Protect The 1st Foundation
  • About
    • Leadership
  • Issues
  • Scorecards
  • News
  • Take Action
    • Educational Choice for Children Act
    • PRESS Act
    • Save Oak Flat Act
  • DONATE
  • About
    • Leadership
  • Issues
  • Scorecards
  • News
  • Take Action
    • Educational Choice for Children Act
    • PRESS Act
    • Save Oak Flat Act
  • DONATE
Picture

Louisiana’s New Ten Commandants Law

7/11/2024

 
Picture
​When Louisiana passed a new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public classrooms, a debate began that will undoubtedly be resolved only in a federal court.
 
Defenders of the law point out that the Ten Commandments are foundational to Western civilization and much of American history. Doesn’t that justify their posting in terms of civic education?
 
We agree that stripping all religion out of American education would be ahistorical. One cannot teach children about the origins of the American nation or the forces that sparked the American Civil War and the civil rights movement a century later without exploring the role of religion. Even in this context, however, the Ten Commandments seems more like an effort to impart religious moral guidance than teaching civics.
 
Critics respond that the posters violate the First Amendment’s prohibition against the establishment of religion. Doesn’t that justify forbidding posting Judeo-Christian scripture? The American Civil Liberties Union contends that the Ten Commandments mandate constitutes an “unconstitutional religious coercion of students.” A federal court will have to determine if Louisiana’s Ten Commandment mandate violates the Establishment Clause under a historical understanding of similar laws at or near the time of the Bill of Right’s ratification.
 
What is getting lost is that Louisiana is taking another step that presents a better way forward. The state is fostering educational pluralism in a way that includes those who seek a religious education for their children. Louisiana recently expanded its school choice program to allow for vouchers for families to choose private schools.
 
The constitutionality of Louisiana’s school choice vouchers is enhanced by a Supreme Court decision, Carson v. Makin in 2022, and by other recent rulings holding that funding made available for secular schools must also be equitably available to religious schools. The new Louisiana vouchers will enable many children to attend quality private schools, whether religious schools or purely secular. All such schools must meet state standards in the teaching of science, history, civics, math, and other subjects.
 
Enhancing the right of parents to choose values they want to extend to their children – whether secular or religious – is a fruitful path that manages to thread the needle for pluralism, educational standards, and, for those who choose it, a religious education.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021

    Categories

    All
    2022 Year In Review
    2023 Year In Review
    2024 Year In Review
    Amicus Briefs
    Analysis
    Book Banning
    Campus Speech
    Censorship
    Congress
    Court Hearings
    Donor Privacy
    Due Process
    First Amendment
    First Amendment Online
    Freedom Of Press
    Freedom Of Religion
    Freedom Of Speech
    Government Transparency
    In The Media
    Journalism
    Law Enforcement
    Legal
    Legislation
    Legislative Agenda
    Letters To Congress
    Motions
    News
    Online Speech
    Opinion
    Parental Rights
    PRESS Act
    PT1 Amicus Briefs
    Save Oak Flat
    School Choice
    SCOTUS
    Section 230
    Speaking Of The First Amendment
    Supreme Court

    RSS Feed

we  the  people.

LET  YOUR  VOICE  BE  HEARD:


ABOUT

Who We Are

​Leadership

ISSUES

1st Amendment

TAKE ACTION

Donate

​Contact Us
® Copyright 2024 Protect The 1st Foundation