Federal Appeals Court Upholds Texas Law Requiring Ten Commandments

Harian Basis
By Ega Syahputra

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5th Circ. OKs Ten Commandments In Texas Public Schools

Law360
By Hailey Konnath

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Appeals Court Rules for Ten Commandments Displays

Houston Press
By April Towery

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FFRF condemns Trump’s threatened prosecution of group fighting Christian nationalism

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is denouncing the Department of Justice’s criminal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

For more than 50 years, the center has been a leading advocate for civil rights. Its research, of special interest to FFRF, has been indispensable to the nation’s understanding of the white Christian nationalist movement that fueled the Jan. 6 insurrection. The center’s annual “Year in Hate and Extremism” report named white Christian nationalism as the key ideology that inspired the attack on the U.S. Capitol, drawing directly on the February 2022 report co-published by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

By elevating that work, the Southern Poverty Law Center helped to bring a clear warning about Christian nationalism to the American people, giving it the institutional weight of more than half a century of research on extremism. The center has continued to document how white Christian nationalism stokes anti-immigrant hate through false claims of “Christian persecution” and “white genocide,” and how the movement seeks to dominate American political and cultural life.

One year ago, FFRF, along with more than 100 other civil rights organizations, signed the Unity Pact, a commitment organized by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The premise is simple: When any of our organizations is unjustly targeted, we will stand as a unified coalition. An attack on one is an attack on all. The Trump administration’s threatened prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center is precisely the kind of moment the Unity Pact was built for.

“The Southern Poverty Law Center has spent decades doing the work this administration would rather no one do: naming the people and movements that threaten equality and our democracy,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president. “If you track and name extremists, now it seems you become the target. This administration pardoned the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and is now going after the organizations that warned the country about them.”

Late last year, the House Republicans held an unprecedented hearing focusing on the Southern Poverty Law Center, charging that it coordinated efforts with the Biden administration “to target Christian and conservative Americans and deprive them of their constitutional rights to free speech and free association.” That was an absurd accusation. Now the Justice Department has lowered the boom, and it’s vital that anyone who cares about civil rights, free speech and saving our democracy condemns its move.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With nearly 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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5th Circuit allows Texas to require Ten Commandments in classrooms

The Washington Post
By Laura Meckler

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Mormon Church sues critic John Dehlin over “Mormon Stories” podcast

LDS leaders claim the podcast causes “confusion” over the brand, but the lawsuit looks more like an attempt to silence a powerful ex-Mormon voice

A Satanist just won a religious exemption for bathroom access in school

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A high school student in Colorado just obtained a religious accommodation to get around what she claims are her district’s restrictive bathroom access rules. But we’re not talking about a Christian student complaining about transgender students using the facilities or anything like that.

She’s a Satanist.

The issue dates back to February when the Elizabeth School District introduced a system called Minga that essentially offers digital hall passes. It tracks students who leave their classes to go off-campus or go to the bathroom. Students sign out on their own and the system logs where they’re going and how long they’re gone.

As just about any teacher can tell you, there are always students who insist they need to go to the bathroom during your time together, who leave class much longer than they should be gone, who might lie about where they’re going or what they’re doing, etc. Trying to manage all that while still respecting students’ rights is always a predicament—especially when there’s no paper trail—and every school has different ways of dealing with students who abuse the privilege.

The Minga system is meant to take that pressure off teachers while still offering accountability. It also allows schools to know where students might be in case of emergencies.

In February, Michelle Thompson, a mother of an Elizabeth High School student, told the school board she was concerned about how Minga would impact kids’ “physical health, overall well-being, and dignity” because it was already denying students—including her daughter—the ability to go to the bathroom when needed: “Our child’s ability to independently meet a basic biological need has effectively been restricted.”

She added that, even though she was assured parents would have the right to opt their kids out of the Minga system, the district’s administration was denying her that option.

The district didn’t budge, so in March, Matt Kezhaya, a lawyer for The Satanic Temple, sent a letter to the district demanding Thompson’s daughter (“ST”) be allowed to opt out of the system. They specifically said she was denied the ability to leave class even though she was on her period:

By its very nature, the [Minga] system requires ST to subordinate her bodily needs to institutional permission and surveillance. On Mondays, all requests to use the bathroom are denied. The bathroom is available to only three children at a time, and then only for up to five minutes under threat of forcible removal by a security guard.

On February 2, 2026, these restrictions caused ST to have a bleed-through accident because she was unable to tend to her menses. This caused such shame and embarrassment that she now refuses to use the restrooms while at the school.

(One reason bathroom requests might be denied on Mondays is because there’s a shortened class schedule that day.)

The Satanic Temple pointed out that Thompson had repeatedly asked the district for a religious accommodation but was denied—something administrators can only do if they have a legally compelling reason to do so. The lawyer demanded to know those reasons:

As you hold the burden of justifying the refusal of a religious accommodation, please respond with a statement of all compelling interests requiring the District to refuse Ms. Thompson’s demanded religious accommodation, as well as statement of those facts that support why the refusal is narrowly tailored to achieve those interests.

The lawyer also referenced the Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case that gave religious parents the ability to remove their kids from class if the instruction conflicted with their faith.

At the heart of the argument was the claim that Thompson and her child were Satanists, so this wasn’t some made-up excuse. They even had a faith-based rule that allowed them to get around the Minga system—the same rule Satanists have tried to use to get around abortion restrictions.

Ms. Thompson is raising [her child] in the beliefs and practices of TST. As part of this religious upbringing, Thompson and ST both adhere to TST’s Seven Fundamental Tenets.

The Third Tenet provides:

One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.

Pursuant to the Third Tenet, TST’s adherents believe that natural bodily functions are sacred, and any institutional efforts to control those sacred functions should be resisted. See also TST’s Second Tenet (“The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.”)

The bathroom monitoring system interferes with ST’s adherence to the Third Tenet and requires accommodation…

Beyond those statements, the letter read exactly like something you’d see from a conservative Christian legal group, saying that the family’s religious views gave them a special right to get around a general rule. The letter even noted that the district offered exceptions for people with medical or disability-related reasons, therefore it was illegal to deny those same exceptions to anyone who had a religious justification for opting out of the Minga system.

That argument worked.

On March 19, the district told Kezhaya that Thompson’s daughter would be granted a religious accommodation.

… the District will exempt ST from the Minga system for purposes of restroom access, allowing her to leave the classroom for the restroom at any time and for any duration without logging her departure in the system. In place of a digital hall pass, ST will be provided a laminated physical pass for her exclusive use, which she will present to her teacher upon leaving and return upon coming back to class. ST will remain subject to the Minga system for all other out-of-classroom purposes, including visits to the counselor, library, and main office as implemented at Elizabeth High School.

(As part of the agreement, ST’s parents have to sign a waiver saying the district will not be held accountable “for any consequences that may flow from ST’s unmonitored movement through the building.”)

The bottom line here? Satanists secured a religious accommodation to a public school district policy by pointing to one of their Seven Fundamental Tenets. If Christians can get away with the religious accommodation excuse when it comes to reading challenging books or learning about sexuality in a health class, there’s no reason Satanists can’t apply the same logic when it comes to something sensible.

The same legal playbook that’s been used to privilege Christianity is now being used to protect a Satanist’s right to control her own body in a public school.

Eliphaz Costus, the Campaign Director for The Satanic Temple’s “Protect Children Project,” told me in a statement that the district was right to accommodate their client:

This was a cut and dry case of our religious right to bodily autonomy being violated by an invasive digital system. I’m thrilled we could successfully advocate on this family’s behalf and I hope this will establish a precedent for other TST student members to be exempted from Minga bathroom controls.

It’s sad that the easiest way to secure dignity in a public institution is to claim it’s a religious mandate, but if those are the rules, then they need to apply to everyone across the board. The district hasn’t said anything about why it denied ST’s reasonable request before her family brought up their faith, but now that they have, it’s virtually impossible to reject if the district wants to avoid a lawsuit.

The Christian Right helped build this world. Will any of them complain now that Satanists are using the rulebook those Christian wrote to their own benefit?

American Humanists Condemn Trump Administration Attack on Civil Rights Leader

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2026

Contact: Court Beyer, cbeyer@americanhumanist.org

WASHINGTON – The following is a statement from American Humanist Association Executive Director Fish Stark in response to the Department of Justice’s indictment of civil rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

“The Trump Administration’s targeting of the SPLC is a deliberate attempt to dismantle the institutions that stand between this administration and unchecked power. For decades, the SPLC has been at the center of the fight against hatred and bigotry in this country. And that is exactly why they are being targeted.

“When those in power begin rewriting history – elevating extremists as patriots and recasting the protection of marginalized communities as persecution – it is the organizations bearing witness and fighting back that become the enemy. For this reason, the American Humanist Association stands proudly in solidarity with the SPLC and everyone they serve.”

###

The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

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American Atheists blasts split decision upholding Christian Nationalist school mandate

Cranford, NJ – Yesterday, in a split 9-8 decision, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Texas may require its public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. The controversial religious display mandate, Senate Bill 10 (SB 10), was signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbot last June and took effect at the start of the current school year. It is one of several recent efforts to impose the personal religious and political ideologies of powerful Texas politicians onto students of all backgrounds and beliefs. After its passage, the measure was almost immediately challenged by Texas families, faith leaders, and civil rights organizations. A lower federal court found that the mandate violated the First Amendment and blocked several school districts from posting the religious displays “in a conspicuous place,” as required by the statute. Tuesday’s decision reversed that ruling. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Stephen A. Higginson wrote that a state “legislating that specific, politically chosen scripture be installed in every public-school classroom” contradicts the founders’ clear intent “to prevent large religious sects from using political power to impose their religion on others.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has long advocated to Christianize public education, recently suggested, “There is no legal reason to stop Texas from honoring a core ethical foundation of our law, especially not a bogus claim about the ‘separation of church and state,’ which is a phrase found nowhere in the Constitution.” Nick Fish, president of American Atheists, issued a forceful response following yesterday’s ruling: “The politicians claiming this is about history and not religion are lying. Paxton has said that he wants ‘the Word of [his] God’ in publicly funded Texas classrooms. Abbott has said it’s about the nation’s moral fabric. These are politicians who falsely claim our country — a country famously founded on religious freedom for all – was ‘founded on the rock of Biblical Truth.’ But ask any actual historian, and they’ll tell you: That’s not accurate history, it’s a Christian Nationalist myth. And we’ll keep fighting for the atheist kid, the Muslim kid, the Jewish kid, and all students — and their families — who do not share the religious beliefs of state officials because they still live in a free country, albeit within a state that is increasingly less free and less American under the leadership of religious supremacists.” The court’s conservative majority held that the large displays of a sectarian text in public school classrooms do not violate the Establishment Clause because they do not amount to “coercive indoctrination,” even as public school students are legally considered a captive audience. As one attorney representing the families argued, “[Students] can’t just look away, Your Honor. Not for 13 years. Not in every class. Not every minute of every day.” Geoffrey T. Blackwell, legal director for American Atheists, added: “That this outcome was foreseeable by those who closely monitor church-state issues does not mitigate its harm. It drastically reinterprets the First Amendment, rewrites our nation’s pluralistic legacy, unconstitutionally favors one religion, and unconscionably exposes young people to religious indoctrination. In response to a wave […]

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FFRF cautions Trump administration against undermining religious politicking ban

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is raising serious concerns over a recent announcement from the Treasury Department and the IRS that they plan to issue new guidance on a law banning religious electioneering.

The Johnson Amendment is a longstanding federal law prohibiting tax-exempt nonprofits, including churches, from engaging in partisan political activity. In an April 20 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who continues to oversee the IRS despite his acting role having formally ended, the national state/church watchdog warns that any effort to weaken or reinterpret the Johnson Amendment to allow houses of worship to engage in political endorsements would be unconstitutional and deeply damaging both to democratic governance and the integrity of the nonprofit sector.

“The Johnson Amendment is a bright-line rule: If you want taxpayer subsidies, you don’t get to play partisan politics,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Weakening that rule would invite corruption and erode public trust.”

Enacted in 1954, the Johnson Amendment ensures that organizations benefiting from tax-exempt status and tax-deductible donations cannot use those publicly subsidized resources to support or oppose political candidates. Bessent has indicated that forthcoming guidance will aim to provide “clear, administrable standards” to religious organizations, notably with no reference to other 501(c)(3) nonprofits, including how the law applies to communications made during religious services. The move follows mounting pressure from Christian nationalist groups seeking to carve out exceptions for churches.

FFRF is urging the Treasury Department to ensure that any guidance strictly adheres to federal law and does not create unlawful exemptions for religious organizations.

The announcement comes shortly after a federal court rejected a proposed settlement in National Religious Broadcasters v. IRS that would have effectively created a loophole allowing two suing churches to engage in political campaigning while retaining tax-exempt status.

FFRF emphasizes that rebranding partisan endorsements as “religious communications” does not change the law and that the executive branch lacks the authority to create such carve-outs.

“The executive branch cannot nullify or rewrite an act of Congress,” writes FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line, adding, “only Congress has the authority to amend or repeal the Johnson Amendment.”

FFRF further cautions that exempting churches from the rules that govern other nonprofits would constitute unconstitutional favoritism, effectively favoring religion under the guise of religious freedom.

The Johnson Amendment does not restrict religious belief or issue advocacy. Clergy as individuals remain free to speak on political matters, so long as it’s not from a pulpit or otherwise utilizing tax-exempt resources. Tax-exempt entities are free to create 501(c)(4) affiliates that can engage in some endorsement, if they wish. Or such churches or organizations can simply forgo tax exemption in order to endorse or oppose candidates.

Weakening the amendment would open the door to tax-deductible political spending, allowing wealthy donors to funnel money into campaigns through churches with little transparency or oversight.

“The law Congress enacted has not changed.” FFRF’s letter concludes. “Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it cannot be used as a vehicle for partisan political activity.”

FFRF will continue to monitor developments and take action as needed to defend the constitutional principle separating state and church.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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