Day: April 28, 2026

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the right of the state of Texas to require every public school classroom to have a display of the Ten Commandments. The posters are directed to be placed in the front of the room and be large enough so that everyone can see and read them. While this new ruling from the state legislature may seem harmless on the face of things I propose a few problems that I see with this situation.

The first problem is one of space and logistics: I have always been a mathematics teacher. My classrooms have had either large blackboards or white boards dominating the front of the room. Any bulletin boards near the front, if they even existed, were rather small. In almost every school where I worked we were also told to place a poster outlining class rules at the front so that they would be easily seen by every student. I wonder how both the Ten Commandments and the class rules are going to fit the allotted space. Will class rules have to take a back seat to the ten commandments or will teachers have to use some of the board space to take care of this dilemma? While this is a small problem it is nonetheless very real. Space inside any classroom is limited and much of what teachers display focuses on subject matter. If there is to be a site for descriptions of preferred behaviors the offerings need to be small enough to leave room for all of the required bulletins.

The second and most serious problem is what to do if students ask questions about the Ten Commandments poster: According to the ruling teachers only have to post the Commandments. Theoretically they do not have to discuss them like they do with the class rules but years of experience tell me that students will indeed have questions that may be difficult to either ignore or address. My understanding is that the Protestant rendering of the ten commandments will be used even though they are slightly different from the Catholic and Jewish versions. What will a teacher do if a students points out such variation and wants to know why the Protestant version was used rather than the other two? What will a teacher say if a student whose religion is not Christian asks who the one God is supposed to be and who are the false gods? Obviously the posting of commandments from a religious source sets up an uncomfortable situation that will no doubt be challenged by students. 

The third problem is that from a educational dpoint of view the Ten Commandments will create a diversion from the content of lessons. A mathematics teacher has a very rushed schedule for delivering all of the knowledge and skills that the students are supposed to learn in a given school year. Taking time out to justify a religious poster detracts from the main purpose of the school. Students will most certainly want to know why the beliefs of only one religion is being prominently being featured in the classroom. Those of the many other faiths will no doubt feel as though they are being ignored and perhaps even wrongly being subjected to unwanted pressures to accept one way of thinking. I suspect that teachers will have to allow for uncomfortable and distracting protests and discussions from students and their parents. 

I know that there is a naive belief that posting the Ten Commandments is not an effort to influence young people’s spiritual beliefs but my own life experiences tell me that their will be individuals who will earnestly attempt to go a step further in favoring one religious group over another. I have many times seen devout souls promising to allow those not in line with their beliefs to be left alone only to push them to change over time. 

In two very personal instances one of my Catholic daughters and my Catholic granddaughter ended up feeling very uncomfortable because fervent protestants felt the need to push them to change their beliefs. In both cases subtle pressure was slowly ratcheted up until they were literally being told that they risked eternal damnation if they did not conform to the “true faith.” How are we to be assured that every single teacher will adhere to the Constitutional requirement regarding freedom of religion? One small breach of this right can potentially lead to big trouble. 

I very much believe in God and I have done my best to follow the Ten Commandments just as they were taught to me in Catholic school. I had religion classes every single day for twelve years. I went to mass on Sundays. My faith is deeply embedded in my beliefs but mine was a choice originally made by my parents and later confirmed by my own decisions. This kind of choice should only be the domain of every parents and each individual. No child should be subjected to any particular faith in a public school setting even with a seemingly generic poster at the front of the classroom. There are too many differing personal beliefs to consider if we are to be fair. Will we provide the same kind of respect to all faiths? Will our classrooms be fair by displaying the tenets of every single religion? Will we allow agnostics and atheists the ability to post their views? If we cannot be fair for all then we should not be willing to cross the line of public versus religious education. Only parents should have the authority to make spiritual decisions for their children and once those children are of age it should become their choice. 

In fairness to all, posters derived from the core beliefs of any religion need to be removed unless they are part of a study of all religions of the world in a history class. I cut my educational teeth on a system that respected all faiths. We were not allowed to pray during the school day but a teacher was permitted to gather with like minded students before or after school to pray or read the bible. We allowed certain religious children to stay seated without question during the Pledge of Allegiance. We knew that some of our Muslim students would be fasting at different times of the year. We had students wearing required clothing associated with their faiths. It was a mutually understood protection for each and every student. We left religious education to the parents. I still believe that is how it should be.  

I boast about my hometown of Houston quite often. Some may say that because I have lived in Houston for all of my life I have no way to compare it to other places. Many who come to Houston for a visit focus on the traffic, the heat, the humidity, and the lack of zoning that all come together to create a city that seems to have no purpose other than providing jobs and houses for people. They speak of the hurricanes and floods that endanger the citizens with a certain level of regularity. They insist that there are no natural features of the city that make it stand out as beautiful. Instead cities like Austin, Dallas and San Antonio get much more favorable reviews than Houston ever does, thus its only claim to fame seems to be that it is the fourth largest city in the United States and perhaps the most diverse. 

Indeed all of the above ideas are somewhat true but they tend to be the observations of those who do not take the time to discover the heart and soul of Houston. The reality is that Houston people are some of the best folks anyone might ever hope to meet. For the most part we celebrate our differences and do our best to make sure that everyone is respected. Still Houston is much more than just nice people who always answer the calls for help. It is indeed a fun place with more to do that even most of the citizens ever discover. 

Of course we have our sports teams that enliven our town throughout the year but we are also known for having some of the best cuisine in the entire United States. When I leave Houston I always find myself yearning for the culinary excellence and variety of my city. There are few places where the dining experience is so wonderful and it would literally take years to experience all of the wonderful places that cater to our taste buds. 

Houston is also as weird as Austin in its own way. We have a crazy art project called the Orange Show which is one of the finest examples of folk art anywhere. Every year over two hundred art cars parade through our streets delighting thousands who are awed by the artful renderings of automobiles sporting the creative genius of the community. We celebrate the Houston Heights and the Montrose area where everyone feels free to be themselves and a full-fledged China town offers shopping for exotic food, clothing and other goodies.

Houston has it’s sophisticated side as well with a symphony orchestra, a ballet company and theaters offering live musicals and plays. There are multiple universities in my city offering degrees in virtually any area. Our medical center is one of the best in the world and people come far and wide in search of top notch healthcare. 

We have an art museums along with a natural science museum and a fabulous zoo. Tucked in central Houston is a Holocaust Museum and a Children’s Museum. We even have museums celebrating different cultures. We boast the Space Museum on the campus of NASA. When those rockets head for the moon they are communicating with the headquarters that made “Houston we have a problem”famous. 

On any given weekend there is some kind of celebratory event happening in every corner of the city. A devoted individual would be able to fill a calendar with things to see and do. Our rodeo is a weeks long celebration of customs, food and entertainment. Each year the Houston Garden Club hosts an extravaganza of floral delights. For the adventurous the Gulf of Mexico is only an hour drive away. 

I can’t possibly name everything wonderful about Houston but I do know that for many people we are just a big crowded city with little to offer other than traffic. Those of us who have lived here truly understand how much more there is to this place. We understand why it continues to be one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. We are an island of acceptance and understanding in a state too often known for its rigid ideologies. The church going folk here live in peace with a population so diverse that anyone is sure to find a group that feels comfortable. We really are a place of peace and love. 

It would be nice if we had a mountain view or a nice lake or river to provide some scenery but the flat land is all we have. It is in the people of Houston that we find our glories and I just wish that everyone might see what a grand place this is to be.