Convicted felon Donald Trump and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for more states to force Christianity in public schools

Jun 24, 2024

Now that Louisiana has passed a law requiring public school classrooms to display the KJV Ten Commandments, Republicans are eager to replicate that success everywhere else they can get away with it.

As soon as Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill, a coalition of church/state separation defenders announced that they would sue over the blatantly unconstitutional law. But Republicans don’t seem worried about the legal battle right now. Why would they? They know they have the Supreme Court in the bag—for good reason—but it’ll take a while before the case gets that far.

In the meantime, however, they’re trying to pass similar bills everywhere they can. The goal? Get everyone used to seeing the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Hammer home the (false) notion that this is part of American history. And do it quickly enough that the opposition can’t fight back everywhere—or force them to expend a hell of a lot of resources, like staff time and money, to even try. If they throw enough shit at the wall, some of it is bound to stick.

Consider what’s happening in Texas in the wake of Louisiana’s new law.

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Last year, the state considered a virtually identical bill to Louisiana’s. SB 1515 got all the votes it needed in the Republican-dominated Texas State Senate, but it never came up for a vote in the State House. It wasn’t for lack of support; GOP lawmakers in Texas have no problem voting for bad bills that promote Christianity, including one in the same legislative session that allows public schools to replace trained social workers with untrained Christian chaplains. But for whatever reason, the Ten Commandments one just wasn’t deemed a priority.

You may recall that State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, memorably dismantled many of the Republicans’ talking points in support of the bill during a subcommittee hearing. That’s not why the bill failed, but he certainly gave the GOP a glimpse of what reporters and voters would be asking if they passed this legislation.

None of those concerns matter to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The Christian Nationalist seemed downright jealous that another state passed the Ten Commandments law first, but Patrick vowed his state would follow suit the next time around.

He blamed his state’s failure to pass the bill on House Speaker Dade Phelan, a right-wing extremist who made the mistake of voting to impeach fellow right-wing extremist Attorney General Ken Paxton, one of the most corrupt politicians in a party full of them. (Phelan barely survived his primary in May after a MAGA cultist challenged him.)

… Every Texas Republican House member would have voted for it. But, SPEAKER Dade Phelan killed the bill by letting it languish in committee for a month assuring it would never have time for a vote on the floor. This was inexcusable and unacceptable. Putting the Ten Commandments back into our schools was obviously not a priority for Dade Phelan.

…

I will pass the 10 Commandments Bill again out of the Senate next session.

In a separate post, Patrick wrote, “Conservative faith-based bills DON’T HAVE A PRAYER UNDER SPEAKER DADE PHELAN.” He went on to blame Phelan for killing off a(nother illegal) bill that would have “allowed school districts to require a designated religious time in public schools for prayer and reading Scripture”

The same state that gave rise to Juneteenth wants to honor a supposed moral code that doesn’t even say “Thou shalt not permit slavery.”

It’s telling Republicans aren’t fighting to put up the Constitution or Bill of Rights in classrooms. They don’t think those are nearly as important.

Convicted felon and Republican leader Donald Trump also pushed the same arguments during a speech at an event for the Faith & Freedom Coalition.

“Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal’? I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible,” Trump said at the gathering of the Faith & Freedom Coalition. “They don’t want it to go up. It’s a crazy world.’’

He echoed the same (let’s call them) thoughts on his social media network in typically unhinged, ALL CAPS fashion:

The man who has broken more than half the commandments and seems to treat the rest as a To Do list wants other states to push similar legislation. Not because he gives a damn about the Commandments—he can’t name them and he never bothered putting them up in the White House or his properties—but because he knows they’re a calling card for white evangelical voters who don’t really give a damn about hypocrisy or morals.

They don’t care about Christian principles; they care about Christian Nationalism. They promote Christianity because it gives them power, not because it gives them a guidebook for life.

It would be a delight if, at the first presidential debate this week, Trump was asked to name the Commandments. He would flail around while desperately trying to change the subject. Not that Republican voters, who also can’t name the Commandments, would mind one bit. (Recall that Trump also couldn’t name his favorite Bible verse either.)

But this is the playbook. The same people who never live by the Ten Commandments want them in public schools because they know performative Christianity matters a lot more than living out the faith in practice. (Just ask Joe Kennedy, the cocky praying football coach.) Oklahoma and Utah have considered their own bills putting the Ten Commandments in schools and others are sure to follow in the year ahead, especially if Trump wins the election and has the power to nominate hundreds of additional right-wing extremist judges.