A new Texas law passed by the state senate will require that public schools display the Ten Commandments, include a daily prayer period for students and faculty, and permit teachers to read the Bible during class, according to a report from Breitbart News. The pro-Christian law was passed with two bills, each receiving a 17-12 vote.
The bills now head to the state’s House of Representatives. The first bill, which involves the Ten Commandments, was sponsored by Republican State Sen. Phil King, who has called it “American tradition.” The commandments are to be placed in a “conspicuous place” in a “size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom.”
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Republican State Sen. Mayes Middleton sponsored the second bill which will put time aside each day for prayer and Bible verses. The bills have achieved the support of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. He said that bringing religion into the classroom will allow people to express their religious beliefs freely. He added that bringing religion into the classroom with produce better Texans.
Matt Krause, a former Texas state representative and attorney with the First Liberty Institute, reportedly called this a win and compared it to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“It was a fundamental shift,” he said.
But the bills are also receiving pushback. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas released a statement in response saying that parents should be the arbiters of what religion they want their children to practice.
A director at the Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission, John Litzler, said that he was worried about taxpayer money being used to fund religious materials with children. He asserted that that should be the parents’ job, not the school.
