Arkansas SB433: Ten Commandments

Arkansas recently became the second state in our nation to require displays of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms and other public buildings.  Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 433 (SB433) into law on April 14, 2025, after a 71-20 passage in the House and a 27-4 passage in the Senate.  Louisiana passed a similar Bill (H.B. 71) in June 2024.

While I certainly revere and respect the Biblical principles of the Ten Commandments and see the great value in their public display, I foresee some viable challenges about codifying their

presentation.  When I grew up in the Memphis Public School system of Tennessee, we opened each day in the classroom with a reading from the Bible, a prayer voiced by the teacher, a fellow student, or the Lord’s Prayer recited by the class, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag.  We did so unhindered and without opposition, at least until self-proclaimed atheist Madelyn Murray O’Hare filed a lawsuit in 1963, challenging Bible reading and prayer in public schools.  After lengthy litigation, the Supreme Court ultimately determined that such practice violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and ruled against mandatory school prayer.  Conflicts over the exercise of religious freedom in public arenas have raged ever since.

Things have changed dramatically in American society since my school days during the 1960s and 70s.  The clash in ideologies and values has grown much deeper in our nation, and the dogmatism with which they are defended and challenged is just as militant and hostile.  Everyone demands their rights about almost anything these days, and whatever the culture determines is legitimate is seemingly legalized by the state and federal governments.  That just adds to the chasm that further divides us.

My concern centers around our culture’s obsession with diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI), which I write about extensively in the third volume of my book series (Dismantling Doctrines of Demons: Discovering the Deliverance).  Who will be next to invoke lawmakers to enact legislation allowing the display of their preferred religious relics and credenda?  Will there come a day when, alongside the framed Ten Commandments in the public classrooms of my grandchildren, an equally framed poster will display the Four Pillars of Islam, the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, the Seven Tenets of Hinduism, or even the Seven Fundamental Tenets of Satanism?  Will our Christian children be subject to an Islamic prayer to Allah, a liturgical homage to the Hindu Brahman, or Buddha, even Satan?  The protective rights of Christianity to display and express their Biblical truths are the same protective rights that allow others to display theirs, and efforts to assert that right are sure to come.

Following the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the Arkansas Capitol grounds in 2017, the Satanic Temple called for its removal or for the installation of their own Baphomet as well (a goat-headed, winged creature sitting on a throne with two small children standing on either side), to show the state's unbiased support for religious tolerance.  The Arkansas Legislature denied Satanists the opportunity to place their statue and kept the Ten Commandments monument in place, where it still rests today.  SB433 is certainly to draw similar challenges.

The fundamental cry of protest will likely assail the common violation of “the separation of church and state.”  This is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied statements in our nation.  It is a phrase found nowhere in the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights, despite what proponents boldly proclaim.  It is used as a whipping stick to shut Christians up and send them back to the quiet little corners of their church sanctuaries, and stay out of politics and public policy.  It overlooks the simple fact that Christians are also citizens of the state and have a rightful voice in both arenas.

As I write in the first volume of my book series, Dismantling Doctrines of Demons: Disclosing the Darkness, a variation of the phrase was coined by Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, and rephrased by Thomas Jefferson in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut.  Jefferson declared that when the American people adopted the Establishment Clause, they built a “wall of separation between the church and state.” In Jefferson’s colony of Virginia, the Anglican Church had long been the state-established church. He and fellow Virginian James Madison believed state support for a particular religion or any religion was improper because it would compel citizens to support a faith they did not follow through taxation, thereby violating their rights to religious liberty.  So, the intent was for the government not to form a government-established church and thereby tax its citizens to support that church through compliance, a clear violation of religious freedom.  It was not intended to shut Christians out of a representative voice and public presence.

How does SB433 resolve that Constitutional issue since public education is funded through taxpayer dollars?  In the same way the Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds was allowed – “The copies or posters authorized under this section shall either be donated or purchased solely with funds made available through voluntary contributions to the local school boards, local building governing entity, or the Building Authority Division.” (Arkansas SB433, Section 1, Subsection (2) (b)).  So, to be clear, tax dollars are absolutely prohibited for providing the development or placement of the Ten Commandments on public building walls in Arkansas.  Therefore, there is no violation of the Establishment Clause.  Again, “what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.”  Other religious groups can follow the same strategy, and you can be sure they will try since it is their religious right to do so.

We live in a multi-cultural, religious society where ecumenical blending is becoming increasingly the standard.  Denominational lines are being dismantled or blurred so that distinctions are not as clear and differentiated as they were in days gone by.  The progressive manta today strives to melt distinctions and consolidate everyone in a spirit of love and unity.  It is the religious application of secular DEI with a growing presence in many churches.  I firmly believe this is a prelude to the one-world unified religion of the Tribulation Antichrist.  Places of worship have dropped their name affiliations and transformed their identity away from the “First Baptist…” to something far more generic, such as “Love Cathedral” or “The Connection Place” to attract individuals who dislike denominationalism and a creedal code by which beliefs and standards of behavior are defined.  It goes back to the rights people assert today to live the way they want to live, and no one has the right to judge or challenge them otherwise, not even from a Biblical perspective.

There was a reason God commanded the ancient Hebrews not to intermarry with nationalities around them (Deuteronomy 7:3-4), and for the racists of our land, it was not an interracial prohibition.  It had nothing to do with the color of skin; it had everything to do with spiritual differences and religious practices.  The Hebrews were to be a monotheistic people, meaning they were to worship and serve the One and only True God – Jehovah Yahweh.  The nations and tribes that surrounded them were polytheistic people, meaning they worshipped many gods, pagans, and idols, thereby rejecting the God of the Jews.  Each time the Jews violated that standard and integrated idol worship in their practice, they suffered the judgment of God.

Those distinctions have not been lifted – “Come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. (II Corinthians 6:17).  Obviously, that does not mean Christians should not love and minister to marginalized society, but loving & ministering is far different from blanket acceptance, approval, and accommodation of unrighteous lifestyles that are clearly condemned in the Biblical standard.  How can a person know if his life reflects that Godly standard if it is not publicly displayed or proclaimed before him - How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14).

Having the Ten Commandments inscribed on a monument or posted on a wall is not a bad thing.  About that, God said - "You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-20).  In the ancient world, their display was to have a place both domestically and publicly.  Why would God declare the importance of that value in ancient times and not still hold its relevance for our time?

Would I necessarily mind the accompanying display of other religious tenets alongside the Ten Commandments?  Not as long as they were presented as an educational comparison, rather than a challenging option to the Biblical commands, in the appropriate age-graded learning environment.  Let’s face it; there are forces in this world that wish all Christian thoughts and teachings be suppressed and abolished, and gaining a foothold in early childhood education is a targeted place for them to start.  So, let’s keep the frontals bound with the truth of God’s Word in every way so that He is justified when final judgment separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46).  After all, murder, theft, slander, and perjury still define our criminal laws today, prescribed in numbers 6,8,9, and 10 of those Ten Commandments.  Remaining faithful to your spouse and honoring your parents, numbers 5 and 7, still provide for a healthy, safe, and loving home.  Most importantly, acknowledging God as the One and only True God, the first Command, is the only way for a person to experience the forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life in Heaven (John 3:16, John 14:6, Acts 4:12).

In a perfect world, there would be no need for God’s commands to be posted on a public wall because the home and the church would be the primary teaching and learning environment for training our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6).  That failure in many American homes is the reason other efforts of proclamation must be engaged.  The church is under a missional mandate to proclaim God’s Word of Truth (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8).  If parents and pastors would do their jobs effectively, perhaps there would be no need for public or government interests to take up the slack.  But it never hurts to be reminded of what God expects as we round the corners and walk the thoroughfares of life.  After all, He knows us best and knows what is best for us.  The Ten Commandments provide our best directives for a prosperous, healthy, and fulfilling life.  Is that not what we want for ourselves and all our children?

Blessings,

Rick M. Smith