The Ten Commandments may be coming soon to public school classrooms in Louisiana after legislation to enact the move advanced out of committee. This, of course, would anger leftists who believe that separation of church and state is enshrined in the Constitution.
House Bill 71, the brainchild of Rep. Dodie Horton (R) and Sen. Adam Bass (R), swiftly proceeded out of the House Committee on Education recently.
There have been other attempts to implement such measures, including in Texas and South Carolina, but they did not withstand left-wing legal challenges. Horton and Bass acknowledged that their measure will generate opposition but believe it will succeed where others failed.
Part of their optimism is based on the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton. The high court determined that a high school football coach had the right to publicly pray after games.
Many interpret this decision as establishing a precedent for more freedom to express religious faith in public settings.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, in writing for the majority, noted that the famous clauses contained within the First Amendment are not independent of each other. Instead, they “work in tandem,” meaning that freedom of speech and freedom of religion overlap to protect civil rights.
Louisiana Advances Classroom Ten Commandments Display Bill Following SCOTUS Precedenthttps://t.co/v3yyhlWjKH
— RedState (@RedState) April 10, 2024
The Louisiana bill raced through committee with a 10-3 vote in favor. Its supporters call the Ten Commandments “historically significant” and the bedrock on which U.S. laws were created.
Horton defended the push, noting that “people from all walks of life, from every religion, from every country have to obey the laws of our land, whether they’re offensive or not.”
She added that the commandments should be posted in every public and charter school classroom “for our children to see everything that God says is right and everything that he says is wrong.”
Teachers would not be required to teach the Ten Commandments. Democratic opponents still questioned whether uncomfortable questions would be raised on such issues as adultery.
These is little doubt that the same Democrats have no such qualms of the LGBT or Black Lives Matter flags being prominently displayed in classrooms.
