Texas advances bill requiring Ten Commandments to be on display in public classrooms

The Texas House of Representatives has given preliminary approval to a bill that would mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom across the state.

Lawmakers voted 88-49 in favor of the measure, with a final vote expected in the coming days, per Newsweek. If passed, the bill will head to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk, where he is expected to sign it. Abbott, while serving as the Texas Attorney General in 2005, successfully defended the placement of a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the state Capitol. 

The legislation requires a 16-by-20-inch poster or framed copy of a specific version of the Ten Commandments to be prominently displayed in each classroom, according to the Associated Press. State Representative Candy Noble, who co-sponsored the bill, said the intention is to “look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially.” 

Democratic lawmakers attempted to amend the bill to require the inclusion of other religious texts or to allow for multiple translations of the Ten Commandments, but those proposals ultimately failed.

If enacted, the law is likely to draw legal challenges. Only two other states, Louisiana and Arkansas, have similar legislation. Louisiana's law has already been blocked by a federal judge, who ruled it “unconstitutional on its face.” 

In addition to the Ten Commandments bill, Abbott has received another measure from Texas lawmakers that allows school districts to designate voluntary periods for students and staff to pray or read religious texts during the school day. He is also expected to sign that bill. 

“We should be encouraging our students to read and study their Bible every day,” argued State Representative Brent Money. “Our kids in our public schools need prayer, need Bible reading, more now than they ever have.”