I imagine Gov. Jeff Landry is satisfied. After he signed the law that mandates all public schools and state-supported universities display the Ten Commandments, Landry courted lawsuits. However, it’s imperative to understand the new law isn’t about students’ rights or religious freedom.
After all, students, teachers, school employees can practice their religion without the Louisiana government’s ham-fisted insistence and imposition. I wonder if Landry or the Louisiana State Legislature's members display the Ten Commandments in their homes?
State Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, sponsored the legislation and professes confidence that it will survive legal scrutiny. I imagine she believes in the tooth fairy also. Moreover, Landry engorged with hubris, said, “If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses.” Wrong, Moses was God’s intermediary. Moses wrote: “And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God.” (Deuteronomy 9:10 KJV)
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, a 1971 Supreme Court case, the court established a three-pronged criteria in which the government can assist religion: It must have a secular purpose; it can’t inhibit or promote a religion, and there can be no excessive church or state entanglement.
However, the new court isn’t relying solely on the so-called Lemon test. They’ve concluded that the test that determine a law’s constitutionality is whether it complies with the country’s history and traditions.
The Louisiana law is a brazen political move adorned with religious lace. Would Landry’s jubilation remain if Hindu, Buddhist or Islamic doctrine adorned the walls?
Court rulings aside, what hinders any individual from actually obeying the Ten Commandments?
MARC D. GREENWOOD
Opelika, Alabama
