https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-lawmakers-religion-ten-commandments-classroom_n_644999e3e4b04997b57599c4
Texas Lawmakers Want Religious Indoctrination In Schools — May God Help Us All
In a disturbing yet not exactly surprising move, Republicans in the Texas statehouse have taken the first steps toward passing three bills that inject religion into public schools. One requires public schools to display “in a conspicuous place” the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Another measure will allow schools to require prayer and Bible reading time each school day for students and employees who give their consent to participate.
A third bill would ensure school employees the right to “engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty.”
It’s not the first effort by Texas Republicans to inject religion into public schools. In 2021, the state passed a law requiring schools to display donated “In God we trust” signs.
And if you think these bills don’t have a shot at passing muster in the U. S. Supreme Court (should they be appealed on constitutional grounds), guess again.
Texas lawmakers noted that the Supreme Court paved the way for these bills after it sided with Joe Kennedy, the high school football coach in Washington state who was fired for praying at football games. The court ruled that Kennedy was praying as a private citizen, not as an employee of the district.
Know who represented that coach? The First Liberty Institute, the organization that brought us Matthew Kacsmaryk, the federal judge in Texas who lit the legal fuse to ban the abortion medication mifepristone from the marketplace.
How delightfully incestuous.
Texas state Sen. Phil King, author of Senate Bill 1515, said the Ten Commandments are part of American heritage and it’s time to bring them back into the classroom.
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