May 12, 2026
Should the Ten Commandments be posted in Social Security offices, state DMV offices, and county health departments ? Why or why not ? Is there any difference between posting the Ten Commandments in these government facilities and public schools?
Texas passed a law ( S.B. 10) last year mandating the posting of the Ten Commandments in all of its public-school classrooms. Lawsuits were immediately filed with the help of the usual suspects (ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, & the Freedom From Religion Foundation) charging that the law violated the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment. A federal district court judge agreed, and issued an injunction blocking the law from taking effect. But just recently, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, by a vote of 9-8, upheld the law.
Many conservative Christians are celebrating, but not because they are firm believers in federalism.
The First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Clearly, a state requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in its public schools is not establishing a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. And even if a state did both of these things, the First Amendment prevents Congress from doing these things, not the states.
Although I am a culturally and theologically conservative Christian, I am not celebrating the Court's decision beyond the fact that it upholds federalism. Under the Constitution and our federal system of government, the national government has no authority whatsoever over the states' educational systems.
Here are some observations regarding the conservative Christians pushing for the Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools.
First, they are using the power of the state to propagate their faith. This is a tremendous violation of Scripture.
Second, they are dishonest. All the arguments about the Ten Commandments having a historical significance and influence on the American legal systems are bogus. The drive to post the Ten Commandments is purely motivated by religion.
Third, they never seek to have schools post Scripture from the New Testament, and especially Scripture that mentions Jesus Christ. Instead, they devote all their efforts to having something posted from the Old Testament that was given to the nation of Israel.
Fourth, when it comes to something like marijuana, they are willing to throw federalism out the window and have the federal government run roughshod over the states. So really, they don't care about the Constitution and our federal system of government at all. If the federal government does something they like, then they are for it. If the state governments do something they like, then they are for them. Whether anything does violence to the Constitution or federalism is irrelevant.
Fifth, they think that posting the Ten Commandments in public schools can somehow change or fix public schools to make them acceptable. And they think and do this while railing against socialism even though having public schools is part and parcel of socialism. Public schools can never be acceptable because they are an illegitimate function of government funded by coercion. If these Christians really want to influence children, then they should seek to get as many children as possible out of public schools and into Christian schools.
Sixth, they think that posting the Ten Commandments in public schools can somehow turn America back to God or cause him to look favorably on America. These are the same public schools that likewise teach evolution as a scientific fact and scoff at the idea that God created the world in six days. Notice that only the first part of the Fourth Commandment is ever quoted:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:8-11).
And seventh, they are inconsistent. Public schools are government schools. Why don't Christians call for the posting of the Ten Commandments in other government buildings like court houses, city halls, and government office buildings ? Why are they so concerned about wall decorations in public schools ? A public school should be viewed no differently from any other government building.
Education must be completely separated from the state. It is not the proper role of government to fund anyone's education or have anything to do with the education of anyone or their children. Education is a service that can and should be provided by the free market.