Ten Commandments In The Classroom? How About Two?

By Richard Norman Rickey

September 9, 2025

I don’t believe our Founding Fathers would want their government to legislate the posting of the Judaic and Christian Ten Commandments in any school, private or public. But here in Texas that is exactly what Senate Bill 10 demands when a donated copy of the required poster size 16 X 20-inch display is made available to a Texas public school.  This new law took effect last week.  Some of the rationale for blurring the lines between church and state was that the Ten Commandments constituted a critical document in the development of the United States, and some vague references to “restoring moral values.”  Those in favor seem to believe such a posting will help restore a proper civic understanding of the moral and legal foundations of our country. 

I have three primary objections to this new law. The first is that our Founding Fathers were predominately “theistic rationalists,” rather than orthodox Christians or secularists.  They did everything they could think of to emphasize a form of religious belief that blended elements of Christianity, Deism, and rationalism, but their focus was on a universal morality rather than the specific doctrines of any one faith.   In fact, their approach to religious liberty was intended to avoid the governments endorsement of particular religious’ tenets.   There are numerous written documents by some of the Founders that highlight this view.  For example, Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, wrote that any law privileging a specific religious creed violated natural rights and reasoned self-government. James Madison wrote that no government should aid a particular religion. 

My second objection is based on concern of what can happen when another political party gains power, and then using the same rationale as our current representatives, legislate the posting of a religious creed that is antithetical to the Christian faith.   So in the current environment the Republican party is in the majority here in Texas, and there are using their majority to instill some Christian values into the public schools.  If you are a conservative Christian who votes Republican, you may like this action by your government. How will you like it when you lose an election, and the new party in power legislates the posting of the Muslim Qur’an Surah 17:22-39 that lists a set of moral and ethical injunctions that, similar in some respects to the Ten Commandments, echo the spirit of their faith?  Oh you object.  That is unlikely because we have a mostly Christian citizenry.  But research shows about a 30-point decline in US citizens identifying as Christian in the last half century.  Some districts, in New York and Houston for example, are now made up of a voting block that are majority Muslim.   Maybe we Christians should do a better job of promoting our faith and morality in our homes and communities, and not rely on a fickle government to do our evangelizing.    

My final objection is that I believe the simple posting of the TC without a comprehensive understanding of what it means trivializes this sacred text.  Most people view the TC as simplistic, outdated and irrelevant rules for what you can’t do.  Emblematic of this view, comedian Bill Maher, host of the HBO show Real Time, describes them as “a dumb, ancient Bronze Age list mostly about God’s ego”. He goes on to criticize them because they don’t include commandants against rape, incest or genocide – worse sins in his view than cursing God’s name.  This elementary understanding of the TC is far too common.  Such criticism would be like me make light of the Qur’an, but never having seriously studied its sacred text or commentary by Muslim Imams.  In fact, the Ten Commandments are not simply ten laws you must follow – what you can’t do, but rather they are about a covenant relationship between God and man that demonstrates what love looks like and how it is expressed.  If you really love me you will not take my name in vain, have other gods, etc.  I learned the deeper meaning of this religious text many years ago when I took a University Masters level course on the Old Testament Pentateuch.  In that course I came to appreciate how love and law go must go together to understand the TC.  Without that discussion being allowed to take place in our schools, the law is overemphasized, and the nature of God’s love for man is made void.    

So a better idea, and one in keeping with the spirit of our Founding Fathers, would be for our representatives to set aside time during the school week, to release the students for voluntary religious instruction approved by the parents.  To congregate with other students who share a religious faith, or secular world view.  This could be an elective class occurring in person on campus, on campus via the internet from an approved religious instructor who is remote, or off campus. 

I saw a car bumper sticker the other day that read: “Love your God, Love your Neighbors.  How many other commandments do you need”?  I would add, love your elected representatives even when they pass stupid laws.