There is an immutable truth that societies must recognize if they are to endure: law is never created in a vacuum. It is born of a people’s traditions and in their moral convictions. The laws of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas requiring or incentivizing the display of the Ten Commandments and biblical teachings in schools have sparked legal controversy. Critics claim these statutes violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, but such claims are rooted in an outdated view of constitutional interpretation. Today’s Supreme Court has recognized that religion is interwoven with the history of our legal system, our educational institutions, and our national identity.

More than legal precedent is at stake in this debate. It is the very soul of our national character. To reject these laws is to reject the foundational truths upon which generations have been educated—a truth evident in the classrooms of early America, where biblical instruction was the moral compass by which young minds were shaped. If Shakespeare is taught for his literary genius, despite his works being infused with Christian themes of redemption and sin, why must we purge the Ten Commandments from a historical and moral curriculum? If Aristotle is studied for his philosophy on virtue, why must we ignore the document that most clearly codifies the concept of moral law?

The idea that religion must be stripped from public life is a modern invention that would be unrecognizable to the Founders. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 explicitly stated that “religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” For over a century, American schools used the Bible as a fundamental text. The Ten Commandments were once as common in classrooms as the alphabet, offering students a moral guide.

This historical reality is crucial in understanding why laws acknowledging religious texts are not unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has moved beyond the strict secularism of the Lemon test, which imposed artificial barriers between law and moral tradition. In Van Orden, the Court upheld a Ten Commandments monument on state grounds, recognizing that these laws are as much about history as they are about faith. Similarly, American Legion, confirmed that religious symbols with longstanding historical significance should be presumed constitutional. These cases affirm that the laws in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas stand on firm legal ground—they are acknowledgments of history.

Law and education are not simply tools of governance; they are the architects of a nation’s soul. The erosion of moral education in public schools has not led to greater freedom, but greater confusion. Without a foundation in right and wrong, children are left to drift in an ethical void, with only the shifting sands of public opinion to guide them. Pope Benedict XVI warned that a society without a foundational moral compass cannot endure.

The Ten Commandments embody truths that are universally recognized. Do not steal. Do not lie. Honor your parents. Do not kill. These are not sectarian principles; they are the bedrock of civilized society. A government that cannot affirm these teachings, even in a historical context, is not neutral—it is hostile to the very foundations of order and justice. The Supreme Court’s decision in Kennedy, reaffirmed that avoiding an Establishment Clause violation does not require suppressing all religious expression in public life. This ruling makes clear that the Constitution does not demand a religion-free public square.

St. Thomas Aquinas argued that human law must be in harmony with divine law. He understood that justice cannot be dictated by the whims of men alone. The Founders understood this as well. They did not construct a secular state in the modern sense, but a nation where faith and reason coexist.

For decades, America thrived under an education system that included the Bible and the Ten Commandments, not as instruments of religious indoctrination, but as guides to character and virtue. If the words of Shakespeare, whose plays are infused with biblical allegory, can be studied without fear of religious coercion, why must we reject the Ten Commandments? If Aristotle’s reflections on virtue and vice can be taught without offense, why is it unconstitutional to display the most foundational moral code of Western civilization?

The laws of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas do not demand religious observance; they simply recognize a truth that has guided societies for millennia. The Supreme Court has made clear that acknowledging religious heritage is not the same as establishing a state religion. The Constitution was never meant to be a weapon against history, nor a means of erasing the moral principles that sustain law and liberty.

Today, we stand at a crossroads. We can choose to continue down a path that severs law from its moral roots, leaving society to flounder in relativism and disorder. Or we can remember the words of St. Thomas More, a man who understood the delicate balance between duty to the state and duty to the eternal:

“I die the King’s good servant, and God’s first.”

New statutes in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma which allow elements of America’s Christian heritage to be incorporated into public classrooms and lessons are within the bounds of the First Amendment, within the American civic tradition, and within the strictures set out in Abingdon School District v. Schemp.1 Further, they embody—and conform with—the vision of religious liberty elucidated in Dignitatis Humanae,2 the vision for Catholics in society set out in Gaudium et Spes,3 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s understanding of religious liberty.4 Faithful Catholics and Patriotic Americans should support such efforts, provided they remain within the bounds of the First Amendment rightly construed and Catholic social teaching. Education is aimed at the common good and at forming citizens in the cultural traditions and civic heritage of their people. The efforts of certain states to recognize and incorporate America’s Christian heritage as a substantive part of public education should be supported.

The American tradition has long recognized the importance of Christianity as a source of societal cohesion and as the ground upon which America’s constitutional system and entire national civic life rest.5 As James Madison asserted in his famous Remonstrance in 1785, The American tradition has long recognized the importance of Christianitythe obligations of men toward their Creator precede their obligations to the Civil Society; indeed, men cannot truly be members of the Civil Society without first being subjects of its ultimate Author.6 The Catholic Church agrees with Madison’s basic premise, and, in Dignitatis Humanae, clearly proclaimed that the right to religious freedom proceeds from and is preceded by the obligation of each man to search for the Truth and to follow it once he has found it.7 While the constitutional tradition has taken the nation down a winding road by way of the Supreme Court’s application of the First Amendment’s religion clause(s), Americans remain “a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.”8

In the Abingdon case, the Supreme Court struck down Maryland and Pennsylvania statutes which required prayer and uncommented on Scripture reading at the beginning of each school day.9 Even in doing so, the Court recognized the importance of the Bible and noted that “Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion . . . . may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.”10 The statutes at issue today fall within the allowance for religion and Biblical education set out in Abingdon and do not, therefore, offend the First Amendment’s charge to avoid coercion.

Further, the impact of the Bible on American society stretches far beyond its religious significance. Its ubiquity in civil ceremonies, English literature, and common parlance indicate its importance both cannot be ignored and is no longer the exclusive domain of the religious. The Court in American Legion noted the secular significance of the Ten Commandments and the Latin cross.11 The same secular importance can be attached to the same Commandments at issue in Louisiana and the text from which they are drawn at issue in Texas and Oklahoma.12

The path toward understanding the appropriate expression of Christianity in the public sphere, and the appropriate level of support public schools may offer to America’s ancestral religion, has been a long and winding one. As long as men argue—within the civil realms of the courts, legislative chambers, and schoolrooms—and stave off the wars of religion which so poisoned the dying embers of Christendom and fueled the Founders’ ire, they have avoided what the Everson court feared and what the First Amendment sought to avoid.13 For Catholics, perpetually on the margins of American life and viewed with the perennial suspicion by both Protestant and secularist iconoclasts, this ongoing debate is clouded by an even more ancient history, claims of a yet higher and more coherent Truth, and a much-misunderstood modern teaching on the relationship between the Church and the state. American Catholics should support legislation aimed at fostering basic knowledge and appreciation of America’s Christian heritage. Such an arrangement sits squarely within the bounds of the First Amendment and Catholic social teaching on the importance of religion and the relationship between the Church and the entities of the state, and further the aims of education in keeping with the American tradition.

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1 Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 225 (1963).

2 Pope Paul VI, Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, 1965.

3 Pope Paul VI, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, 76, 1965.a

4 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2109.

5 See Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, 313 (1952); see also, Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 471 (1892), noting that “…this is a Christian nation.”

6 James Madison, “To the Honorable the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, A Memorial and Remonstrance,” 1, 1785.

7 Dignitatis Humanae, 3.

8 Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. at 313.

9 Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S at 226.

10 Id at 225.

11 Am. Legion v. Am. Humanist Ass’n, 588 U.S. 19, 38 and 53 (2019).

12 Id at 53.

13 Everson v. Bd. of Educ., 330 U.S. 1, 9-10 (1947).

From the text of the Declaration of Independence, referencing God four separate times, and the first Continental Congress opening in prayer, asking God for, “Divine favor, wisdom and strength, a flourishing of Virtue and Justice, and for material and spiritual blessings,” to Justice Douglas stating in Zorach v. Clausen1, “We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being,” there can be no denial that from the founding of the United States’ experiment with “Ordered Liberty,” religion has played a significant role in governance and its people. Alexis de Tocqueville made his observations in, Democracy in America, noting the profound influence of religion on the American people, and how religion teaches “a habit of restraint”-the very mark of virtue. Virtue is morality, and civic morality cannot exist without religion. President Washington stated in his farewell address that “reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious people.”2 However, as with all things organized by man, even the purity of religion can be used nefariously. To combat the significance of this abhorrence, the very first right in the Bill of Rights was the Establishment clause. However, as time has passed on, and in an effort to protect the people from the evil of religious coercion, the State has swung the pendulum of the Establishment Clause to the extreme position of a strict separation between “Church and State,” at the cost of her people’s Free Exercise. Yet like the pendulum, the bob of the Religion Clauses is inevitably returning to its equilibrium point, pulled not by gravity, but by the nature of man. It is in this return that these three state laws can be upheld as Constitutional

The Establishment Clause and the Free exercise clause of the First Amendment protect the same freedom of the people by restricting the government, by two approaches, from the same evil: Coercion of Religion. The Catholic Church agrees, establishing in Dignitatis Humanae, “It is one of the major tenants of Catholic Doctrine that man’s response to God in faith must be free: no one therefore is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will.”3 This position on religious freedom is based in that, “all men are bound to seek the truth . . . and embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it,”4 thereby “the truth cannot impose itself except in virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power.”5

Establishment Clause jurisprudence has retarded since the incorporation of the 14 Amendment in an effort to erect a “Wall of Separation”6 between “Church and State.”7 Too long has the Court relied upon its own judicial overreach, stretching the meaning of the 14 Amendment beyond its text and intent. It has adopted a federalist approach, improperly applying federal restrictions upon the states, further eroding state sovereignty. Most egregiously, in its misapplication and incorrect reliance of private correspondence, the Court has allowed obfuscation to develop into hostility toward religion.

American Legion v. American Humanist Association8 provides the beginning of a remedy when it examines four problems the Lemon test presents to problems in cases when “words or symbols with religious associations are used for ceremonial, celebratory, or commemorative purposes. These words or symbols once had an original purpose established long ago, but purposes can multiply over time, as the too their messages. Though American Legion, does not explicitly present a problem in concern to education, it is not too far logical connection to make, with regard to all three state’s laws. In respect to the Ten Commandments, American Legion uses this iconography as an example of when images have been used to convey other messages.9 The Court has also previously ruled that the use of religious texts is permissible under certain conditions.10 Even under current Establishment Clause jurisprudence, provided Louisiana and Oklahoma can provide a secular reason for the religious object, the Court would allow them in the school.

The Texas law provides the largest challenge to the Establishment Clause, where it requires Christian lessons from the Bible to be inserted in curriculum in exchange for more funds. Texas can rely on the precedence of overturning improper precedence for the correction of judicial overreach. Its argument is simple, since the incorporation of the 14 Amendment and the strict separation interpretation, states have seen a deterioration in the civic virtue of its citizenry: indecency in the streets; men believing they can become women; predatory sexualization of children. Christian lessons from-not teachings found in-the Bible can be used to restore objective truth and virtue, “for it is a provision of government to make provision for the common welfare.”11 Overzealous application of the Establishment Clause has created a vacuum filled by secularism, an ideology which cannot produce morality. Republicanism, by its nature, requires a level of civic virtue to elect the correct people, and this republic was created by and for a religious people. Denial of this fact is folly. A restoration to only federal limitation of the establishment clause is necessary.

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1 Zoarch et al v. Clauson et al., Constituting the Board of Education of the City of New York, et al,. 343 U.S. 306.

2 Dignitatis Humanae, Pope Paul VI, 1965

3 Id.

4 Id.

5 Id.

6 Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing et al., 330 U.S. 1.

7 Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists, Thomas Jefferson, 1802

8 American Legion v. American Humanist Association, 588 U.S. 19

. 9 American Legion v. American Humanist Association, 588 U.S. 19, 53.

10 See: Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578, 608

11 Dignitatis Humanae.

Throughout time, the heart represents the foundation of a civilization, and every civilization has a heart, including the United States. But that begs the question, what is the heart of the United States? The heart of the United States is not a geographic location like Washington D.C. but rather the principles and values found in the people who fought for a nation to be aimed towards something greater than themselves. Principles and values that society has recently strayed away from but are reemerging through the recent laws passed in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

The recently passed laws in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma allow for the Ten Commandments and Bible to be displayed and taught in public schools. Laws that, on its face, may violate the Establishment Clause, which prevents the government from establishing a religion or favoring one religion over another. However, these seemingly religious practices and monuments in public schools symbolize a different identity that serves multiple purposes aligning with the recent jurisprudence of the Establishment Clause, Catholic Social Teachings, and the founding heart of the United States.

Recently, the Supreme Court has ruled that religious monuments, symbols, and practices may stand on public ground if they have a deep-rooted tradition in the history of the United States and have evolved from a religious identity into a secular one. Am. Legion v. Am. Humanist Ass’n, 588 U.S. 19, 54 (2019). Furthermore, the meaning of a monument, symbol, or practice can differ from person to person and still stand on public ground. Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, 555 U.S. 460, 476 (2009). For example, a government may have a secular basis for a monument, symbol, or practice, but the creator or donor may have a religious purpose. Id. This distinction is truly evident when the monument, symbol, or practice has both a secular and a religious motivation to combat delinquency and shape civic morality. Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, (2005). Therefore, by establishing a secular motivation by the government coupled with a deeply rooted tradition, a religious monument, symbol, or practice may stand as a matter of law.

This formula can be applied to the recent laws passed by Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Ten Commandments and Bible have a deeply rooted tradition of secular purposes throughout the United States because they are the cornerstones of the legal system, combat juvenile delinquency, and play a role in shaping civic morality. Id. Further, the Bible has been taught and referenced since Thomas Jefferson until Abington School District effectively removed the Bible from public schools in 1963. Sch. Dist. of Abington Twp. v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963). The Bible and Ten Commandments have been the epicenter of the United States, which has taken on a secular identity while retaining a great religious importance like France’s Notre Dame Cathedral as Justice Alito pointed out. Am. Legion, 588 U.S. 19 at 55. Where Schempp got it wrong and the key to these laws is the secular identity that has been pulled out through the passage of time. Sch. Dist. of Abington Twp., 374 U.S. 203 at 217. The laws passed by Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas will allow for the Bible and Ten Commandments to guide the conscience of the youth to avoid legal punishment and regain companionship with their fellow Americans. In other words, these laws are aimed at guiding the hearts of man towards human flourishing, a theme deeply connected with the United States’ inception, not at establishing a religion.

These laws directly align with the Catholic Church’s teachings on the duty of the state towards religion. The duty, in simple terms, is to promote the common good by providing a moral compass while protecting the freedom of religion. These laws allow for freedom of religion while forming the youth’s conscience towards the common good, but as Gaudium Et Spes points out, the voice of conscience must speak to the heart. That is why St. Francis de Sales advocated for the education system to be centered around the change of hearts through commands, advisement, and inspiration. Those verbs should sound familiar as they directly align with the three bills passed by Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Ten Commandments outline the rules and “commands” to be strictly followed. The Bible “advises and inspires” one to change their heart towards an upward aim for the common good. Therefore, laws that require the Ten Commandments and Bible for the secular purpose of promoting the flourishment of man will inspire the heart to promote the common good while protecting the freedom of religion.

Finally, to answer the question posed in the beginning, the United States’ heart rests in the promotion of the common good through the principles and values found in the Bible and Ten Commandments. Principles and values that the Founding Fathers possessed and fought so hard to keep. Thus, the laws that Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma passed are not to infringe on the religious liberty that the Establishment Clause protects, but to resuscitate the heart the United States was built upon.