Texas Senate Bill 10 is a revival of an overturned 1980 decision that blocked Kentucky from mandating the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms and had attracted the attention of Texas Senators.
The Christian Republicans in support of this bill stay strong in their belief that Christianity and America are inseparably intertwined, as Christianity is the basis of American law and morality.
The Ten Commandments hold a “historical tradition of recognizing America’s heritage, and remind students all across Texas of the importance of a fundamental foundation of American and Texas law,” defends Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
However, they choose to disregard parts in the Constitution that say to keep religion out of government happenings and legislation to push this bill further into reality.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” the Constitution states.
In 2024, Senate Bill 1515 passed Senate, which narrowly missed passage in the House that would have mandated to “display copies of the Ten Commandments that are at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, and “in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom.”
The Texas Senate panel also advanced SB 11, which would allow school districts to provide a dedicated prayer time for students and teachers. Parents can choose to opt their children out of participation in prayer and school boards can vote to not aside the prayer time.
SB 13 would give the power of regulating and inspecting the books that enter public libraries, rather than the librarians. The supporters of this bill claim that they could put a stop to inappropriate material like “vulgar language or indecent content” that could slip into the children’s section.
However, Democrats point out that this would likely result in a purge of books about people of color, the disabled, the queer, and many stories centered around women.
SB 763 is another of the many Christian-forward bills that are gaining momentum in Texas in the past year and would allow unlicensed religious chaplains to counsel Texan public school students, though this was quickly shot down by countless school districts.
Despite the massive support from Texas Senators, Louisiana has already beat Texas to the punch, as this suggestion was made law in November of 2024 and has been put into action as of the beginning of 2025.
Other states such as Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma have also had similar bills proposed to them, though none of them have made it into law.
Texas SB 10 is extremely topical and more news is coming out every day as Texas and other states are considering such mandates. So, the Pantherette has two editorials: one for, and the other against this bill. Be sure to check them out!
Ten Commandments:
- “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” …
- “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” …
- “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” …
- “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” …
- “Honour thy father and thy mother.” …
- “Thou shalt not kill.” …
- “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” …
- “Thou shalt not steal.”
- “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
- “Thou shalt not covet.”
