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Tag: separation of church and state

  • Paxton Says Houston ISD Has to Display Ten Commandments Despite Federal Judge’s Ruling

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    A federal judge ruled last week that 11 Texas school districts, including Cypress-Fairbanks, Fort Bend, and Houston ISDs, don’t have to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom as required by a state law passed earlier this year. On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said only nine districts are covered by the temporary injunction, and those that aren’t, including Houston ISD, must hang the posters when the law takes effect on September 1.

    It’s not clear why the federal judge’s order named 11 districts — which were sued by a group of parents and civil rights advocates in Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District .— and Paxton’s press release mentions nine, exempting Austin ISD and Houston ISD from relief. Paxton’s press office did not respond to calls or emails on Monday.

    Repeated phone calls and emails to Houston ISD went unanswered for most of the day. A spokesman responded in the afternoon, saying by email, “The District will not be discussing matters with pending litigation.”

    In his latest public statement about the case, Paxton said: “From the beginning, the Ten Commandments have been irrevocably intertwined with America’s legal, moral, and historical heritage. Schools not enjoined by ongoing litigation must abide by SB 10 and display the Ten Commandments. The woke radicals seeking to erase our nation’s history will be defeated. I will not back down from defending the virtues and values that built this country.”

    Paxton is currently challenging longtime U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary and will soon be vacating his seat as attorney general. Cornyn seized the opportunity Monday to make a social media dig at Paxton, who has been accused of adultery and whose wife, Texas Sen. Angela Paxton, recently filed for divorce on “biblical grounds.”

    The school districts affected by the injunction according to Paxton are Alamo Heights, North East, Cypress-Fairbanks, Lackland, Lake Travis, Fort Bend, Dripping Springs, Plano, and Northside, Paxton said in his statement. “All other ISDs must abide by the law once it takes effect on September 1, 2025,” he said.

    In a 55-page ruling issued August 20, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery said the Texas law was unconstitutional and crossed the line from exposure to coercion.

    “[Most people] just want to be left alone, neither proselytized nor ostracized, including what occurs to their children in government-run schools,” Judge Biery wrote in his ruling. “Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do.”

    Paxton said he immediately appealed the “flawed ruling.” Biery isn’t the only judge who took issue with the Ten Commandments display. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed it “plainly unconstitutional” just days before Senate Bill 10, authored by Republican Sen. Phil King of Weatherford, was signed into law.

    The Texas law requires that the scripture be displayed on a donated 16-by-20 poster. “While no school is compelled to purchase Ten Commandments displays, schools may choose to do so,” Paxton said in his statement. “However, schools must accept and display any privately donated posters or copies that meet the requirements of SB 10.”

    Kristi Gross, press strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the attorney general’s demand that school districts implement Senate Bill 10 is “unwise and unlawful.”

    “A federal court has ruled that SB 10 is plainly unconstitutional, and school districts have an independent legal obligation to respect the constitutional rights of children and families,” she said. “Districts that flout the First Amendment will be opening themselves up to litigation.”

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    April Towery

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  • Judge Blocks Ruling That Ten Commandments Must Be Displayed in School Classrooms

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    Public school teachers in 11 Texas districts, including three in the Greater Houston area, are blocked from displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom despite a state law passed in June, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

    U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday in the case of Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District. Districts named as defendants in the suit include Houston, Fort Bend, and Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs.

    In the 55-page ruling, Biery said that children can be cruel to their classmates perceived to be “the other” and that Senate Bill 10, approved by the Texas Legislature earlier this year, crosses the line from exposure to coercion.

    “Ultimately, in matters of conscience, faith, beliefs, and the soul, most people are Garbo-esque,” Biery wrote, referring to the 1930s film actress Greta Garbo. “They just want to be left alone, neither proselytized nor ostracized, including what occurs to their children in government-run schools. Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do.”

    “Teenage boys, being the curious hormonally driven creatures they are, might ask: ‘Mrs. Walker, I know about lying and I love my parents, but how do I do adultery?’ Truly an awkward moment for overworked and underpaid educators, who already have to deal with sex education issues,” the judge added in his ruling.

    The controversial Senate Bill 10, introduced by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, was signed into law in late June, after the 5th U.S. The Circuit Court of Appeals deemed it “plainly unconstitutional.” It requires that the scripture be displayed on a donated 16-by-20 poster. It was expected to prompt legal challenges, and plaintiffs in the case say they hope other Texas school districts will be blocked from implementing the law.

    SB 10 is scheduled to go into effect on September 1. Biery said the issue of religious coercion in schools could ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

    “As a rabbi and public school parent, I welcome this ruling,” said plaintiff Rabbi Mara Nathan in a public statement. “Children’s religious beliefs should be instilled by parents and faith communities, not politicians and public schools.”

    The decision affirms that Texas families, not politicians or public school officials, get to decide how and when their children engage with religion, said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

    Supporters of SB 10 have said that the Ten Commandments and Christian teachings are vital to understanding U.S. history.

    The plaintiffs — a group of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious families, including clergy, with children in public schools — were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

    “It violates the Constitution’s promise of religious freedom and church-state separation,” the plaintiffs said of SB 10 in a statement. “Public schools are not Sunday schools.”

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    April Towery

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  • Oklahoma Approves 1st Taxpayer-Funded Religious School In U.S.

    Oklahoma Approves 1st Taxpayer-Funded Religious School In U.S.

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    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state school board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve what would be the first publicly funded religious school in the nation, despite a warning from the state’s attorney general that the decision was unconstitutional.

    The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma to establish the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. The online public charter school would be open to students across the state in kindergarten through grade 12.

    Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond had warned the board that such a decision clearly violated the Oklahoma Constitution.

    “The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers,” Drummond said in a statement shortly after the board’s vote. “It’s extremely disappointing that board members violated their oath in order to fund religious schools with our tax dollars. In doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the state to potential legal action that could be costly.”

    The Archdiocese of Oklahoma said in the “vision and purpose of the organization” section of its application that: “The Catholic school participates in the evangelizing mission of the Church and is the privileged environment in which Christian education is carried out.”

    Brett Farley, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said: “We are elated that the board agreed with our argument and application for the nation’s first religious charter school.”

    Americans United for Separation of Church and State denounced the board’s approval.

    “It’s hard to think of a clearer violation of the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and public-school families than the state establishing the nation’s first religious public charter school,” the group’s president and CEO Rachel Laser said in a statement. “This is a sea change for American democracy. Americans United will work with our Oklahoma and national partners to take all possible legal action to fight this decision and defend the separation of church and state that’s promised in both the Oklahoma and U.S. Constitutions.”

    Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who earlier this year signed a bill that would give parents in the state a tax incentive to send their children to private schools, including religious schools, praised the board’s vote.

    “This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child’s education,” Stitt said in a statement.

    This story has been corrected to show the name of the virtual charter is St. Isidore of Seville, not St. Isodore.

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  • NYC Mayor Defends Comments Rejecting Separation Of Church And State

    NYC Mayor Defends Comments Rejecting Separation Of Church And State

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    New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended his comments from a week earlier in which he dismissed the separation of church and state, a principle critical to the founding of America.

    On Feb. 28, the Democratic mayor told those attending his annual interfaith breakfast that he “can’t separate” his Christian beliefs from his government duties.

    “Don’t tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body; church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies,” he told religious leaders at the event held at the main branch of the New York Public Library.

    “I can’t separate my belief because I’m an elected official. When I walk, I walk with God. When I talk, I talk with God. When I put policies in place, I put them in with a God-like approach to them ― that’s who I am,” he said, later adding that “when we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools.”

    The remarks received applause from attendees, but video of Adams’ words drew backlash from critics who said the mayor was not upholding the U.S. Constitution, which calls for the separation of religion from government under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

    On Sunday, Adams defended his comments by saying he is driven by his faith but that he would not force others to do the same.

    “Well, listen, let’s be clear on something. The last words I said after I was sworn in is ‘so help me God.’ On our dollar bill, we have ‘In God we trust.’ Every president touched a religious book when they were sworn in, except for three,” the mayor told Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    “Faith is who I am, and anyone who takes those words as stated that I’m going to try to compel people to follow my religion, no. I’m a child of God, I believe that wholly. I’m going to follow the law. I’m not going to compel people who believe in whatever faith. It could be if you’re in a synagogue, a Baptist church, a Buddhist temple, I’m in all of them. And that’s what was in my service.”

    But when Bash pressed him on whether he believes in the separation of church and state, Adams gave an answer filled with contradictions.

    “No, what I believe is that you cannot separate your faith. Government should not interfere with religion, and religion should not interfere with government. But I believe my faith … pushes me forward on how I govern and the things that I do,” Adams said.

    “But one of the fundamentals of the Constitution is a separation of church and state when it comes to governing. When I just asked you that, you said no. That’s going to alarm some people,” Bash said.

    “No. But this is what I’m saying. I want to be very clear on this, so it won’t be distorted,” the mayor responded. “Government should not interfere with religion, religion should not interfere with government. That can’t happen. And it should never happen. But my faith is how I carry out the practices that I do and the policies, such as helping people who are homeless, such as making sure that we show compassion in what we do in our city.”

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