Ten Commandments display ‘unconstitutional,’ but Muslim prayer rooms in Minnesota schools are fine
School administrators and other school employees are restricted as follows:
When acting in their official capacities as representatives of the State, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees are prohibited by the First Amendment from encouraging or discouraging prayer, and from actively participating in such activity with students.
With regard to 2024 lawsuits referred to in the article below about the Ten Commandments, one must remember a key clause. That while mandatory state laws are often blocked, schools may display the Ten Commandments if they are part of a secular historical curriculum:
Public schools and universities are also required to include a three-paragraph “context statement,” explaining the history of the Ten Commandments in the American public education system. The statement, written into the law, explains how the document has been used in education throughout American history, noting various versions of textbooks that have included the Ten Commandments.
The bill also specifies that schools can choose to display the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance alongside the Ten Commandments, but those documents are not required. It doesn’t specify which version of the Ten Commandments schools should display or any other religious texts schools may display.
Muslim prayer rooms and foot-washing stations just don’t factor in here. They simply do not constitute any part of a secular historical curriculum. So yet again, it is clear that Muslims are enjoying special privileges.
Report: Minnesota High School Renovation Includes Prayer Rooms, Foot-Washing Stations
Twitchy, April 22, 2026:
Back in 2024, lawsuits were filed immediately after Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a new requirement for the state’s public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Not surprisingly, David French immediately penned an op-ed for The New York Times decrying the law and arguing that having God in classrooms is not a conservative position. “Altering constitutional law is not the only motivation here; a version of Christian mysticism is also in play,” French wrote, arguing that “there is a real belief that the Ten Commandments have a form of spiritual power over the hearts and minds of students and that posting the displays can change their lives.”
A federal district court blocked the law in late 2024, and a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initially upheld the block last summer, calling it “plainly unconstitutional.” The “separation of church and state” crowd was out in full force.
Now, we’re learning that a high school undergoing renovations in Minnesota will include a prayer room and foot-washing stations.
The post continues:
… foot-washing plans “were included in updated plans after hearing from user groups on student needs.”
“This is undoubtedly for Muslim students only. I cannot understand how this can be happening in this era of no religion in schools,” the tipster said…
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Connecticut: Muslim state rep removes American flag from her desk, displays Pakistani flag
Priorities, priorities.
GOP protests display of tiny Pakistani flag on CT lawmaker’s desk
by Mark Pazniokas, CT Mirror, April 21, 2026:
Small yellow Gadsden flags blossomed like late daffodils Monday on the desks of 18 Republicans in the House of Representatives, not a complaint of Connecticut’s uncertain spring but a rebuke to a Muslim colleague born in Pakistan: Rep. Maryam Khan, a Democrat from Windsor.
On Khan’s desk in the third row, three off the center aisle of the House, the tiny U.S. flag displayed on most desks since the attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 had disappeared. In its place was the flag of Pakistan, a green banner with a crescent and star symbolizing its founding as a Muslim homeland.
“I displayed the Pakistani flag as a reflection of my heritage and personal pride. Any suggestion that it represents something improper or disloyal is simply inaccurate,” Khan said in a text. “Pakistan is a longstanding diplomatic partner of the United States, and acknowledging one’s background does not diminish commitment to this country or to serving the people of Connecticut.”
Khan, a school teacher elected to the House in a special election in 2022, said she made the switch after reports April 8 of Pakistan’s success in brokering a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. She said she was disappointed that no Republican approached her directly before staging their mini-flag protest.
“I’ve had the Pakistani flag in my office for little while,” Khan said.
It replaced the U.S. flag as a matter of pride, not a rebuke to America, the country where she is now a citizen, Khan said. Space on legislative desks is limited, she said.
“I’m going to try to get a multiple-flag holder so I can have multiple flags,” she said….
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