Houston mothers have filed a lawsuit to prevent the displays of the Ten Commandments in Texas public school classrooms from continuing. The lawsuit argues that the displays violate the state’s religious freedom policies and goes against a parental rights amendment.
One of the plaintiffs, Emily Roth, argued that the displays teach students “that exclusion is acceptable, maybe even preferred. That is not a lesson I want my children learning from the state of Texas.”
Another mother, Audrey Nath, said, as per KHOU 11, said that she is involved in the lawsuit to “show my kids to speak up for what’s right.”
“It’s just a matter of I don’t want kids to be excluded or feel excluded or bullied because of what their relationship is with that piece of scripture,” Nath added.
The third plaintiff, Sanjam Kaur Sohal, is Sikh. Nath comes from a multi-religious background, and Roth is raising her children without a particular religion.
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The lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Megan Hassan, said the mothers want “for their children to attend school without being compelled to display a message that conflicts with their faith.”
“They did not want a legal battle with the state of Texas,” she said, as per the Texas Tribune. “They wanted a poster removed from a classroom wall. That should never have required a lawsuit.”
Earlier this year, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Texas to display the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. The court found that the law “looks nothing like a historical religious establishment,” explaining that it “does not tell churches or synagogues or mosques what to believe or how to worship or whom to employ as priests, rabbis, or imams. It punishes no one who rejects the Ten Commandments, no matter the reason. It levies no taxes to support any clergy. It does not co-opt churches to perform civic functions.”
They further wrote that students “are neither catechized on the Commandments nor taught to adopt them. Nor are teachers commanded to proselytize students who ask about the displays or contradict students who disagree with them.”
This article originally appeared on American Faith and is reposted with permission.
