Forcing Ten Commandments in schools is tool of Christian nationalism, white supremacy
Northside Action for Justice office at Edgewater Presbyterian Church. Photo: Gerald Farinas.
What’s happening in some parts of this country—where lawmakers are forcing public schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom—isn’t about God.
It’s not about morality.
It’s not even about kids.
It’s about power.
It’s about control.
And it’s about Christian nationalism—a twisted ideology that uses faith as a weapon and religion as a tool of white supremacy.
As Presbyterians, we must be furious.
We believe in grace.
We believe in freedom of religion.
And we believe it is a complete betrayal of both to use God’s word as a blunt object to force belief onto children who never asked for it.
That is not Christianity.
That is oppression dressed up in religious language.
Faith that’s forced is no faith at all
Forced faith is fake faith.
You can’t legislate belief.
You can’t mandate the Holy Spirit.
You can’t tape God’s will to the wall and call it a revival.
What these lawmakers are doing is the opposite of grace.
Grace is God’s free gift—offered to all, not jammed down your throat by politicians looking for a campaign slogan.
Forcing kids to sit beneath a state-ordered religious message every day isn’t holy—it’s spiritual bullying.
We’re angry because we know what this really is—a political stunt that turns sacred scripture into a cheap prop.
Public schools aren’t churches—and they never should be
I learned this clearly from my civil liberties-loving and civil rights, workers rights-activist high school history teacher, Mrs. Darlene Pang!
Public schools are for everyone.
That includes Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Shinto, Sikhs, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, and kids who just want to learn without having someone else’s religion forced on them.
Putting the Ten Commandments in a government classroom says, “This is a Christian space, and the rest of you are just guests.”
That’s exclusion!
That’s erasure!
And it’s a betrayal of everything Jesus taught about welcoming the stranger and loving your neighbor.
This isn’t about protecting kids. It’s about pushing the boundaries of church and state until there’s no line left.
This is Christian nationalism—and it’s rotten
Let’s call it what it is: Christian nationalism.
It’s not about Jesus.
It’s not about salvation.
It’s about power—white, conservative, Christian power trying to take over government, schools, and society.
And we’ve seen it before!
It’s the same spirit that blessed slavery from the pulpit.
That baptized segregation.
That flew the Confederate flag alongside the cross.
It’s the same spirit that attacks immigrants, demonizes queer kids, bans books, and tries to turn America into a theocracy where only one kind of person feels safe.
Christian nationalism is not Christianity. It’s idolatry with a Bible in its hand and hate in its heart.
You don’t need government to spread the Gospel—you need love, mercy, compassion
The Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t need help from lawmakers with campaign signs and God complexes.
It doesn’t need to be posted on a wall to change hearts.
And it sure as hell doesn’t need to be used as a weapon in a political culture war.
Jesus didn’t go to Pilate and say, “Can you post my teachings in the schools?”
He healed the sick.
He fed the hungry.
He walked alongside the poor.
That’s how you share the Gospel—with your life, not with forced displays.
In many cases, atheists do this better than Christians do!
What these politicians are doing isn’t evangelism. It’s authoritarianism.
Grace is not a tool for domination
At the center of our faith is grace. And grace isn’t a rule. It’s not a law. It’s not a demand. It’s a gift.
And when you take that gift and use it to prop up a system of control, when you twist God’s word into a tool of white Christian dominance, when you dare to use our sacred commandments to divide and intimidate—don’t expect us to stay quiet.
Presbyterians know its history.
We’ve seen what happens when religion is forced on people.
We’ve seen it used to silence, to dominate, to colonize, to erase.
In fact, we once used it ourselves in the past to control others.
And we won’t let it happen again without a fight because it’s just plain wrong!
So no.
We do not support posting the Ten Commandments in public schools.
Not because we don’t love them—but because we refuse to let them be desecrated by power-hungry politicians.
We refuse to let them be used to hurt children who don’t look, think, or pray like them.
We refuse to trade the Gospel of grace for the gospel of control.
God doesn’t need your wall posters. God wants justice.
And so do we.
And for those that need scriptural bases for these arguments, here they are!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” Matthew 23:23 (NRSVue)
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NRSVue)
