This past week, Louisiana became the first state in the nation — or the nation’s history for that matter — to pass a state law requiring that a suitably-produced copy of the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom of every school, at all grade levels through university level.
Civil rights groups on Monday filed a lawsuit against Louisiana’s House Bill 71, which mandates that all public schools display the Ten Commandments. File Photo by Michael Kleinfeld/United Press International.
The law, HB 71, stipulated that this posting would be paid for by donations — but that has not silenced objectors. Nor has it negated the fairly obvious intrusion of a political movement known as “Christian nationalism” into politics, our daily lives, and schools.
A lawsuit was filed Monday, June 24 by a group of public school parents, as well as clergy against the mandated display of the Ten Commandments, the group known as Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and offices of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).
‘This is religious favoritism, and it is not only dangerous but runs counter to my religion and faith,’ said Presbyterian Church (USA) minister and plaintiff in the case the Rev. Jeff Sims.
Speaking at a press conference after the suit was filed, the head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Rachel Laser, pointed out that several other states [Oklahoma, Mississippi, and South Carolina] have introduced similar bills attempting to dictate public morality. Calling this an example of “the Christian nationalism that is on the march across this country” she said that Texas has also already passed a law allowing public schools to enlist chaplains.
Communicating with several journalists in the past few days, we noted it could reasonably be asked that if anything is required to be posted in every classroom in a state, it should be the law of this land — the United States Constitution, not a Christian document.
In fact, the posting of the TEn Commandments would appear to violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
This is a multi-cultural nation. The reaction across the U.S. may not be what the Louisiana legislators thought they might see. Objections are not just being voiced by those of other religions, from Jewish to Muslim, and Hindus, but by the leadership of Christian denominations, including the mainline protestant faiths.
According to Religious News Service, “the plaintiffs argue the statute unfairly privileges a specific version of Christian scripture in addition to impinging on the rights of the nonreligious and those of other faiths.” Further, they say, “the law violates their First Amendment right to religious freedom as well as the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against establishing a state religion.
“This simply cannot be reconciled with the fundamental religious-freedom principles that animated the founding of our nation,” reads the complaint, which notes no federal court has upheld the display of the Ten Commandments in a public school setting.
The plaintiffs in this case are a mixture of religious and non-religious parents, and include clergy who object to a narrow interpretation of religion.
“By subjecting my children to permanent displays of scripture in every classroom, the Ten Commandments conflicts with this principle,” said Unitarian Universalist Minister Rev. Darcy Roake. According to Religious News Service (RNS) she pointed out “that among her faith tradition’s seven principles is a call for “the right to a free and responsible search for truth and meaning,” that her husband is Jewish and that they have raised their children in a multi-faith household.
“My husband believes this state-mandated version of the Ten Commandments does not conform with his Jewish faith either, because the displays misappropriate and alter the text of the Ten Commandments as they are set out in the Torah,” she told a RNS reporter.
There is more irony — turns out that the Louisiana law requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in English — but of course the original ten were in Hebrew.