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Louisiana’s 10 Commandments Law Marks a Critical Step Toward Christian Nationalism
Pretty soon, public school students in Louisiana, from kindergarten up through college, will see the Ten Commandments displayed in every classroom — math, science, even gym. That’s because of a new ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country.
On Feb. 20, the federal appellate court reversed a June decision that had called the 2024 Louisiana law requiring displays of the religious texts in all public school classrooms “plainly unconstitutional” and allowed for a temporary block on the law.
Sophie Bjork-James is an anthropologist and an expert on the religious right and Christian nationalism. She says that the Ten Commandments going up in Louisiana schools is not only a win that shows how much power Christian nationalists are acquiring, it is also a step towards further shifting the country to the right by educating children on Christianity.
“Within Christian nationalism they would see [the recent ruling] as a victory and a step toward changing public education to become Christian,” says Bjork-James. “Which they see as a moral imperative to make the country more in line with their vision of what God wants.”
SINCE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISTS BELIEVE THAT Christianity is a fundamental part of the founding of the U.S., many challenge the narrative that religious freedom means the separation of church and state. (These claims are often fervently challenged by constitutional and historical experts.) Additionally, Christian nationalists often go as far as saying all moral problems stem from a lack of public Christianity.
“Evangelicals have produced a significant amount of content that tells the story of America as one that is blessed by God, has a divine relationship with God and centers Christianity,” she says. “[They see] the idea that there is supposed to be a separation of church and state as a farce, a lie. And while most historians would refute this, they see [Christianity in school] as going back to the country’s origins.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has publicly espoused these sorts of views. “The Supreme Court got it wrong about the separation of church and state,” he told me in 2024. “The Ten Commandments are the fabric of civilization and you’re telling me, we can’t hang them in school?”
He also told a reporter that if the Ten Commandments had been displayed in Thomas Matthew Crooks’ classroom, he may not have attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump in July 2024.
Bjork-James ties this back to the decimation of abortion rights. One of the pillars of the Christian right for years has been opposing abortion, and when the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, it gave Christian nationalism a big win. “Dobbs was such a huge success for them that it freed up some political attention to expand and experiment with what else they can achieve.”
MELISSA DECKMAN IS THE CEO OF THE PUBLIC Religion Research Institute, which recently released a new map analyzing the spread of Christian nationalism in the country. PRRI asked Americans about their belief systems and found that one third of Americans hold views that would qualify as Christian nationalist. The organization also found that a majority of Republicans (56 percent) ascribe to Christian nationalism.
“There’s been a prolonged movement by conservative Christians to influence the curriculum of America’s classrooms,” says Deckman. In the 1960s, the Supreme Court banned school prayer and mandatory Bible readings from public school. “You had a Supreme Court that was far more likely to rule against what they saw as an encroachment of the state violating the establishment clause. Conservative Christians felt that the liberal court was removing God from classrooms.”
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
(March 1, 2026 at 6:04 pm)zebo-the-fat Wrote: Why not wait until the kids are old enough to decide for themselves which (if any) religion they want to follow?
Nope, gotta get 'em young. If we wait til they're old enough to think for themselves, we'll be left with nothing but neo-Pagans and wannabe Satanists running about in a mad frenzy of doing charitable works, defending the rights of other people, and looking after the environment.
Sure you wanna go down THAT road?
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
Quote:‘They say you have to buy blessings’: the London women who gave everything to a controversial church
“Sometimes you’re seeing God as a genie, where if I give him all this money, He will bring me what I want,” Sarah says.
The 27-year-old spent years in the grip of “prosperity gospel”, whose followers believe cash donations to evangelical churches unlock divine blessings of health and wealth. So did Jennifer, 29, who says she handed over her life savings.
Both women are professionals from London and former members of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), an international evangelical movement and UK-registered charity whose cases have recently been investigated by the Fundraising Regulator (FR).
Jennifer said: “Every service they showed videos of how people had given their all, how people had given money, sold things or slept on the floor, and then they received the Holy Spirit and that gave them peace.
“I considered my all was everything I had: my savings, my current account, change I had collected. I had a help-to-buy Isa, I closed that to give them that money, and filled up an envelope with 1ps and 2ps.
“I was not in the right state of mind. I do believe I was financially coerced and controlled.”
Jennifer says she hoped the £15,000 donation would prove she “had received the Holy Spirit” and help her ascend through UCKG volunteer ranks to the “best position” of pastor’s wife.
She estimates she gave more than £38,000 to UCKG over five years, says she felt isolated from friends and family, and has alleged that the UCKG forbade dating or marriage outside the membership and arranged marriages to pastors, as well as encouraging members to give them money to attract divine favour.
UCKG reported a UK income of more than £15m in the most recent financial year, £13m of that from donations. In 2022 former followers told the Guardian they had felt pressure to give tithes – 10% of their income.
Reign said: “We receive at least five new referrals a week about UCKG – people looking to leave, people who have left, parents and caregivers.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
Hagerman church pastor stands by ‘antisemitism isn’t a sin’ sign message
The Valley Baptist Church in Hagerman recently changed its sign on its front lawn to read “Antisemitism isn’t a sin, but gossip is.”
Pastor Rick Emerson said the message is in reference to a previous message displayed on the sign, which read “Hold the Judeo, keep the Christian.” He said he received several complaints and an anonymous letter accusing him of being antisemitic, a “Jew-hater” and “not a real Christian.”
“It was brought to my attention that other people were discussing the sign with others in the community and assuming motive, without talking to me, which you know is gossip,” Emerson said. “As a Pastor in this community, I intended this as a teaching opportunity. Instead of coming to me or reaching out to me to find out my intention, ill motives were attributed to me as they gossiped with others.”
When asked if antisemitism is morally wrong, Emerson provided the following explanation:
“Here lies the heart of the issue: what is meant by ‘antisemitism’? If we break down the word into its components, ‘anti’ means against and ‘semite’ refers to the descendants of Noah’s son Shem. The descendants of Shem include the biblical Israelites, descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But it would also include many other people groups including most Arabs, Persians, and other ancient inhabitants of the Middle East and elsewhere. Therefore, being against Arabs would be ‘antisemitic’ according to a plain understanding of the word. As a Christian, my morality is defined by what God has revealed through Scripture and nature. Things that are morally right we call ‘good’, things that are morally wrong we call ‘sin’. Is antisemitism a ‘sin’? Not inherently. Being against an Arab who wants to harm my family is morally good. Having unrighteous hatred towards a Persian would be sinful ‘antisemitism’. As Christians, it is not good to use relatively new words (created in the 1880s) to define sin, especially when we already have words and concepts that have been used for the better part of last two-thousand years of Christianity.
As you can see, ‘antisemitism’ is a clumsy and imprecise word for what most people understand to be ‘Jew-hate’. But that’s the point; use an imprecise term and then import meaning and guilt into it. For example, for the last few Easter seasons, a hot-button issue on social media has been whether the statement ‘Christ is Lord’ is antisemitic. In one sense, yes, it is antisemitic. Religious Jews do not believe ‘Christ is Lord’. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day handed over Jesus to be crucified to the Romans instead of recognizing him as Lord. But does it mean ‘I hate Jews’ if someone says ‘Christ is Lord’? No. If a doctrinal statement of the Christian Faith is ‘antisemitic’, then ‘antisemitism’ is obviously not a sin or category of sin. So no. ‘Antisemitism’ is not ‘morally wrong’ because it is an ambiguous term and when defining morality, we should be precise.”
Emerson said that he stands by the statement and that it is “in alignment with Scripture and nearly 1,900 years of church tradition.”
“I was hoping it would provoke Christians into considering the sin of gossip they were guilty of instead of vague accusations of ‘antisemitism’ when they read something they didn’t understand,” Emerson said.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
Indeed, Christians are being persecuted... by other Christians
Quote:Right-wing media attack James Talarico for his Christian faith and beliefs: “He’s not a minister, he’s blasphemous”
Texas Democrat James Talarico is under attack by the right for his faith, with right-wing media figures particularly zeroing in on his views on abortion and LGBTQ issues to claim he is a “fake Christian” whose beliefs are “straight up demonic.” Following Talarico’s victory in the March 3 Senate primary against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, right-wing media immediately began railing against Talarico’s Christian faith, focusing on old videos of him supporting abortion rights and discussing his belief God is a nonbinary figure.
Talarico, an aspiring minister in seminary school, has been connecting his Christian faith and politics throughout his time in the Texas House of Representatives and on the campaign trail. His comments have drawn ire from Republican politicians like state Rep. Jeff Leach, who said Talarico “isn’t reading the same Bible I’m reading. And his ‘values’ couldn’t be more unTexan."
Other examples of commentary from right-wing media figures about include:
●“Trying to come across” as a “fake Christian”
●“Uses fake sermons and fake passages from the Bible”
●“Skin suit of Christianity”
●“A creepy looking heretic and fake pastor who pathologically lies to Christians over and over again about what scripture says”
●Podcaster Benny Johnson has attacked Talarico multiple times, claiming his beliefs on abortion and faith are “straight up demonic” and calling him a “demon” who is “perverting my faith.” Before sharing a clip of Talarico speaking, Johnson claimed he was nervous to “curse the show by playing such blasphemous clips.”
●Newsmax host Greg Kelly called Talarico a “false teacher” for his views on transgender children and “the LGBT queer situation, which has gotten completely and totally out of hand." Kelly also accused Talarico of being a “fake teacher” who has “weaponized the faith.”
●Newsmax guest Mercedes Schlapp claimed Talarico is “trying to come across” as a “fake Christian” and said she hopes young people “don’t fall for this trap." Host Rob Schmitt responded, “We’re watching the left, the Marxists trying to take the churches. I mean, James Talarico is the church with the pride flag on the front of it.”
●On The Right Squad, Newsmax host Chris Plante called Talarico’s preaching “pseudo-sermons” and “left-wing fake religion sermons," claiming “he uses fake sermons and fake passages from the Bible, tortured and misrepresented — misrepresentations from the Bible.” Plante also called Talarico a “freak.”
●Podcaster Vince Coglianese called Talarico’s views on abortion and gay marriage “a series of abominations. It's just blasphemies.” Coglianese then claimed, “The guy’s just making things up about scripture that aren't true at all, and he’s playing with, perhaps, eternal fire.” [Rumble, VINCE, 3/4/26]
●Fox host Lawrence Jones criticized Talarico’s faith, claiming that in Texas “our pastors don’t talk like that” about God and gender. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/5/26]
●On The Ingraham Angle, Fox host Charlie Hurt claimed Talarico is “fundamentally unserious” and said it’s “insulting” how he “wraps himself in the Bible."
●On his radio show, Sean Hannity and his producer, Lynda McLaughlin, called Talarico “dangerous." After Hannity said Talarico “acts like he’s a minister but he has very, very radical and extreme views,” McLaughlin claimed “he’s not a minister, he’s blasphemous.”
●Fox host Will Cain said Talarico is “perhaps more radical than Jasmine Crockett” and claimed he is “concerned” that Texans will “get wrapped up in this, you know, skin suit of Christianity while selling the wokest of woke left politics.”
●Daily Wire host Matt Walsh said Talarico “is not simply a creepy looking heretic and fake pastor who pathologically lies to Christians over and over again about what scripture says. Now James Talarico is all of those things … but he is also completely insane.”
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
Christians failed to push legislation that would have sentenced women to death if they had an abortion, but at least they got to sing their Christian songs and threathen the politicians with the wrath of their god.
Quote:Abortion death penalty bill fails in Tennessee legislature
A bill that sought to charge woman who seek abortions with homicide — including the death penalty — died unceremoniously in a Tennessee House subcommittee on March 10.
House Bill 570, sponsored by Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, would have removed legal protections for pregnant women currently in statute, and classified harm done to an unborn child as equal to assault on a person “born alive.” Women who get abortions could have been prosecuted for homicide, punishable by life imprisonment or in some cases, the death penalty.
Outbursts followed, and the committee chair ordered the room cleared.
“Cowards and heretics everywhere!” one person yelled.
Outside the chamber, a crowd of “abortion abolition” supporters, predominantly bearded men, belted out the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” near the committee chamber doors. They followed the hymn with the doxology, hands raised in worship.
“Christ is king! Christ is king! Christ is king!” the men boomed, raising fists into the air after finishing their songs.
On the other side of the group, a throng of women demonstrating for abortion rights held bright pink signs and chanted, “Separate church and state! Separate church and state!”
Brian Gunter, a representative of the abortion abolition group End Abortion Now from Louisiana, denounced the committee members.
“These legislators will be held guilty before a holy God for not doing justice for these children,” Gunter told The Tennessean.
“The members of the committee who did not motion for this to get a hearing today, they are going to, one day … stand before the Lord Jesus Christ the creator of Heaven and Earth with the blood of the children that are continuing to be murdered by abortion in this state on their hands,” he added.
Jennifer Brinkman, a Nashville native, held a sign that read "Jody wants to protect us by killing us? WTF." She said she is concerned that pregnant women are already unable to access emergency care at hospitals due to laws currently in place.
“Women are showing up at emergency rooms bleeding to death, and they are denied care,” Brinkman said. “If a rapist, a person who has mass-murdered people, somebody on death row, if you show up in an emergency room and you are bleeding to death, you will get health care. The only person that is denied health care in this state is a pregnant person who is bleeding to death.”
“Did you notice how many men were in this group? And did you notice that not one of their women was talking? That ought to tell you everything you need to know,” Brinkman said. “Their women are breeding chattel and their women are subservient to them. They are loud, and they are in control.”
Tennessee has had some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country since the state’s “trigger ban” took effect in 2022. The Human Life Protection Act prohibits all abortions from fertilization on, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Narrow medical exceptions exist for ectopic and molar pregnancies, but not fatal fetal diagnoses. Performing an abortion is a Class C felony in Tennessee, resulting in up to 15 years in prison and fines for physicians.
In recent years, lawmakers have also made it a felony for companies and delivery services to fulfill orders for abortion pills by mail in Tennessee, made it a crime to help a minor travel out of state for an abortion without parental consent and required school children to watch a video on fetal development.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
