Texas State Representative James Talarico tells CNN’s Wolf Blitzer why he’s opposing a GOP led effort to post a copy of the 10 Commandments in Texas classrooms.

Texas

Texas State Representative James Talarico has publicly opposed a bill that would require the 10 Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms across the state. Talarico, who is also a preacher and former teacher, contends that the bill violates the separation of church and state, as well as the core teachings of Christianity, by imposing one religion on students of diverse backgrounds.

He suggests that if a foundational document is to be displayed, it should be the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom. Talarico also expressed concern that the bill could make students from non-Christian backgrounds feel unwelcome and indicated that legal challenges are likely if the bill becomes law.

State rep. on TX bill to put 10 Commandments in classrooms

controversial bill could soon require public school classrooms in texas to post a copy of the 10 commandments the proposal passed the republican controlled state house on sunday prompting one democrat to point out what he considered to be legislative hypocrisy listen what is the fourth commandment keep the sabbath part of keeping the sabbath holy is not working on the sabbath that is that is um yeah christian sabbath is what day sunday in honor of the day that jesus rose from the dead and we're scheduled to give this bill a final vote on what day of the week it's ironic isn't it one of the lawmakers in that video democratic state representatives james talarico of texas is joining us right now representative talarico thanks so much for being with us you're actually in addition to being a representative you're a preacher and a former middle school teacher explain why you're opposed to having the 10 commandments posted in public school classrooms in the state of texas yeah my granddad was a baptist preacher in south texas i've been going to the same church since i was two years old and i'm now in seminary studying to become a minister myself one day so my faith means more to me than anything but i believe that this bill is not only unconstitutional un-american but i also think it's deeply unchristian it not only violates the separation of church and state in this country but it also violates the core teachings of christianity you know the apostle paul said that the 10 commandments are summed up in one command love thy neighbor as thyself the hindu student who's sitting in a texas public school classroom is my neighbor the sikh student the buddhist student the atheist student who's sitting in a texas public school classroom is my neighbor and i'm called to love them as myself and forcing my religion down their throats through government action is not love representative as you know this bill was a priority for texas's republican lieutenant governor dan patrick he says and i'm quoting him now by placing the 10 commandments in our public school classrooms we ensure students receive the same foundational moral compass as our state and country's forefathers what's your response to that representative and how is this bill going to impact public education in your state of texas well if we wanted to post a foundational document in all of our texas public school classrooms i would suggest the constitution of the united states which includes the first amendment which enshrines the freedom of religion and the freedom from religion it has the establishment clause and the free exercise clause which we commonly call the separation of church and state i think we should post that in all of our classrooms so that our students know that everyone is welcome here regardless of your background regardless of your faith tradition you know it's hard to be different as a kid i know this because when i was a middle school teacher i had a special place in my heart for the kids who were left out for the kids who were bullied and if you're a hindu student or a muslim student or a jewish student in a texas public school classroom you're a little different and that can be difficult now a bunch of politicians at the state capitol are putting up a poster that says thou shall not worship any gods before me we're saying through government action that their religion is inferior that they are not welcome in this classroom and i can't imagine anything more unchristian than that your state's republican governor greg abbott said he intends to sign this bill into law if it comes to his desk how do you or your democratic colleagues plan to challenge this and will you challenge it in court if this if necessary i'm assuming there are going to be court challenges because this is blatantly unconstitutional and we have to stand up for the freedom of religion in this country the separation of church and state doesn't just protect the state it also protects the church i mean we as believers should be very concerned when politicians and government employees seek to usurp the role of pastors and sunday school teachers and parents those those are the folks who should be teaching our religion not government employees who are doing it by a mandate from the legislature i mean this is the kind of stuff that gives religious people a bad name instead of living out our faith instead of leading by example we're now leading by mandate and if the goal is to create a whole new generation of christians i think this bill will have the opposite effect it will create a whole new generation of atheists who think that our religion is more about power than love texas state representative james talarico thanks so much for joining us thank you for having me

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