"Freedom" of Religion: America's hypocrisy

S.B 1515

As I packed my bag at the end of class on Monday, April 24th, I took my phone out, and was greeted by a text message that read “did you hear about the new bill texas senate passed?”. I immediately took to the internet and came across the following CNN headline: Texas Senate passes bill requiring public school classrooms to display Ten Commandments.

Well, that simply couldn’t be true. It can’t be set in stone yet, right? But the school bell rang, and I slipped my phone back into my bag, putting aside the questions until later. As soon as we were excused for lunch, I hit the internet again. According to this article, Bill 1515 passed the state Senate with a 17-12 vote and is on its way to the state’s House of Representatives.

In Section 1.0041, the bill reads, “A public elementary or secondary school shall display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments”. Under part B1, it continues that this poster must, “include the text of the Ten Commandments…in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom”. The bill also says that the display must be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall.

I would highly recommend finding a tape measure and seeing what 16 inches by 20 inches looks like. It’s quite large.

Can you imagine that? You’re a fourth grader trying to learn about verbs, and you look up at the posters around you: “Dream big!” “Be the reason someone smiles today!” “Always believe in yourself!” “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

What reason could state officials possibly have to agree to this bill? Texas Lieutenant Governor Patrick said in an official statement on his website, “I will never stop fighting for religious liberty in Texas. Allowing the Ten Commandments and prayer back into our public schools is one step we can take to make sure that all Texans have the right to freely express their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

I can understand that legislators, like the ones who pushed for S.B 1515, believe they are bringing freedom and liberty to these children. But what about people who don’t align themselves with Christian values? What about people who don’t believe in one God, or observe Sabbath?

Bills like these that fly under the radar simply push forward certain agendas that follow Christian ideas. The same goes for restrictions on abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, contraception, and all the other major discussion points we as a country face.

In trying to bring “religious liberty” to Texas, this bill is a step towards forcing religious beliefs on children, and it is doing so in classrooms- environments that should be safe and free from political infiltration.

Sources:

https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/SB01515I.pdf

https://www.ltgov.texas.gov/2023/04/20/lt-gov-dan-patrick-statement-on-the-passage-of-senate-bills-1396-and-1515-bringing-the-ten-commandments-and-prayer-back-to-our-schools/

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/20/texas-senate-passes-ten-commandments-bill/

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/22/us/texas-senate-passes-bill-ten-commandments/index.html