Atheists cheer as Republican behind school Ten Commandments law gets ousted

A lawmaker who was instrumental in forcing public schools in Texas to stick the Ten Commandments in every classroom got quietly booted this week, but atheists and non-Christians who resent lawmakers putting a premium on one religion over others were anything but quiet about it.

“State Rep. Candy Noble was first elected in 2018 and undoubtedly expected to sail to victory in her Trump +17 district,” reports the Friendly Atheist.

Coming off the recent victory of President Donald Trump on the national level, Noble filed a Ten Commandments bill in 2023 and then again in 2025. On her second try, the Republican-dominated Texas legislature and governor signed her bill into law, kicking off litigation that is still underway today.

“When it was first introduced, Democrats had very little recourse to stop it,” other than to argue on the pointlessness of it, reports Friendly Atheist. At the time, critics pointed out that no potential school shooter was ever proven to have canceled their attack after reading “Thou shalt NOT kill.” And other mandates ordered non-Christians to stop being non-Christians.

Current senator-elect James Talarico even took Noble to task during a House Public Education Committee meeting, pointing out her own inconsistencies with the commandments.

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” said Talarico, quoting Commandment No. 4. “Are you aware the legislature is scheduled to meet this Saturday?”

“I am aware of that,” said Noble, defending her bill before the committee.

“So that would be violating the Ten Commandments,” he pressed, to which Noble admitted: “I contend that that is a hard … you’re right.”

Critics also pointed out that the Texas legislature debated the bill on Saturday, the day and then scheduled itself to give the bill a final vote on the updated Christian Sabbath: Sunday.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it?” said Noble, when confronted with that argument.

“It was not ‘ironic.’ It was deeply hypocritical. Republicans didn’t … [care] about obeying the Commandments. They just wanted to shove Christianity down everyone’s throat,” opined the Friendly Atheist.

That bill later became law. The Friendly Atheist reports it was struck down by a lower court judge, upheld by the entire Fifth Circuit, and is now waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the woman who ousted Noble is schoolteacher Angie Carraway, who launched her own campaign to undo private school vouchers chipping away at public school funding throughout Texas.

“Noble lost to a woman whose religious and career profile is eerily similar to Talarico’s. Seems appropriate,” said the Friendly Atheist. “Whether the Ten Commandments law will be repealed by the new legislature is anyone’s guess. But the election was a reminder that, even in Texas, people are fed up with the sort of religious extremism we’ve seen from people like Noble.”

“Good riddance,” FA concluded.