Texas is on track to put the Ten Commandments posted back in the classroom.
Tim Barton, president of WallBuilders, told the “Todd Starnes Show” it’s a “great idea.”
Texas State Sen. Phil King (R) introduced a new bill in the Lone Star State to mandate the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom.
Barton told host Todd Starnes this new legislation seems very logical.
“The Ten Commandments have been the basis of all morals for the Western civilization, for the Western world, really, since the inception of the Western world. And so to me, it seems very logical. There’s a lot of good historic and legal precedent for this as well. But certainly, from a commonsense perspective, this just makes sense to go back to telling kids basic notions of morality like don’t kill other people,” Barton told Starnes.
Barton also gave a short history lesson on the first textbooks printed in America, which contained over 40 questions about the Ten Commandments at the back of the book.
“It wasn’t until 1980 when an activist Supreme Court determined that, you know, that’s probably been enough of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Let’s not do that anymore. The 1980s, when activist judges said no more. Well, fortunately, because of the Supreme Court last summer overturning some of the bad precedents, we are at a place where we once again can restore some of the basic moral values we used to teach kids, which includes once again posting copies of the Ten Commandments.”
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW:
The following is a rush transcript from the Todd Starnes Show, which airs daily from noon – 3:00 p.m. EST.
TODD STARNES: [01:34:21] Welcome back to the Todd Starnes radio program. State Senator Phil King out of Texas has introduced a new bill that would mandate the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom in the Lone Star State. How do you feel about that, ladies and gentlemen? Do you think that’s a good idea to post a monument, a poster reminding children of the Ten Commandments in their public school classroom? Eight, four, four, seven, four, seven, eight, eight, six, eight. Want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. Tim Barton joins us. He is the president of WallBuilders. We’re big fans of that group, WallBuilders.com. Tim, good to have you with us today. [01:35:05][44.3]
TIM BARTON: [01:35:06] Well, it’s good to be with you. Thanks for having me back. [01:35:08][1.6]
TODD STARNES: [01:35:08] All right. Let’s talk about this. It seems like a pretty noble effort here displaying the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. [01:35:15][7.0]
TIM BARTON: [01:35:16] I think it’s a great idea for several reasons. But one of the arguments we’ve heard from the left is, especially since the Nashville shooting, we need to regulate guns. And obviously, the argument is we want to stop violent crime. But there’s a level of irony when you criminalize someone for killing people. Right. In many states, there’s a death penalty if you go around murdering people. And yet we are saying that we should not present the idea to students in their classrooms, things like thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not murder. It seems illogical, and intellectually dishonest to presume that we want a certain behavior from them that we’re not guiding them with. The Ten Commandments have been the basis of all morals for the Western civilization, for the Western world, really, since the inception of the Western world. And so to me, it seems very logical. There’s a lot of good historic and legal precedent for this as well. But certainly, from a commonsense perspective, this just makes sense to go back to telling kids basic notions of morality like don’t kill other people. [01:36:21][64.8]
TODD STARNES: [01:36:22] I think it’s a pretty great idea. And when you go back in history, which is what you guys do there at WallBuilders, there is plenty of evidence that American public school classrooms were not only Pro Ten Commandments but also pro-God, pro-Bible, pro-prayer over the decades and generations. [01:36:42][19.8]
TIM BARTON: [01:36:43] Absolutely right. In fact, if people want to go back to the very first textbook printed in English in America, it was called the New England Primer. And in the back of the New England Primer. And this was the first textbook used in public school, education in America that was printed in America. And so essentially, this is the first-grade textbook. This is where everything started. And in the back of that New England primer, there were questions on faith and theology that they wanted students to know to learn these things. Well, there are 43 questions in the back of this New England primer on the Ten Commandments. And I don’t even know how the original 43 questions on the Ten Commandments. But when you start reading them, it actually makes sense. What is the first commandment? What’s required in the first commandment? What’s forbidden in the first commandment? But they wanted students to know this. This was part of the foundation of education. If you go forward to McGuffey readers, which more students utilize, I think a hundred million McGuffey readers sold in the 19th and 20th centuries. I mean, more students have used these in virtually any other textbook. When McGuffey readers hear the Ten Commandments, the Ten Commandments have always been a part of education. And it wasn’t until 1980 when an activist Supreme Court determined that, you know, that’s probably been enough of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Let’s not do that anymore. The 1980s, when activist judges said no more. Well, fortunately, because of the Supreme Court last summer overturning some of the bad precedents, we are at a place where we once again can restore some of the basic moral values we used to teach kids, which includes once again posting copies of the Ten Commandments. [01:38:09][86.5]
TODD STARNES: [01:38:11] And again, going back and just recent history, I remember as a kid growing up, the Gideons would show up at our school, these Christian businessmen, and they would give the children a Bible. Can’t do that anymore. And in a lot of schools, you can’t pray anymore. A lot of schools, won’t let you post the Ten Commandments. And yet the drag queens are welcomed with open arms. God is not welcome, but the drag queens are. [01:38:34][23.0]
TIM BARTON: [01:38:36] It is a very sad position we find ourselves in. But this is also it’s no surprise, then, that we’re seeing the breakdown of morals in society. We’re seeing more violence and we’re seeing more criminal activity in all these cities that are having issues. When when we are saying not only that there is no God, which is the founding fathers, they’re very primitive. The declaration when they said we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and they’re endowed by their creator with certain rights. We always knew in America there was a God, and God has given us rights. God has given us a standard. And certainly the most basic of those standards were the Ten Commandments and the idea that God, as you mentioned, that we are now in faith, that we’re telling kids that there is no God, you can’t talk to God, you can’t pray, we won’t read about God, but we’re going to sexualize children. And do these drag shows for elementary school students. This is immoral and it’s evil. Fortunately, there are gentlemen like Phil King in Texas who are working to restore some basic sanity and morals to classrooms. [01:39:36][60.8]
TODD STARNES: [01:39:37] Well, I like to hear this on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. Tim Barton from WallBuilders.com. That’s WallBuilders.com. And Tim, I know that you guys are out there. You have a pro-family legislative network. What’s that all about? And what do you guys hope to accomplish there? [01:39:52][15.2]
TIM BARTON: [01:39:53] Yeah, this is something that one of the offshoots of all we did while Brothers with American History is trying to restore the foundation of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was God-given right. The Founding Fathers talked so much about it. And so we have a legislative network and we work with legislators all over the U.S. trying to do things to defend the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and even basic moral values like we’re talking about today. And so this is something that we are actually working on nearly in all 50 states that try to do things every year to preserve family values, traditional values, and constitutional principles along the way. So it’s just one of many outlets that we do at WallBuilders to try to make a difference in the nation. [01:40:32][38.6]
TODD STARNES: [01:40:32] All right. Very good. And again, the emails or the website addresses pro-family dot com and WallBuilders.com. Tim, hope you and your family have a great Easter weekend. [01:40:43][10.9]
TIM BARTON: [01:40:45] Thanks so much, Todd. You too. [01:40:45][0.9]
TODD STARNES: [01:40:46] All right. There you go, folks. Tim Barton, good people over at WallBuilders. Again WallBuilders.com and pro-family dot com. We have links to those websites over on our live show blog. [01:40:57][11.5]
