Is there a rash of cattle coveting going on out there that the paper’s news reporters have somehow missed?
If so, good thing Louisiana students will soon be warned, in every public classroom from K-college, that it’s a no-no.
Are we all relieved? Is this the thing that will finally move Louisiana off the bottom of all those lists?
If you think so, please thank state Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, and the other holy rollers in the Louisiana Legislature, who have now mandated that the missive be prominently posted on classroom walls along with the rest of the Ten Commandments. And also Gov. Jeff Landry, who says he can’t wait to get sued over the obviously unconstitutional melding of church and state. And Attorney General Liz Murrill, who announced she’s looking forward to defending the new law in court.
On our dime, of course, which is adding insult to injury.
Despite the protestations of its defenders, there is injury here — and not just to the state’s reputation, as Landry’s signature on the measure has launched yet another round of nationwide derision.
Let’s start with a few things posting the Ten Commandments in accordance with the law, if it survives those challenges, won’t do:
It won’t comply with the First Amendment’s prohibition against establishing a state religion. Not only do the commandments come out of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but the text now in Louisiana law is not out of Jewish or Catholic translations but comes from a protestant tradition. As such, it specifically privileges one religion over others.
It won’t give parents the freedom that the same politicians who pushed it claim to favor when it comes to discussion of things like sexuality and history. There’s no opt-out provision for families who are raising their kids in a different religion or none at all, or who send their kids to public school to learn to read and write, not worship. And there’s no language that suggests how to counter the inevitable message of marginalization that students from other backgrounds will absorb. Defending the law on CNN, state Rep. Lauren Ventrella, R-Greenwell Springs, offered only this advice to those who might object: “Don’t look at it.”
It won’t educate students about our country’s legal foundations, which is one of the alleged public policy imperatives behind the measure. The list includes things that are clearly illegal in any context, religious or not, like killing and stealing. It also includes behavior that has nothing to do with the law, like honoring one’s parents and observing the Sabbath and the dreaded coveting, not only of someone else’s cattle but of their wife (not husband?), manservant or maidservant.
And it sure won’t help with those pesky math scores, which state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley acknowledges are “still too low.” Any way you count it, the list of commandments to be posted goes not to 10, but 11.
As for what it will do, here’s a very partial list:
It will confuse kids who’ll be banned, under a different Horton-authored bill awaiting Landry’s signature, from discussing sexuality and gender in the classroom.
It will surely make some of them wonder why their parents think a man who routinely violates at least one of these commandments should be president. No bearing false witness? Tell that to Donald Trump, who made more than 30,000 false or misleading claims during his single presidential term, according to The Washington Post, and has only gotten more prolific since.
And it will blend public and religious education even more than lawmakers already did when they passed a bill to allow parents to use public money to send their kids to private and religious schools if they want. For those who don’t choose to seek out publicly-funded religious training, the state will now mandate that it comes to them.
I could go on, but that’s what the internet is for.
We're now the only state in the nation with this particular requirement on the books, but that's not because others haven’t tried. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick whined on X that Texas would have been beaten Louisiana to the punch, but for an uncooperative state House.
So I guess congratulations are in order, Rep. Horton, Gov. Landry and the rest. Thanks to you, our state finally came in first in something.
Too bad it’s a race to the bottom.