The 89th Texas Legislature passed a law for all public schools to hang up the Ten Commandments in every classroom as of Jun. this year.
“What I think this new law says about our government and the direction America is heading is that they’re starting to want to bring back religious symbols back in our schools and other places to show traditional values,” junior Ishani Patel said. “I think they are enforcing this because some leaders and parents believe they are the foundation of Western law and morality, and this will lead to students developing good morals in general.”
The law was reintroduced for executive decision in 2024 at the start of Trump’s second term for all states, after being denied previously. On Jun. 21, 2025, Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbot signed the bill in agreement.
“I think this really tells that the Texas government doesn’t really care or consider ‘We The People’ even though we’re supposed to be the ones with the power,” senior Savannah Anderson said. “Clearly we don’t.”
Texas particularly faced challenges for the law to be passed, however. Federal judge Fred Biery temporarily stalled the requirement on Aug. 20, but this only ended up pardoning 11 school districts specifically listed in the lawsuit. In view of the fact the school is being donated posters by Christian organizations My Faith Votes and Restore American Schools, Hays CISD did not cut the list.
“Besides students feeling forced to follow Christian teachings as a possible outcome, I don’t believe there will be any innate physical consequences,” Anderson said.
The main supporting claim for the Ten Commandments is that they’re a fundamental aspect of the United States’ judicial and educational history, and therefore deserve their spot in public classrooms as a testament to Christianity’s role in America’s upbringing. Students have also argued they can serve as a righteous moral compass.
“I have mixed feelings about this decision because it has both pros and cons,” Patel said. “Having the Ten Commandments in classrooms could provide moral guidance, reflect community values, and serve as a role model for students. However, it also carries a strong religious bias that doesn’t apply to every student, since people come from diverse backgrounds with different moral beliefs. I think schools could promote similar values in a secular way without using religious framing.”
On the contrary, dissenters have filed complaints claiming this law opposes the American conceptual principle of separating church from state, and feeds into religious indoctrination; students have also argued it’s unconstitutional, notably going against the First Amendment.
“I do not agree with this decision,” sophomore Fynn Castro said. “Not only is the agenda of a single religion being pushed onto a public school with students who vary in faiths, if belonging to any, but the promotion of a single religion in a public school is unconstitutional. It is in the very First Amendment that the Separation of Church and State is covered.”
This is not the first time religion has been incorporated into something originally disconnected from the church. Christianity, no matter personal opinion, has always been a cultural identifier for America. From when “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, to the Ten Commandments law today, theology appears to persevere in America’s assembly.
“Religion has influenced almost every part of our lives,” Castro said. “It is extremely difficult, truly near impossible, to find someone whose parents and/or grandparents do not practice religion. Texas is a very religious state, with most of its population belonging to Christianity or another derivative of it, and I believe a good amount of our representatives, politicians, and their supporters are simply set in their traditional ways and are using this law as a way to sustain Christian power.”
