A coalition of sixteen Texas families, including Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious households, has filed a federal lawsuit to stop Senate Bill 10, a new law that requires all public elementary and secondary school classrooms in Texas to display a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the case Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District challenges the constitutionality of the law, arguing it violates the First Amendment’s protections of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
The plaintiffs represented by the ACLU of Texas, the national ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, are seeking a preliminary injunction to block Texas’ new Ten Commandments law before the school year begins, arguing it violates the First Amendment by pressuring students to conform to a specific set of religious beliefs. Families involved in the suit span Jewish, Baptist, Hindu, and nonreligious backgrounds, each expressing concern that the state is overriding their values: Rabbi Mara Nathan says the mandated Protestant version conflicts with her Jewish faith; Pastor Griff Martin warns it politicizes religion and betrays Baptist principles; Arvind Chandrakantan sees it as an attack on Hindu pluralism; and nonreligious parents like the Fitzpatricks say it alienates children who don’t follow religious doctrine at all, as reported by ACLU.
“Posting the Ten Commandments in public schools is un-American and un-Baptist. S.B. 10 undermines the separation of church and state as a bedrock principle of my family’s Baptist heritage. Baptists have long held that the government has no role in religion—so that our faith may remain free and authentic. My children’s faith should be shaped by family and our religious community, not by a Christian nationalist movement that confuses God with power,” Martin stated.
SB 10 mandates that all Texas classrooms display a large-format version of the Ten Commandments using a Protestant text chosen by lawmakers, a move critics say defies Supreme Court precedent and reflects a broader Christian nationalist push to privilege one religion in public schools. Opponents, including legal experts and advocacy groups, argue that such state-imposed religious messaging has no place in secular education and undermines families’ rights to guide their children’s beliefs.
As the case heads to court, plaintiffs aim to uphold the core American principle that religion should be shaped by families and communities, not imposed by the state.
