By Aswad Walker
The Texas House recently passed Senate Bill 10, a measure requiring all state public schools to display the 10 Commandments in every classroom. When Gov. Greg Abbott finally signs this bill into law, it will go into effect on Sept. 1.
Surely, this course of events will provoke a court challenge as a potential violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. You know, all that legal separation of church and state stuff. Certainly, voices will ring out reminding anyone with ears to hear how diverse the state of Texas is, specifically the Greater Houston area.
They’ll point out that around 145 languages are spoken in Houston homes and that every faith system known to humanity is represented in H-Town, and thus, in Texas. And they might add that since Houston’s international flavor has long been one of the city’s greatest strengths, religious pluralism—respect for folks, whether they worship in mosques, temples, synagogues, churches or forests—has added to the richness (cultural and economic) of the region.
They’ll share all that as arguments against the religious preferential treatment that would have Christianity’s 10 Commandments (King James version only) posted in every single Texas public school classroom. They might even mention that the 10 Commandments are a bootleg copy of the 42 Negative Confessions developed thousands of years earlier out of Africa (Kemet).
But I’m not here to poo-poo this egregious church/state separation line-crossing. I want to offer an addendum to the soon-to-be classroom posts, additional verbiage placed under each commandment to provide an explainer for questions students are sure to ask. Our children should know exactly what Texas lawmakers believe and what they’re all about.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3), though worshipping Donald Trump as a messianic figure is permissible and encouraged. Moreover, it’s cool if you place the belief in the myth of white supremacy and white nationalism before the Almighty. Hell, you could argue there’s nothing mightier than whiteness, so God would be cool taking a back seat to it.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images (idols)” (Exodus 20:4), unless those graven images are of Trump and they are engraved on Trump-endorsed bitcoins. Oh, and it’s cool to make t-shirts and flags with these graven images. And we can treat the Star Spangled Banner as a divine idol and damn to the pits of hell anyone who doesn’t stand tall as it rings of freedom, especially that second verse where it endorses slavery. And God forbid, anyone dare desecrate the American flag or my MAGA hat. Just because they’re both made in China doesn’t take away any of their idolic power.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:7). And because we believe in a justice system that can only be described as “criminal,” we see no contradiction in having people in courts of law swear to tell the truth so help them God while we run a “justice” system where it’s better to be guilty and rich than poor and innocent.
Oh, and we actively call on the name of the Lord as we take our “pro-life” stance to kill anyone who disagrees with us. See kids, it all makes perfect, divine sense.
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8–10), like we do in our segregated houses of worship. And we’re blessed to have like-minded saints in elected offices in other states lifting up prayers that reflect our true beliefs. Like David Perdue did in 2016 when he was a Georgia Senator. Perdue told his faithful followers to pray for President Obama the words of Psalm 109: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.”
“Honor thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12), which is what we Texas lawmakers do daily, voting for laws and policies that reflect the segregated, anti-Black world of our parents.
“Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13) unless you’re white and standing your ground. Black people can’t stand their ground because they have no ground(s) to stand on. And kids, killing is bad unless the people we define as bad are gathering where they have no business, you know, driving while Black, shopping while Black, studying while Black, or like Botham Jean, chilling in his own Dallas apartment not doing anything to anybody while Black.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) because adultery means being unfaithful to someone you love. And that’s bad. But don’t get that confused with how we, Texas lawmakers, have been unfaithful to our duties to provide healthcare for Texas citizens, leaving millions uninsured. And just because we’re unfaithful to you, kids, and have purposefully underfunded your education, doesn’t mean we’re bad people. It shows how faithful we are to the big money lobbyists.
“Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15) unless it involves stealing labor by grossly underpaying workers and fighting to keep unions out of Texas. Unless it involves stealing the labor of undocumented immigrants to the tune of billions, and periodically acting like we don’t want any of those “illegals” around. And unless you’re talking about stealing healthcare, educational funding and online access, etc., from both urban and rural communities. And that’s not stealing. That’s good governance.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) unless thy neighbor is Black or Brown or disabled or LGBTQ or poor. See, when Senator Ted Cruz endorsed the lie that President Obama was planning an armed takeover of Texas, Cruz wasn’t lying; he was courageously sharing HIS truth. There’s a difference. So, go ahead and demonize DEI, CRT, Wokeness and immigrants. If it protects us from uncomfortable truths, it’s God’s will.“Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17) because covet means to lust for things that aren’t yours; things that belong to someone else. So, just because we covet darn near free labor from undocumented workers and from US citizens by refusing to raise the minimum wage, that doesn’t make us bad people. In fact, it’s legally impossible for us, Texas Republicans, to be bad because we provided you with this here 10 Commandments. May it inspire you to live the same upright Christian walk as us.