(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Louisiana Mandates Posting of Ten Commandments in All Public Schools [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-19 Christian Nationalism took another step forward today: The Ten Commandments must be displayed in Louisiana classrooms under requirement signed into law: Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday. The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Although the bill did not receive final approval from Landry, the time for gubernatorial action — to sign or veto the bill — has lapsed. Let’s postpone the constitutionality question for the moment, and ask: which Ten Commandments? In the Jewish tradition, “I am the Lord thy God” (Exod. 20:2) is counted as the first commandment. Catholics also count this as the first commandment. Lutherans say the first commandment is “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me “ (Exod. 20:3). There’s a Baptist church that wants to have it both ways. And that’s just commandment #1. Then there’s the version in Deuteronomy chapter 5, whose Hebrew wording is slightly different from the version in Exodus (see especially the commandment to ‘observe” or “remember” the Sabbath).And I haven’t even started on the variant translations. In short, the law is forcing the state, and its agents, to decide which religion, and which branch of which religion, and which translation from that branch, has the “correct” version of the commandments. That’s about as explicit an instance of “establishing religion” as one can get. Which brings me back to the constitutionality question. Opponents question the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits are likely to follow. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.” The law has more interesting omissions: The law also “authorizes” — but does not require — the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance in K-12 public schools. Only the Ten Commandments are required. And note well the absence of our only true founding document, the Constitution, and in particular the absence of the First Amendment. Wouldn’t want to get those young minds confused, now would w? They might start to ask inconvenient questions, maybe even use logic and reason. Can’t have that. Except in the addled brains of the Christian Nationalists and the charlatan pseudo-historians they like to cite, there is no evidence that the Ten Commandments had anything to do with the founding of the United States. The influence of biblical law faded rapidly in the United States during the eighteenth century, due, in part, to the increasing religious heterogeneity and secularization of the colonies. 16 5 The trend in American law during this time was to limit and minimize the effect of biblical law on American legal codes. The Ten Commandments on the Courthouse Lawn and Elsewhere (Fordham Law Review 73:4 (2005)) (That law review article is well worth reading as a comprehensive debunking of the whole “founding” notion.) While I was putting this diary together, I saw that the NY Times has picked up the story: Louisiana Requires Ten Commandments to Be Displayed in Every Public Classroom. It includes this choice quote: “If you want to respect the rule of law,” [Gov. Landry] said, “you’ve got to start from the original law giver, which was Moses.” Ah, no. Make that “hell, no!” Hammurabi was a thousand years (give or take) before Moses, and the Ten Commandments, as well as much else in the Bible’s law codes, was cribbed from the Code of Hammurabi and other VERY ancient legal codes. And this one: The measure allows for “our children to look up and see what God says is right and what he says is wrong,” [State rep.] Ms. Horton told colleagues. “It doesn’t preach a certain religion, but it definitely shows what a moral code we all should live by is.” “I am the Lord thy God who brought you out of Egypt to be your god” — that sure applies only to a certain religion. And not the Christian one either, by the way. And while we’re at it, the prohibition on adultery is specifically limited to a man sleeping with another man’s wife — because she was some other man’s property. No prohibition against a woman sleeping with another man’s husband — ask David’s wives, or Solomon’s — he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. I could go on (and have, elsewhere), but you get the idea. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/19/2247508/-Louisiana-Mandates-Posting-of-Ten-Commandments-in-All-Public-Schools?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/