Users claiming to be public educators offer advice on skirting SB 10
A Reddit community boasting over 17,000 members has become a hotbed for educators calling for resistance to a new Texas law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in schools — with some openly mocking Christians and hailing Satan.
The r/TexasTeachers subreddit, which is open to “teachers, administrators, parents, students, and others,” celebrated Wednesday’s temporary injunction blocking Senate Bill 10, which mandated the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom across the state.
In his ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in San Antonio temporarily prohibited 11 Texas school districts from rolling out the displays, including Houston ISD, Austin ISD and Plano ISD.
While the injunction halts enforcement of SB 10 pending further legal review, teachers on the r/TexasTeachers Reddit page praised the judge’s decision.
One user with the handle Current_Analysis_104 wrote, “If they want to have the 10 commandments in their kids’ classrooms, send them to private school! There’s a voucher system now you greedy idiots.” Mdjones121 called supporters of the Commandments “ghouls [who] should be ashamed of themselves,” adding, “They shouldn’t be forcing their religion on everyone else. Hang 10 commandments in their churches and homes. Not the public school.”
Other users were less diplomatic, with one user, FAILURE2FALL7, writing “Hail Satan” with the satanic hand sign emoji. Another user, joe_bald, wrote, “Thank Satan!” One user, bearmama42, appeared to suggest Christians and other supporters were mentally unfit, quipping, “Blessed be the fruit loops.”
Before the injunction, users who claimed to be teachers took to a separate page titled “Non-Compliance with SB10” and offered advice for their supposed colleagues.
Reddit user urcatmom888, who claimed to be an elementary school teacher in a “diverse” Texas district, wrote, “I don’t think I can physically bring myself to hang up that poster. I have many Hindu and Muslim students, and I’m so scared that they will feel hurt or wrong for what they believe in. This law is beyond illegal. Compliance is how it passed to begin with, and compliance is how it will stay a law.” The user urged collective resistance, stating, “My thinking is that if enough of us don’t put up the posters, it loses its power and they can’t punish us all. What will they do, fire me over a stupid poster? I’d like to see them try.”
Another user, currently_rotten, agreed, saying, “I am with you 100%. We have not received guidance from our small East Texas district, but I WILL NOT COMPLY if we are required to do this as well. I am hopeful there will be others as well besides myself.”
Creative defiance was also proposed, with some offering suggestions on how to skirt the law in their classrooms. Ok_Web_6199 suggested, “Play this smart. I don’t remove the poster. It fell. It just keeps falling. Huh. Weird. Now it fell into my waste basket! Weird.” ExcitingOpposite7622 wrote, “Hang it upside down…” Some linked their opposition to broader concerns, with birdman1752 warning, “It’s not a poster, it’s a foothold. The next step towards a ‘Christian’ autocracy.”
Not all reactions opposed the law, with some users like Xciting-Rip6795 writing, “This country was founded on Christian principles. People fought and died defending it. Guess we don’t think teaching that is very important. So when a Muslim student wants to disrupt your class five times a day praying on a rug, make sure you call your lawyer.”
Another user, Chastenbased, argued, “You and everyone else complaining about the Ten Commandments. They were written by a Jew named Moses and are a major part of Judaism. Is this why kids don’t know who Hitler was?” User Nriegg took a hardline stance and urged Christian parents to pull their kids from public schools in Texas altogether. “The public school system is trash. I still remember in 3rd grade, my teacher read these daily devotional Bible stories in the morning. It was normal and kids were better off. If you claim to be a Bible believing follower of Christ, take your children out of these Godless schools and raise your child ‘in the way they should go so when they are older, they will not depart from it.'”
“All children of Christian parents should be homeschooled. FULL STOP,” the user added.
Sandycheeks1991, who identified as a Christian, countered, “What’s frustrating is as a Christian … I don’t believe forcing this is Christ like or Jesus like at all. I mean Christian nationalist are the farthest thing from being Christ followers … it’s so frustrating and don’t get me started on how this not what our constitution was built upon.”
SB 10 was set to take effect in September before the temporary injunction. The case will likely move to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled against a similar Louisiana law in June, before potentially advancing to the Supreme Court, where a 6-3 conservative majority could redefine the boundaries of church-state separation.
