A Texas lawmaker mocked the morals of his fellow legislators during a vote on displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms across the state.
State Rep. James Talarico pressed his Republican colleagues on their bill requiring public school classrooms to have the holy text hung on their walls on Saturday, chiding how several of the rules were seemingly being broken or have been broken by lawmakers.
The Democrat noted that they were holding their deliberations on Saturday and their vote on Sunday violated the Ten Commandments, as the Fourth Commandment calls on Christians to keep the Sabbath “holy” by not working. Saturday is the Sabbath for Jewish individuals, and Christians honor it on Sunday.
@jamestalarico Republicans passed the bill on the Sabbath… breaking the 4th Commandment. Maybe they should try following the Ten Commandments before mandating them. SB 10 will force every public school teacher in the state of Texas to put up a poster of the Ten Commandments in their classroom.
“It’s ironic isn’t it?” state Rep. Candy Noble, a Republican sponsor of the bill, laughed.
“You’re saying that you’d rather tell people to follow the Ten Commandments than follow it yourself?” Talarico replied.
Although Noble defended the displaying of the Ten Commandments as a way to honor “our historical, educational and judicial heritage,” Talarico pressed further into other holy rules enshrined in the scripture.
“The Ninth Commandment is ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness.’ Are you aware of any legislators who have lied about anything?” Talarico asked, prompting laughter from the gallery.
“The Seventh Commandment is ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Do you think that members of the legislature should focus more on trying to follow the Ten Commandments rather than telling others to follow them?” he continued.
Talarico shared a clip of the exchange to TikTok, where it has since garnered more than 9.6 million views. In the caption, he wrote, “Maybe [Republicans] should try following the Ten Commandments before mandating them.”
The bill was ultimately passed by a 82-46 vote in the Texas House Sunday with an amendment that the state will bear the costs of any future legal challenges to the law, KXAN reported. The bill now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. He previously expressed support for the bill in posts to social media.
Originally published on Latin Times
