h Gov. Jeff Landry, Attorney General Liz Murrill and a majority in the h Legislature , apparently because they think young children, preteens, teenagers and young adults need that they may or may not be getting at home.
So we have the commandments for educators and students to see as instruction is delivered by educators in English, reading, math, science, social studies and other subjects.
That means people in their late teens and early 20s pursuing college degrees would have to see this specific set of Biblical laws each time they enter a classroom to learn about business, advanced calculus, engineering and other college-level subjects.
Russell B. Long Federal Building and United States Courthouse was the site for a court hearing challenging the state’s Ten Commandments Law on Monday, October 21, 2024 in Baton Rouge, h.
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
The statute, Act 676, is quite specific. It mandates a specific version of the Ten Commandments be displayed on posters measuring no less than 11 inches by 14 inches in a “large, easily readable font.”
The controversial law has the support of Christian evangelicals and others with a deep conviction that the Ten Commandments are a foundation stone of American law and government.
Within days after Landry signed House Bill 71 by state Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, into law, to stop the measure from going into effect Jan. 1, 2025.
Boards illustrating how the Ten Commandments can be utilized in schools are seen on display as h Attorney General Liz Murrill speaks alongside h Governor Jeff Landry during a press conference Monday, August 5, 2024, in Baton Rouge, La.
STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK
On Oct. 21, U.S. District Judge John deGravelles of Baton Rouge heard arguments opposed to posting one group's religious views in classrooms as if all public school classrooms were private, Christian learning centers. The judge also heard the state's arguments in favor of dismissing the suit.
The judge denied the state's request to dismiss the challenge as "premature" because the law has not yet gone into effect. He said he plans to decide by Nov. 15 whether the state can force schools that receive state aid to post the commandments in all classrooms.
While I haven't done any serious research, the people I know with children or relatives in private or faith-based schools say their kids' classrooms don't have posters reflecting any particular religion's teachings.
That's the thing. One of the main arguments in favor of posting the commandments in classrooms is the claim that the commandments played an integral role in our nation's founding and history. That's simply not true. The law says the displays reflect references to the commandments in some early American textbooks.
That's true, but textbooks aren't official federal documents or legally binding American laws and jurisprudence.
Though different language is used in each, the Ten Commandments can be found in the Book of Exodus in the Christian Bible, in the Muslim Quran and in the Jewish Torah as the Decalogue. Exactly when they first appeared has been debated by religious scholars for centuries. The shared belief is that God delivered the commandments to Moses on two stone tablets on Mount Sinai.
Contrary to the wishes of some, God didn't deliver them atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire, Mount Ranier in the State of Washington, along the Appalachian Trail, atop Stone Mountain in Georgia or at Driskell Mountain, just off La. 507 in Bienville Parish.
The Ten Commandments are not American, and they weren't the basis for America's founding.
Our nation's founders did not make the commandments part of our country's constitution. Nor are they cited in that document. America's founders wanted the U.S. Constitution to be a living document, never drifting far from its core principles but changing as the nation changed.
Changing the Constitution isn't easy. But it is possible.
The commandments are part of sacred scripture but never found their way into our nation's sacred documents.
They're not in the Bill of Rights, or anywhere else in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution has been amended more than two dozen times, but none of those amendments says the commandments are part of who we are as a nation.
As regular readers know, I'm a proud Christian. I appreciate and respect those with other beliefs, enough that I want them and their children to be comfortable in our taxpayer-provided classrooms.
There are better ways to encourage and teach good behavior without subjecting students to one particular religion's views on the subject.
I hope Judge deGravelles finds a nice way to tell Landry, Murrill and state lawmakers to live according to the Ten Commandments — and post them in their private homes instead of our classrooms taxpayer-funded classrooms.