to students of other faiths or those who don't practice a religion. They also said the commandments were irrelevant to classes like math, and could prompt questions that were not age-appropriate, such as what adultery means. The teachers union said it opposes the bill because members believe it violates the principle of separation of church and state. 'Public schools are not supposed to be Sunday school,' said spokesperson Clay Robison. Talarico — who is studying to become a minister — raised concerns in House floor discussions Wednesday that the First Amendment forbids imposing a state-sponsored religion. 'My faith means more to me than anything, but I don't believe the government should be forcing religion onto any American citizen, especially our children,' the Austin lawmaker told the Tribune. 'I'm a Christian who firmly believes in the separation of church and state.' This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Civil rights groups to sue Texas over Ten Commandments bill
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The ACLU and other civil rights groups announced plans Thursday to challenge a newly passed Texas bill requiring public schools display a copy of the Ten Commandments in each classroom, according to press releases. That bill, Senate Bill 10, passed in the Texas House of Representatives on May 25 with an amendment, as KXAN previously reported. The Senate concurred with the House's changes on May 28. The final bill sent to Governor Greg Abbott clarified that Texas, not its school boards, will be responsible for any legal challenges. Abbott has yet to sign the bill into law, but he said that he would sign it in a May 1 social media post. The ACLU will be joined in its challenge by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. SB 10 author Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, argued in his statement of intent that the law could survive a legal challenge under the US Supreme Court's (SCOTUS) 2022 ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. Read more: What the Supreme Court's football coach ruling means for schools and prayer 'For 200 years, the Ten Commandments were displayed in public buildings and classrooms across America,' wrote King in his bill analysis. 'The Court has … provided a test that considers whether a governmental display of religious content comports with America's history and tradition. Now that the legal landscape has changed, it is time for Texas to pass SB 10 and restore the history and tradition of the Ten Commandments in our state and our nation.' ACLU Staff Attorney Chloe Kempf said that SCOTUS's ruling in Stone v. Graham, which struck down a similar Kentucky law, still applies. 'The Supreme Court has never overruled it. And in fact, in more recent years, including in the Kennedy case, the Supreme Court has affirmed that there is a special constitutional concern when we are indoctrinating students in school with religious messages,' she said. 'The Kennedy case … really has no relationship to a bill that requires a religious text to be posted in schools.' A similar law in Louisiana was to take effect in 2025, but was blocked by a US District Court ruling. It is currently before a US Fifth Circuit Appeals Court. That law did not require school districts to fund the posters with taxpayer money. SB 10 allows such an expense but doesn't require it. 'The result in either case is the same — you have children being religiously coerced in schools, and you have the government favoring a very specific religious translation above all others. So I would say the outcome is unconstitutional in either way,' Kempf said. SB 10 requires schools use specific text for their Ten Commandments posters, which Kempf identified as an additional problem with it. 'It's a Protestant translation … we heard from a lot of concerned Texas families that even in their religious traditions … that do recognize the 10 Commandments, their versions are meaningfully different than the version that the Texas Legislature chose here,' she said. Earlier in the legislative session, 166 faith leaders in Texas signed a letter of opposition against SB 10. 'The responsibility for religious education belongs to families, houses of worship, and other religious institutions — not the government,' the letter reads. 'The government oversteps its authority when it dictates an official state-approved version of any religious text.' In fact, the biblical books of Exodus and Deuteronomy contain a total of three different versions of the Ten Commandments. These passages also vary by religion and translation: The King James Version (KJV) of Exodus 20:13 reads, 'thou shall not kill,' while the New International Version of the same verse reads 'you shall not murder.' SB 10's version is also found on a monument outside the Texas State Capitol. A legal challenge over that monument went before the US Supreme Court in 2005, with SCOTUS ruling in Texas' favor, allowing the monument to remain as it constituted a passive display. 'The placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds is a far more passive use of those texts than was the case in Stone, where the text confronted elementary school students every day,' wrote former Justice William Rehnquist in the court's opinion. The monument's and SB 10's take on the Ten Commandments appear to be cut-down from the King James Version of the Christian Bible, removing some text and changing 'thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife … nor his ox, nor his ass,…' to 'thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife … nor his cattle, … .' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to sign Ten Commandments bill after Senate approval
A Texas bill that would order the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms was advanced by the state Senate on Wednesday, sending the legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk after the House of Representatives passed an amended version Sunday. The Senate passed the GOP-drafted Senate Bill 10 in March along party lines. Despite debate and attempts to delay the bill's progress in the House in recent days, a Democratic lawmaker's amendment that requires the state, rather than school districts, to defend any legal challenges to the law was approved on Sunday. Such a change forced the bill back to the Senate for approval with only days left in the current legislative session. With that approval in place, Abbott, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill. His spokesman referred a request for comment to what Abbott posted on X earlier this month: "Let's get this bill to my desk. I'll make it law." Texas, the second-largest state with more than 5 million students enrolled in public schools, would follow Louisiana and most recently Arkansas in passing legislation requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms. But like Louisiana, Texas could face a barrage of legal challenges over the law's constitutionality. Louisiana has not fully implemented its legislation after a coalition of parents of different faiths filed a federal lawsuit just days after the bill was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican. A judge in November sided with those parents when he concluded that the state had not offered "any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments." Louisiana officials appealed, but a ruling has not been issued. Now, with other states passing their own laws, the arguments could eventually wind up again before the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1980 ruled that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional. But a wave of new laws and mandates in states, particularly in the South, having begun to test the bounds of what may be legally permissible when it comes to religion in public schools. Under Texas' bill, all public elementary or secondary schools would have to "display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments." The displays would have to be at least 16 inches by 20 inches and include the text of the Ten Commandments as written in the bill. Once the bill is signed into law, schools "must accept any offer of privately donated" displays or may use district funds, starting in the 2025-26 school year. The legislation does not have an enforcement mechanism, and it's unclear what might happen to schools or individual teachers who refuse to comply. State Sen. Phil King, the lead author of the bill, has said he believes the legislation stands up to scrutiny following a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that found a former Washington state high school football coach had a right to pray on the field immediately after games. The ruling by the conservative-majority court took a different approach by examining "historical practices and understandings" to interpret whether the First Amendment was being violated. "Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a previous erroneous decision, what was taken from our students can now be rightfully restored," King said in a statement Wednesday. "I look forward to having the Ten Commandments, a historical document foundational to our nation's history and character, back in schools across Texas." In arguments against the bill during debate, state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat and a Christian, said the specific posting of the Ten Commandments would give the appearance that the state is favoring one religion over others to the detriment of non-Christian students. He also questioned if state lawmakers had ever broken any of the commandments themselves. Other Democrats and critics asked why parents and school districts could not have a choice in whether to allow the Ten Commandments in classrooms, when some Republicans have been vocal about wanting parents to decide what books and topics are permissible in schools. "Families across Texas believe deeply in faith, but they also believe in freedom," Rocío Fierro-Pérez, the political director of the Texas Freedom Network, which has opposed the Ten Commandments legislation, said in a statement. "Freedom to raise their kids according to their own values. Freedom from government interference in personal beliefs. That's what's really under attack here." But the bill isn't the only religious-based one to win approval this legislative session, after Texas lawmakers passed a bill that would permit school districts to adopt policies allowing for a period of prayer in schools and the reading of the Bible or "other religious text" with parental consent. Abbott is also expected to sign it into law. This article was originally published on
NBC News
28-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to sign Ten Commandments bill after Senate approval
A Texas bill that would order the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms was advanced by the state Senate on Wednesday, sending the legislation to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk after the House of Representatives passed an amended version Sunday. The Senate previously passed the GOP-drafted Senate Bill 10 in March along party lines. Despite debate and attempts to delay the bill's progress in the House in recent days, a Democratic lawmaker's amendment that requires the state, rather than school districts, to defend any legal challenges to the law was approved on Sunday. Such a change forced the bill back to the Senate for approval with only days left in the current legislative session. With that approval in place, Abbott, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill. His spokesman referred a request for comment to what Abbott posted on X earlier this month: "Let's get this bill to my desk. I'll make it law." Texas, the second-largest state in the country with more than 5 million students enrolled in public schools, would follow Louisiana and most recently, Arkansas, which have their own requirements for the Ten Commandments in classrooms. But like Louisiana, Texas could face a barrage of legal challenges over the law's constitutionality. Louisiana has not fully implemented its legislation after a coalition of parents of different faiths filed a federal lawsuit just days after the bill was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican. A judge in November sided with those parents when he concluded the state had not offered "any constitutional way to display the Ten Commandments." Louisiana officials appealed, but a ruling has not been issued. Now, with other states passing their own laws, the arguments could eventually wind up again before the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1980 ruled that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments were unconstitutional. But a wave of new laws and mandates in states, particularly in the South, having begun to test the bounds of what may be legally permissible when it comes to religion in public schools. Under Texas' bill, all public elementary or secondary schools would have to "display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments." The displays would have to be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall and include the text of the Ten Commandments as written in the bill. Once the bill is signed into law, schools "must accept any offer of privately donated" displays or may use district funds, starting in the 2025-26 school year. The legislation does not have an enforcement mechanism, and it's unclear what might happen to schools or individual teachers who refuse to comply. State Sen. Phil King, the lead author of the bill, has said he believes the legislation stands up to scrutiny following a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that found a former Washington state high school football coach had a right to pray on the field immediately after games. The ruling by the conservative-majority court took a different approach by examining "historical practices and understandings" to interpret whether the First Amendment was being violated. "The legislation is in accord with the history and traditions of our state and nation," King previously said, adding that students will "appreciate the role of the Ten Commandments in our heritage." In arguments against the bill during debate, state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat who is Christian, said the specific posting of the Ten Commandments would give the appearance that the state is favoring one religion over others to the detriment of non-Christian students. He also questioned if state lawmakers had ever broken any of the commandments themselves. Other Democrats asked why parents and school districts could not have a choice in whether to allow the Ten Commandments in classrooms, when some Republicans have been vocal about wanting parents to decide what books and topics are permissible in schools. The bill isn't the only religious-based one to win approval this legislative session, after Texas lawmakers passed legislation that would permit school districts to adopt policies allowing for a period of prayer in schools and reading of the Bible or "other religious text" with parental consent. Abbott is also expected to sign it into law.
