Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a strong call for public schools across the state to make space for prayer and scripture reading, pointing specifically to the Lord’s Prayer as an example. His remarks, released in a September 2 press statement, come in the midst of a legal battle over the implementation of Senate Bill 11, a law that permits school districts to adopt policies allowing voluntary prayer and Bible reading during the school day. Although Senate Bill 11 was scheduled to take effect this month, a court order has temporarily blocked its implementation. Despite this delay, Paxton used his office to encourage schools to embrace the law’s intent.
According to Paxton, America’s historical success has been built on biblical principles, and he pledged not to remain idle. “In Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up,” Paxton wrote. “Twisted, radical liberals want to erase Truth, dismantle the solid foundation that America’s success and strength were built upon, and erode the moral fabric of our society. Our nation was founded on the rock of Biblical Truth, and I will not stand by while the far-left attempts to push our country into the sinking sand.”
Texas Republican lawmakers regard the Bible and Christianity as central to the nation’s educational and legal foundations—a claim that religious scholars widely dispute. Still, leaders on the religious right see an opportunity in the current U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority.
