The ink was barely dry on Louisiana’s brand new Ten Commandments law before four major civil and religious rights groups declared their intent to sue to prevent the state from posting the Decalogue in public classrooms by the fall of 2025.
Nevertheless, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced he hopes Texas will follow Louisiana’s lead and required the commandments in all school classrooms — despite a similar bill dying in the Texas Legislature last session.
Louisiana’s Legislature passed House Bill 71 May 28 and Gov. Jeff Landry signed it into law June 19 in a ceremony at a private school: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette, La. Within hours of its signing, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Louisiana, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation announced impending litigation to block implementation of the measure.
“The law violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional.”
“The law violates the separation of church and state and is blatantly unconstitutional,” the organizations declared in a joint statement. “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 law mandates the Jewish and Christian commandments be displayed in frames or as posters no smaller than 11-by-14 inches, and with a clearly discernable font, in all public school, college and university classrooms.
The bill claims the displays will not violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of state-sanctioned religion because the commandments are an integral part of U.S. history and will be honored as such. “Including the Ten Commandments in the education of our children is part of our state and national history, culture, and tradition,” the language said.
But a coalition of Christian leaders and lay people across Louisiana, including dozens of Baptists, denounced legislators for attempting to reduce a passage of Scripture held dear by Christians and Jews to a document of merely historical and secular significance. They also criticized the required translation as a mishmash of styles unrecognizable to people of either faith.
On May 31, the ministers and church members sent Landry a petition with 115 signatures urging him not to sign the legislation: “The responsibility of religious education belongs to families, churches and other religious institutions, not the government. Our communities of faith exist to help individuals and families grapple with applying biblical truth in our modern times. We do not need or want legislators and other government officials interfering with and usurping this sacred role.”
But ACLU, AU and the foundation said the law violates longstanding Supreme Court precedent and most notably Stone v. Graham, a 1980 case overturning a similar statute in Kentucky and holding the commandments may not be displayed in public-school classrooms.
“The displays mandated by HB 71 will result in unconstitutional religious coercion of students, who are legally required to attend school and are thus a captive audience for school-sponsored religious messages,” their statement said. “They will also send a chilling message to students and families who do not follow the state’s preferred version of the Ten Commandments that they do not belong, and are not welcome, in our public schools.”
All students in publicly funded institutions of learning should feel welcome and safe and not be undermined by laws like HB 71, they added.
“Even among those who may believe in some version of the Ten Commandments, the particular text that they adhere to can differ by religious denomination or tradition. The government should not be taking sides in this theological debate, and it certainly should not be coercing students to submit day in and day out to unavoidable promotions of religious doctrine.”
The governor declared, “I can’t wait to be sued” during a Republican fundraiser in Nashville.
But Landry and other Louisiana politicians have expressed an eagerness for litigation to be filed against the law in the hopes of eventually having it heard by a conservative U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, the governor declared, “I can’t wait to be sued” during a Republican fundraiser in Nashville, The Tennessean newspaper reported June 16.
Marc Boswell, senior pastor at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans and a signatory on the May petition, said it’s also clear the governor and conservative legislators have little interest in the well-being of public-school students, as claimed in the law.
“This legislation, undoubtedly, has moved forward in hopes that the current Supreme Court will uphold the mythology of Christian nationalists and those who hold little respect for people of other faith traditions or those who practice no faith,” he said. “This expression of blatant Christian supremacy runs counter both to the spirit of Christ and the fundamental values of our country to not force religious beliefs onto others in public spaces.”
Across the state line in Texas, the Louisiana bill has revived hopes of conservative Republicans to make a second attempt at passing a Ten Commandments bill.
Lt. Gov. Patrick, along with Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, is locked in an interparty war with Speaker of the House Dade Phelan. The three other elected officials worked to get Phelan defeated in a recent Republican primary but failed to derail him.
“Texas WOULD have been and SHOULD have been the first state in the nation to put the 10 Commandments back in our schools,” Patrick said on social media. “Every Texas Republican House member would have voted for it. But, SPEAKER Dade Phelan killed the bill by letting it languish in committee for a month assuring it would never have time for a vote on the floor. This was inexcusable and unacceptable.”
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Baptists oppose Louisiana Ten Commandments bill
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If you want to post the Ten Commandments in schools, you ought to learn more about them | Analysis by Rick Pidcock
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