US Senate hopeful releases statement amid court-ordered delay of SB 11
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is urging Texas public schools to adopt dedicated time for prayer and scripture reading, specifically recommending the Lord’s Prayer, in accordance with a new state law.
Paxton’s comments, announced in a Sept. 2 press release, comes on the heels of a court-ordered delay of the implementation of Senate Bill 11, which was set to take effect this month, and allows school boards to set aside time for voluntary prayer and religious text readings.
“In Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up,” Paxton said. Denouncing opponents of SB 11 as “twisted, radical liberals” who aim to “erase Truth, dismantle the solid foundation that America’s success and strength were built upon, and erode the moral fabric of our society,” Paxton said the United States was “founded on the rock of Biblical Truth.”
“I will not stand by while the far-left attempts to push our country into the sinking sand,” added Paxton, who is reportedly a member of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, located just north of Dallas.
SB 11, which is currently under a temporary injunction, permits school boards to adopt policies for voluntary prayer and scripture reading, requiring parental consent for student participation. The law also mandates Paxton’s office to defend schools adopting such policies and allows him to suggest best practices, including his endorsement of the Lord’s Prayer “as taught by Jesus Christ.”
In the official statement shared from the Office of the Attorney General website, Paxton, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, recommended students recite the Lord’s Prayer, citing the King James version of Matthew 6:9-13: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) swiftly condemned Paxton’s actions, accusing him of violating constitutional boundaries by promoting Christianity in public schools. In a letter dated Sept. 3, FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line demanded Paxton retract his statement, arguing it pressures schools to favor one religion.
“Texas public schools exist to educate, not indoctrinate,” Line wrote. “When you use your official position to instruct children to pray ‘as taught by Jesus Christ,’ you send a message to Texas students and families that the state favors Christianity over all other religions and over nonreligion. This is precisely what the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment forbids.”
Line also warned that Paxton’s push could lead to coercive practices that marginalize non-Christian and nonreligious students, vowing to monitor SB 11’s implementation and support families whose rights are deemed to have been violated. “The solid foundation of our country is not biblical truth, but rather our secular Constitution that protects the rights of all Americans — Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, the nonreligious, and everyone else — to believe as they choose without government interference or favoritism,” Line’s letter concluded.
FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor accused Paxton of “trying to turn Texas classrooms into Sunday schools,” adding, “Children deserve an education free from religious coercion. The Constitution, not the Bible, is the foundation of our democracy — and it protects the freedom of conscience of every student.”
Paxton’s endorsement of the prayer comes after a pair of recent legal setbacks, including a federal judge’s ruling that declared a Texas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in classrooms unconstitutional, intensifying debates over the separation of church and state.
The Aug. 20 ruling by 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.
