Culture War

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Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a slew of bills into law in April, many of which are aimed at reshaping education to cut out potential corruption, while mandating Christ return to our children’s curricula.

Students from grades six through 12 will be taught, without any limitation, the identity of our Creator, God, as viewed by the Founding Fathers. Throughout these teachings, children will learn about the religious and moral beliefs our nation was founded upon.

Some of you may be concerned that this seems like a drastic shift away from the separation of church and state. Did you know that the precedent of “separation of church and state” doesn’t actually exist in any meaningful law?

Thanks to a 1971 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, something colloquially called the “Lemon test” created a framework that was later used to remove God from public schools by declaring religious expressions like the Ten Commandments unconstitutional. This marked a turning point away from the faith-based roots of our nation’s education system.

In 2022, the Supreme Court reversed course on the Lemon test, giving Americans the freedom to bring Christ back to our public spaces. We’ll be sure to bring you all the latest on religious freedom news from across the country, as well as myriad ways to take action in your local, state, and federal governance on this issue. 

Full List of Signed Bills

The following list was shared by KATV.

SB391 – An act to create the robotics competition grant program for eligible robotics teams in public or private schools for the purpose of encouraging study in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and for other purposes.

HB1561 – An act to amend the law regarding higher education; to establish the research and education protection act of 2025; and for other purposes.

HB1598 – An act concerning the school rating system; to require the Department of Education to establish a new accountability system for public schools; to remove public schools from school ratings for certain school years; and for other purposes.

HB1633 – An act to amend eligibility requirements for homeschooled students to participate in interscholastic activities that are athletic activities at public schools and private schools; to amend eligibility requirements for students who transfer schools under the Arkansas opportunity public school choice act to participate in extracurricular activities; to amend eligibility requirements for students who transfer schools under the public school choice act of 2015 to participate in extracurricular activities; to declare an emergency; and for other purposes.

HB1640 – An act concerning ethical guidelines and prohibitions for public school employees; to amend the definition of “administrator” as it relates to ethical guidelines and prohibitions; to amend the restrictions on employment specific to public school administrators; and for other purposes.

HB1697 – An act to amend provisions of title 6 of the Arkansas code concerning provisional positions for state-supported institutions of higher education; to amend provisions of title 19 of the Arkansas code concerning motor vehicle restrictions for state-supported institutions of higher education; to declare an emergency; and for other purposes.

HB1705 – An act to require certain information be embedded into existing social studies standards; to require information concerning how the religious and moral beliefs of the founding fathers influenced the founding of the United States to be embedded into existing social studies standards; and for other purposes.

HB1271 – An act to amend the law concerning mechanics’ and materialmen’s liens; to clarify the priority of liens in mortgage construction loans; and for other purposes.

HB1557 – An act to amend the duties and powers of the division of information systems concerning information technology; to amend the definitions under the Arkansas code related to the division of information systems; and for other purposes.

HB1382 – An act to require certain reporting by designated protection and advocacy agency for the state and the designated client assistance program for the state to the hospital, Medicaid, and developmental disabilities study subcommittee of legislative council; and for other purposes.

SB100 – An act to authorize the Arkansas Medicaid program to recognize a physician assistant as a primary care provider; and for other purposes.

SB264 – An act to establish the Arkansas primary care payment improvement working group; and for other purposes.

HB1474 – An act concerning the prevention of human trafficking; to require the display of information about the national human trafficking hotline; and for other purposes.

HB1551 – An act to amend the law concerning criminal abortion; to create the offense of coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud; and for other purposes.

HB1760 – An act to amend the law concerning applications for the adjustment of a property assessment; to provide that a county equalization board does not have jurisdiction to determine whether property qualifies for certain property tax relief; to provide for a county court’s jurisdiction to consider certain petitions for an adjustment of a property assessment; and for other purposes.

SB293 – An act to amend the law concerning the required postings at a polling site; to amend the list concerning required posting of notices, information, and material at a polling site on election day; and for other purposes.

SB365 – An act to amend the Arkansas small brewery act; to authorize the operation of three small brewery taprooms by a holder of a small brewery license; and for other purposes.

HB1549 – An act to create the Arkansas cybersecurity act of 2025; and for other purposes.

HB1654 – An act to amend the special license plate act of 2005; to authorize the issuance and renewal of a special license plate to promote and support the make-a-wish foundation of the mid-south; to address the inventory of the mid-south community college education special license plate; and for other purposes.

SB305 – An act to require certain testing of processed marijuana products sold as medical marijuana; and for other purposes.

SB411 – An act to amend the law concerning the height of vehicles; to create an offense for the operation of a vehicle with a modified bumper; and for other purposes.

SB416 – An act to repeal the electric vehicle infrastructure grant program; to repeal the electric vehicle infrastructure fund; and for other purposes.

HB1094 – An act to make an appropriation for personal services and operating expenses for the Department of Health- tobacco prevention and cessation programs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026; and for other purposes.

HB1125 – An act to make an appropriation for personal services and operating expenses for the Department of Finance and Administration – regulatory division for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026; and for other purposes.

HB1232 – An act to make an appropriation for personal services and operating expenses for the Department of the Military for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026; and for other purposes.

HB1691 – An act to provide for certain property to be exempt from taxation; to provide that certain motor vehicles used exclusively for public charity and exempt from personal property tax; and for other purposes.

HB1716 – An act to amend the law concerning the assessment and collection of taxes by the secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration; to prohibit the assessment of sales and use tax in certain circumstances; and for other purposes.

SB392 – An act to amend Arkansas law concerning the classification and compensation of state employees; to declare an emergency; and for other purposes.

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Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

This is an evolving story. Please check back for updates.

Arkansas took one big step closer to mandating the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom Monday, with the house approving SB 433 in a 71-20 vote.

SB 433 passed through Arkansas’ Senate just under a month ago, and advanced out of the House committee on April 2, according to Word and Way. The majority vote from the Republican-controlled House now sends the bill directly to the desk of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to be signed.

Once signed, SB 433 mandates that schools throughout the state display a poster of the Ten Commandments in every classroom and teach the historical significance of the text to Arkansas students. One writer for the Arkansas Times argued that this means “readers in classrooms around the state will soon be asking their teachers what ‘adultery’ means,” which feels fairly harmless given the gender indoctrination happening in millions of other classrooms, particularly given that these words come directly from God.

Separation of Church & State Ended In 2022

In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-to-3 in favor of high school football coach Joseph Kennedy’s right to pray at the 5-yard line at the end of each game, claimed NPR.

“Respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic. Here, a government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a personal religious observance, based on a mistaken view that it has a duty to suppress religious observances even as it allows comparable secular speech. The Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination. Mr. Kennedy is entitled to summary judgment on his religious exercise and free speech claims,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch at the time.

The decision overturned a short-held legal precedent regarding the constitutionality of public religious displays. It’s believed the Ten Commandments were a prominent part of American education for almost three centuries prior to 1980, when the prior legal precedent was held against it. The first purely American educational textbook “New England Primer” was published by Benjamin Harris in Boston in 1690, featuring an in-depth section on the Ten Commandments.

In the context of American history, 45 years, from 1980 to 2025, without having the Ten Commandments in our education system doesn’t seem like a very long time, especially when you take into account it was part of our curriculum from at least 1690 to 1980 (that’s 290 years). But ask yourself: how do the last 45 years or so compare to the previous 290?

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