Thou shalt what?
Louisiana now requires the Ten Commandments to be shown in every public school classroom, the first state in the nation to do so.
“If you want to respect the rule of law, you gotta start from the original law given, which was Moses … He got his commandments from God,” Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said Wednesday at a bill signing ceremony held at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette.
Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation to make Louisiana the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORKThe legislation, House Bill 71, was approved by state lawmakers last month.
It mandates that a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments with “large, easily readable font” be hung in every state-funded classroom – from kindergarten to universities – by the start of 2025.
The displays must be placed in classrooms by 2025, the law says. Rob – stock.adobe.com
A “context statement” explaining how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries” must appear alongside the display.
The law also authorizes but does not require schools to put up copies of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance in classrooms.
The bill was drafted by GOP members of Louisiana’s state legislature. APState funds will not go toward implementing the mandate. Institutions will instead pay for the displays through donations or be donated posters.
Several civil liberties groups have already vowed to challenge the constitutionality of the law, claiming it violates the First Amendment prohibition on government establishment of an official religion.
Similar bills requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms have been proposed in other states including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com“We are preparing a lawsuit to challenge H.B. 71,” the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation said in a joint statement.
“The law violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional. The First Amendment promises that we all get to decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice, without pressure from the government. Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools,” the groups argued.
“All students should feel safe and welcome in our public schools. H.B. 71 would undermine this critical goal and prevent schools from providing an equal education to all students, regardless of faith. We will not allow Louisiana lawmakers to undermine these religious-freedom rights,” they added.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional.
Legislation requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms has been proposed in Texas, Oklahoma and Utah.
