US state’s new Ten Commandments school law stirs huge controversy
A US state has introduced an eye opening new law regarding the Ten Commandments which has been criticised for turning “schools into Sunday schools”.
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A US state has passed an eyebrow raising new law that forces the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom.
“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,” said Louisiana’s Republican Governor Jeff Landry upon signing the bill into law on Wednesday, US time.
The move has sparked controversy because forcing schools to display religious texts will blur the line between church and state in the US, a secular country.
Several civil liberties groups have said they will take Louisiana to court as displaying the text could violate the US constitution and force the “religious coercion” of students.
The seperation of church and state is taken so seriously in the US that religious eduction in schools is far more scant than in, say, Australia. Religion can be mentioned in classes but only to factually explain what it is and not to extol it as the truth.
In the Bible, the Ten Commandments are a series of directives from God revealed to Moses on stone tablets at Mount Sinai.
The Commandments include religious directions, such as there only being one God; and ethical rules including not stealing or committing murder, honouring parents and not coveting a neighbour’s animals, home or wife.
The new Louisiana law demands that all classrooms in all publicly funded education institutions – from kindergarten to university – show a poster sized display of the Commandments in “large, easily readable font”.
The law does not commit the state government to actually paying for the poster’s design or printing.
The law also “authorises” but does not demand the display of several other US historical documents.
This could lead to a situation where a school is forced to hang the Ten Commandments on the wall but could choose not to display the Declaration of Independence – arguably the US’ most foundational document.
“Given all the junk our children are exposed to in classrooms today, it is imperative that we put the Ten Commandments back in a prominent position,” Republican State Representative Dodie Horton told the New York Times.
She added that it was a “moral code” and children will be able to “look up and see what God said is right and what he says is wrong”.
‘School, not Sunday school’
But the American Civil Liberties’ Union, along with several other organisations, said the diktat violated the “fundamental right to religious freedom”.
“Our public schools are not Sunday schools,” the statement spread.
“Students of all faiths, or no faith, should feel welcome in them.
“Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools”.
Critics have said the Louisiana law breaches the First Amendment of the US Constitution that forbids laws that limits laws around religion.
That means Louisiana’s move will likely now go potentially all the way to the Supreme Court.
Seemingly aware of that outcome, Louisiana has stated that the Ten Commandments aren’t just a religious text but “foundational documents of our state and national government”.
Supporters will be hoping that even if judges push back on a religious text being displayed they will be more sympathetic to a “historical document” being in schools.
In 1980, the Supreme Court struck down a law in Kentucky which attempted a similar outcome stating it did indeed violate the First Amendment to mandate religious texts to be displayed in schools.
But Louisiana’s Governor appears more bullish that the Ten Commandments law will pass the courts.
“I can’t wait to be sued,” Mr Landry said at a fundraiser on Saturday.
His enthusiasm is likely due to the makeup of the current Supreme Court which leans conservative and has already made a notable ruling on religion in schools.
In 2022, the Court heard the case of a school football coach who routinely prayed on the field after matches and invited his student players to join him in doing so.
Joseph Kennedy was eventually sacked by his school which said that while he could pray on his own, the act of doing an all in prayer session on school time, on a school field with students was not a separation of church and state and didn’t protect students from “religious coercion”.
One anonymous player said they feared losing playing time if they didn’t join in with the prayers.
But the Supreme Court ruled that not letting Mr Kennedy pray after matches was breaking his First Amendment rights.
Republicans in Louisiana will be hoping for a similar outcome.
If that does happen, a number of other states are expected to enact similar laws on the mandatory display of religious texts in classrooms.
Originally published as US state’s new Ten Commandments school law stirs huge controversy
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