'Rabbit trail': Texas Dem lawmaker ruthlessly grills GOP author of Ten Commandments mandate

03 May 2023

Texas state Republican lawmakers are aiming to ensure every classroom is complete with a poster of the Ten Commandments after a Texas mother pitched the mandate earlier this month.

Texas State Representative James Talarico (D) grilled State Rep. Candy Noble (R) Wednesday on the ways such a mandate is "un-Christian," and how it could potentially harm students.

Talarico shared a Twitter thread of clips from the House legislative session in which he questioned Noble regarding her support behind the mandate, noting his belief that the legislation is "idolatrous, exclusionary and arrogant."

He tweeted, "Texas Republicans are trying to force public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. I told the bill author: 'This bill is not only un-constitutional and un-American, it's deeply un-Christian.'"

The former middle school teacher wrote, "The bill author says she's a champion of 'parental rights.' So I asked her if state-sponsored religious indoctrination violates the rights of parents. This was her response."

The GOP lawmaker replied, "That...That's really an interesting rabbit trail that you've gone down with that. Would you be comfortable with adding language to receive parental consent from all the students and parents in the classroom before putting it up?"

After asking the lawmaker several questions the she struggled to answer, Talarico concluded his line of questioning by asking, "How do you think it makes a Hindu student feel to have a poster in every classroom that says 'thou shall not worship any God before me?'"

Noble replied, "I think you want me to answer in a way that I'm confused on, I'm hoping they will see that, and wonder about our Founding Fathers."

Watch below or at this link.

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