The Ten Commandments DO belong in classrooms — here’s why

For 150 years, the Ten Commandments were displayed and taught in public schools, but in 1980, a Supreme Court decision ended mandatory postings. Mandating the display of a religious creed was deemed a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits Congress from establishing a national religion.

Many, even Christians, supported the ruling as a protection of the separation of church and state, but Glenn Beck says they’re misled.

Not only are the Ten Commandments “critical for a free society,” they’re the ticket to “[restoring] our republic,” which is spiraling out of control at a terrifying speed, he says.

For the Christian, the Ten Commandments are a set of divine laws given by God to Moses that outline moral and spiritual principles for worshiping and obeying God. But for the American citizen, the Ten Commandments are foundational moral and ethical guidelines that are the bedrock of this country. To know them is to know our history and who we are as a sovereign people.

On this episode of "The Glenn Beck Program," Glenn breaks down what the Ten Commandments mean for this country and why they absolutely belong in public schools.

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1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

For the average citizen, Christian or not, this commandment is crucial because it establishes “limits on government,” declaring that “truth comes from something much, much higher” than man, meaning that God, not man, is the giver of rights, Glenn explains.

Further, the first commandment “is a warning against idolatry in all of its forms. When we make the state or money or race or creed or technology — anything — the ultimate authority, we create a god that will consume us.”

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

This commandment, Glenn says, is a lesson about what happens “when people begin to serve images instead of truth”: “Tyranny always follows.”

“It’s a call to seek truth, not manipulation,” he says.

Given we live in a world of “manufactured images” and artificial intelligence and media manipulation, this commandment is perhaps “more urgent than ever.”

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

For citizens, this has nothing to do with cursing or using God’s name sacrilegiously.

“This is about the misuse of moral authority,” Glenn says. It’s understanding the importance of “not [invoking] God or any higher cause for wicked ends.”

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

This commandment has long protected Americans from being forced to work like slaves.

“Do they have seven-day work weeks, or do they have weekends off in China? When slaves were around, did they have weekends off?” Glenn asks rhetorically.

What this fourth commandment does for Americans, he explains, is establish “dignity for workers, the right to rest, the rhythm of renewal.”

5. Honor thy father and thy mother.

“Why is that so important?” Glenn asks. “Because civilization begins with the family — not with the state, not with a corporation.”

“It doesn’t survive without generational wisdom” because “without generational wisdom, you have cultural amnesia, and a society that mocks its elders and abandons its children is suicidal,” he warns.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

This commandment establishes that “no one is expendable; life has value — not because the state permits it but because life is sacred and doesn’t belong to [us],” Glenn says. But sadly, “from the womb to the street to the clinic, we’ve redefined life to suit convenience.”

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

“This one is about trust; this one is about making a covenant and keeping your word,” he says. “A society that treats vows as disposable treats people as disposable.”

8. Thou shalt not steal.

“This [commandment] is the foundation of capitalism, not cronyism. ... Without this, there’s no incentive to build,” Glenn says, noting that patent laws are “just another way of our society saying you shall not steal.”

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Glenn calls this commandment the “anchor” of “fairness,” “journalism,” “law,” and “society” at large.

“Truth matters in court, in media, in conversation. If lies rule, justice dies,” he says.

10. Thou shalt not covet.

“Because we’ve lost track of the Ten Commandments, our society now pits the rich and the poor,” Glenn says.

“People are like, ‘Yeah, they’re rich. Who cares? Let their children die in a flood,’” he laments. “I’ve never seen that — never. That’s covet. That’s, ‘They have something I want, and I don’t care what happens to them because I want their stuff.’”

When people adopt this covetous mindset, eventually we have “no civilization.”

“When we removed the Ten Commandments, we didn’t just remove God. We removed the blueprint for all civilization. Without the Ten Commandments, we cannot right the ship; we cannot fix ourselves,” Glenn says.

But how do we put the Ten Commandments back in public schools where they belong?

To hear Glenn’s answer, watch the video above.

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