On Wednesday, Louisiana enacted a law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom across the state, a decision that rekindles the debate on the separation of church and state.
Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, signed the law mandating that the Ten Commandments be prominently posted in all public school classrooms, from preschools to publicly-funded universities, starting from the new school year. “If you want to respect the rule of law, you must start from the archetypal law, that of Moses,” he stated during the bill signing ceremony.
The law stipulates that the Ten Commandments be displayed in large, clearly visible frames or posters.
However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a powerful advocacy group for rights and freedoms, has warned that the law will face legal challenges. “The law violates the separation of church and state and is clearly unconstitutional,” the ACLU said in a statement.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the establishment of a national religion and the favoring of any religion over another. While other conservative states in the southern U.S., known as the ‘Bible Belt,’ have attempted similar measures, Louisiana is the first to enact such a law.
Source: ANA-MPA, Translated by: Konstantinos Menyktas
