Louisiana Ten Commandments law requiring display in public classrooms faces legal challenge

A group of secular legal organizations is suing Louisiana to stop a law passed this month that would make it the only state requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a legal complaint on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana on behalf of a religiously diverse group of individuals with minor children enrolled in Louisiana public schools.

"There is no longstanding tradition of permanently displaying the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms in Louisiana or the United States more generally. Indeed, for nearly half a century, it has been well settled that the First Amendment forbids public schools from posting the Ten Commandments in this manner," reads the complaint, in part.

"For these reasons, Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that the Act is unconstitutional and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to prevent Defendants from (i) implementing rules and regulations in accordance with the Act, (ii) otherwise seeking to enforce the Act, and (iii) displaying the Ten Commandments in any public-school classroom."

The Rev. Jeff Sims, a plaintiff affiliated with the mainline denomination Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), believes "the government is intruding on deeply personal matters of religion."

"This law sends a contrary message of religious intolerance that one denomination or faith system is officially preferable to others, and that those who don't adhere to it are lesser in worth and status," stated Sims in a statement released by FFRF, a Wisconsin-based advocacy group.

"As a pastor and father, I cannot, in good conscience, sit by silently while our political representatives usurp God's authority for themselves and trample our fundamental religious-freedom rights."

Last week, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 71, which mandates that public school classrooms display a copy of the Ten Commandments that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches in size by next January. The bill also allows schools to display other historical documents, such as the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance.

"If you want to respect the rule of law you've got to start from the original law given, which was Moses," said Landry at a signing ceremony last week.

As the legal groups threatened legal action last week, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill championed the new law on social media, explaining that she would be honored to defend the legislation in court.

"The 10 Commandments are pretty simple (don't kill, steal, cheat on your wife), but they also are important to our country's foundations," she tweeted.

"Moses, who you may recall brought the 10 Commandments down from Mount Sinai, appears eight times in carvings that ring the United States Supreme Court Great Hall ceiling. I look forward to defending the law."

In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 per curiam opinion in the Stone v. Graham ruling that Kentucky could not require public schools to display the Ten Commandments because it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Having the Ten Commandments on display in the schools is not a religious matter at all and it's time that we begin to assert what they really are and why they matter.

The Ten Commandments are the foundation upon which all western law is constructed. Their historical value is on the same level as the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence. Take away the Ten Commandments and none of those ever existed.

I've talked about this on Farcebook over the past week. Some people have told me that if "we are being fair" that we should also have passages from the Quran and the teachings of Buddha on display in the classrooms.

Okay, I can dig that. Just show us where Muhammed and his followers made ANY sort of contribution to modern legal theory and that should be considered.

But they didn't. The only ones who did contribute are those of the Judeo-Christian ethic.

They had the most influential text that merits being on display.

It's not about religion. It's about historicity. And per that measure, the Ten Commandments absolutely belong on the classroom wall.

The East pediment of the USSC building depicts history's greatest lawgivers, including Moses.

texasscorecard.com---Last year the Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District that the Lemon test banning the display should be abandoned; the Court replaced it with a directive to consider “historical practices and understandings” in determinations of a law’s constitutionality as it relates to the Establishment Clause.

In the Texas bill to permit display,at a Senate committee hearing, sponsor Phil King argued the legislation “became legally feasible” with the ruling, saying it is “a good, healthy step for Texas to bring back this tradition of recognizing America’s religious heritage.”

Sponsor Candy Noble pointed out that the language proposed for the required posting is identical to that found on the Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the State Capitol. Citing the 2005 precedent in Van Orden v. Perry, she explained the Supreme Court determined the monument’s placement on government property does not violate the Establishment Clause because it could be viewed as a recognition of the nation’s legal tradition.

She also noted that the Supreme Court building itself contains several carvings depicting Moses holding two stone tablets, which, according to the Old Testament narrative, God used to write the Ten Commandments. “This legislation will bring back this historic tradition of recognizing America’s foundational heritage in both our education and our judicial system,” said Noble.

Witnesses testifying in favor of the display bill included Timothy Barton of Wallbuilders, Matt Krause of First Liberty Institute, and Mary Elizabeth Castle of Texas Values. Representatives from the Texas Freedom Network, the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, and interfaith organization Texas Impact testified against the legislation.

snip

>This inane attempt to draw a correlation between the Ten Commandments and “displays of morality, however perverse” reveals an absence of rational thinking.<

You and I follow the Ten Commandments, the Bible, and God’s teachings to determine right from wrong, aka morality.

These cretins follow some other moral code to determine right from wrong, aka their perverse sense of morality.

If an attempt to link the Ten Commandments to religion is made, it will be defeated in court. Tying it to morality puts it on equal grounds.

Hence, my continued question, “Specifically, what religion do the Ten Commandments come from?”

It cannot be Christianity since Christ wasn’t born until 1200 years after Moses descended from the mountain.

The Quran even addresses morality with SOME similarity:

“My Sustainer has given me nine commands: to remain conscious of God, whether in private or in public; to speak justly, whether angry or pleased; to show moderation both when poor and when rich, to reunite friendship with those who have broken off with me; to give to him who refuses me; that my silence should be occupied with thought; that my looking should be an admonition; and that I should command what is right.”

It’s the “kill the infidels” part of Islam where it turns awry.

The basis of Hindu morality is this:

“There is one all-pervading Atman. It is the innermost soul of all beings. This is the common, pure consciousness. If you injure your neighbour, you really injure yourself. If you injure any other creature, you really injure yourself, because the whole world is nothing but your own Self.”

I don’t see anything wrong with those teachings.

When I was in high school we had a class on religion and religious literature. It really was eye opening and solidified me in my faith.

Why this is purposely being withheld from children is obvious. Split them from God, split them from mother and father, then you can feed them any type of “morality” you chose. That is pure Marxist teaching.

Yes. It does not belong in a PUBLIC SCHOOL classroom, and neither do “pride” banners/flags, or the indoctrination agenda of the “LGBT” activists.

However, I believe all public money for K-12 school kids rightfully belongs to the kids for their education and no school institution should think of that money as belonging to them. I think 100% of it should be given in two increments a year tp the parents in vouchers that they can turm over to the K-12 school of their choice, public, private, secular or religuious based.

And in a private K-12 school, where parents have freely chosen to send their child, displaying the Ten Commandments becomes a private choice of a private institution.

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