I’m calling Austin’s bluff on the Ten Commandments | The Dallas Morning News

by Chaz Stevens
Dallas Morning News

Soon, Gov. Greg Abbott will sign Senate Bill 10 into law, placing Ten Commandments posters in every public school classroom in Texas. As a professional disruptor, I offer three words in response: “Thou shalt not.”

You see, SB 10 isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s the Wonka Golden Ticket for unintended religious consequences. So please, Texas lawmakers, be careful what you pray for.

In 2022, the Texas Legislature passed a law requiring public schools to display posters that read “In God We Trust.” So I donated posters to the cause: 2,500 of them, displaying “In God We Trust” in Arabic. Roughly 100 boxes sent, and with zero displayed, this endeavor exposed Austin’s selective approach to religious freedom.

Today, I’m laying the groundwork to send 25,000 deliberately provocative Ten Commandments posters, another test of the state’s commitment to religious equality. I suspect this effort, too, will be ignored — or at least attempted to be ignored.

This strategy, known as malicious compliance, involves obeying regulations so precisely that hypocrisy becomes glaringly evident. Texas must either display every religious viewpoint or openly engage in constitutional bias.

So why escalate after being ignored the first time?

Last year, I learned the art of “lawfare” by filing a federal pro se viewpoint discrimination lawsuit against Broward County Schools in Florida. Though I lost the legal battle, I forced Broward County to revise their discriminatory practices. The experience taught me that legal pressure, even from a citizen, works. Now, I find Texas squarely in my sights.

My Ten Commandments posters will include an Arabic edition, testing Texas’ commitment to inclusivity; Russian and Chinese editions, highlighting Texas’ undeniable cultural diversity; and a four-letter word edition, emphasizing the Biblical words kill, adultery, steal and, of course, ass.

Releasing the artwork under a Creative Commons license allows Texans and everyone else to freely download, print and distribute these posters. Nothing drives grassroots accountability like thousands of citizens engaging in direct action.

Gov. Abbott, be careful what you pray for.

T. Chaz Stevens is founder of Revolt Training. His efforts have been featured in The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and Fortune.