By Cameron Vickrey

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is already celebrating the gains for what he calls religious freedom in the state's 88th Legislature. The Texas Tribune quoted him as saying, “I believe that you cannot change the culture of the country until you change the culture of mankind. Bringing the Ten Commandments and prayer back to our public schools will enable our students to become better Texans.” 

Lt. Gov. Patrick is referencing two of a multitude of bills attempting to flood public schools with Christian symbols and doctrine, SB 1515, known as the "Ten Commandments bill," and SB 1396, the "prayer and bible reading bill." There are others, too. Just this week, the House Public Education committee voted favorably on SB 763, a bill that would allow public schools to employ chaplains to provide services and support for students. 

As a Christian organization, Fellowship Southwest opposes these bills, and we hope you will consider adding your Christian witness to our advocacy as well.

Lt. Gov. Patrick and a majority of the Texas Senate imply that the way to be a "better Texan" is to be a Christian. And that Christians need to be reminded of the Ten Commandments, given time during the school day for prayer and Bible reading, and need to be counseled by chaplains. 

There is nothing wrong with going to a private religious school where Christian doctrine is taught and displayed. (Although the state should not pay for or subsidize the tuition for these schools, which is also a priority in this Texas Legislature.)

But the state is responsible for maintaining free public schools - free of tuition and free of religious influence. They are spaces where children of all religious traditions or none are treated equally and respected. If this is violated, we won't have better Christians and therefore better Texans. We will have a watered down version of Christianity, and we will have intolerant Texans who fear those who are different from them.

As Christians, we have a special opportunity to defend both our faith and our public schools at once by speaking out against Christian nationalism.

Take a moment today if you live in Texas to call your House representative before they cast final votes on these bills. Specifically ask that they vote no on SB 763, the chaplain bill. Chaplains are not ordained to serve in the public school system, and it violates religious liberty to assume that all students would be served by a chaplain from one religious tradition. 

If you do not live in Texas, pay attention to what similar actions are being taken in your state. The 2022 U.S. Supreme Court case of Kennedy v. Bremerton, when a high school football coach was fired for praying after games with his team, set a precedent of allowing many loose interpretations of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. The separation of church and state is at stake, and we hope you will help us protect it.