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Texas faith leaders oppose Ten Commandments display mandate in public schools
The controversy centers on a series of bills that, if enacted, would require displaying of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms and establish designated time for students to read religious texts.
Stock image. / Shutterstock
A coalition of 166 Texas faith leaders is urging state legislators to reject bills that would require displaying of the Ten Commandments in every K-12 public school classroom. In an open letter dated Mar.18, the leaders argue that religious education should be left to families and religious institutions, not the government.
“The responsibility for religious education belongs to families, houses of worship, and other religious institutions, not the government,” the letter states. “The government oversteps its authority when it dictates an official state-approved version of any religious text.”
The letter, organized by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), Interfaith Alliance, and Texas Impact, raises concerns that the bills—SB 10 and HB 1009—would undermine religious freedom by imposing a state-sanctioned version of religious doctrine on students of diverse faiths.
Concerns over religious freedom
Faith leaders argue that the proposed legislation disregards the religious diversity of Texas classrooms. The letter notes that the government-mandated text is an inconsistent version of the Ten Commandments that “manages to produce a hodgepodge of scripture that includes twelve, not ten, commandments and fails to reflect the beliefs of many Christian and Jewish communities.”
Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Impact, emphasized the inappropriate use of scripture for political purposes. “As people of faith, we take our scriptural traditions seriously—we train and ordain leaders to impart those distinctive teachings to our children,” she said. “It is highly inappropriate for elected officials to appropriate the scripture of any faith tradition and use it for a secular purpose.”
Amanda Tyler, Executive Director of BJC, echoed this sentiment, stating, “Faith isn’t something the government can force on kids in a classroom. And in America, we don’t need the government playing preacher. Texas lawmakers need to do the right thing and leave faith where it belongs: with the people.”
Upneet Kaur, Sikh Coalition senior education manager and a former Texas public school student, highlighted the risks of religious favoritism in education. “As a member of a religious minority, I know the value of teaching about religion; schools that are less inclusive of all faiths in curricula and policies see more bias-based bullying,” she said. “But one faith should never be elevated or preferenced over all others in an educational setting.”
Reposted from @intrfthalliance:
— Sikh Coalition (@sikh_coalition) March 18, 2025
"Join these faith leaders in advocating against SB 10, HB 1009, and any other bill that would require every K-12 public school to display a government-selected version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom."
Read: https://t.co/4GMFtdgIha pic.twitter.com/ag56AbWL4n
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons, vice president of Programs and Strategy at Interfaith Alliance, warned that the legislation could alienate students from non-Christian backgrounds. “Public schools should be inclusive spaces where all students feel respected, not places where one narrow and stilted interpretation of faith is imposed on everyone,” he said. “Texas lawmakers should listen to these respected faith leaders and reject these bills.”
A national debate
The push for Ten Commandments displays in public schools has gained traction in conservative states. Last year, Louisiana became the first state to mandate such displays in all public school classrooms, reigniting legal debates over the separation of church and state.
The current debate in Texas mirrors past legal battles. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar Kentucky law, ruling that government-mandated religious displays in classrooms violated the First Amendment.
Despite the legal precedent, proponents of the Texas legislation argue that the Ten Commandments are a historical foundation of American law. State Senator Phil King, one of the bill’s authors, told NBC News, “If our students don’t know the Ten Commandments, they will never understand the foundation for much of American history and law.”
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