Fundie Freaks score a big win.
For decades, the Religious Right has tried and failed to intertwine their twisted version of Christianity into our public schools and require them to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms. In a 9-8 ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave them a big win on Tuesday and held that Texas may require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. The ruling also delivered a boost to backers of similar laws in Arkansas and Louisiana. Opponents of the law argued that hanging the Ten Commandments in classrooms proselytizes to students and amounts to religious indoctrination by the government.
The Court rejected those arguments aying the requirement does not step on the rights of parents or students.
“No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin,” the ruling says.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups that challenged the Texas law on behalf of parents said in a statement that they anticipate appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights,” they said in the statement.
