Should teachers in Texas be allowed to display the Ten Commandments if they want to?
One Texas state leader says “yes.”
Rep. Dan Flynn of Van has filed House Bill 307 that says school officials cannot prohibit displays of the Ten Commandments “in a prominent location” in classrooms, should teachers make the decision to place them.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Flynn. “If a teacher wants to put it in her classroom, she should be able to do it just as if she wanted to put up Halloween, Thanksgiving or any other decorations.
“I think it’s a good list of disciplines that young people would find very meaningful to them.”
Would the Ten Commandments violate separation of church and state?
Texas Bill Would Prevent Prohibition of Ten Commandments Displays in Classrooms https://t.co/SVPTbjJ2Lm pic.twitter.com/s5aMSCqSuD
— fneudecker (@fneudecker) December 13, 2018
Needless to say, this has been controversial in the past.
“It’s unconstitutional,” said George Washington University Law School’s Bob Tuttle, who teaches law and religion at the “The government is limited in its ability to display religious messages.”
“You couldn’t have a banner hanging across the entrance to City Hall that says ‘Jesus saves.’ That would be the government invoking religion,” Tuttle said.
“That’s what really is going on here with the Ten Commandments,” he added. “Schoolchildren are subject to being a captive audience for particular government messages.”
“It’s a statement of what it’s like to live your life in the company of God,” Tuttle continued. “It’s appropriate for congregations. … But I do not believe that it’s something I want the state trying to explain.”
Is it appropriate for teachers to do this, should they decide to? Or does it fly in the face of the Constitution and longstanding court precedent concerning the separation of church and state?
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Regardless, this is a decision Texas lawmakers will have to make during their next legislative session that begins January 8.