Louisiana Leading the Way with the 10 Commandments!
Musings on the Legislature #14
Hello all,
I just wanted to provide an update on some exciting legislation that Governor Jeff Landry signed into law last week.
Last Wednesday (June 19th), Governor Landry signed HB 71 into law. HB 71 by rep. Dodie Horton is the well-known “10 Commandments” bill that everyone has been talking about lately. HB 71 will now require Louisiana public classrooms to display a poster of the 10 Commandments starting on January 1st, 2025.
Both Far-left and Conservative media outlets have generated numerous articles on the “10 Commandments” poster bill in recent days—including AP, New York Times, CBS, ABC, Fox News, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, and many more.
Of course, the “Louisiana last” crowd has thrown a fit over this legislation in the past week. They didn’t seem to care when the bill was actually being debated in the state Legislature months ago, but now they complain after the bill has already been enshrined into law.
Concerning this law, the main criticism levied against HB 71 is that it violates the Establishment Clause in the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution. Upon a simple review of HB 71, you would quickly find that this bill does not violate the Constitution.
For reference, here is the language of the 1st amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The 1st Amendment states the US Congress cannot establish a religion in the United States. However, individual states were allowed to establish state-supported Churches during the American Founding.
According to political science professor Mark David Hall, 9 of the 13 original American colonies had established state churches in 1775. Here is part of Hall’s explanation of America’s Christian Founding in a Heritage Foundation report:
In 1775, at least nine of the 13 colonies had established churches. Although establishments took a variety of forms, they generally entailed the state providing favorable treatment for one denomination—treatment which often included financial support. Members of religious denominations other than the official established church were usually tolerated, but they were occasionally taxed to support the state church, and some were not permitted to hold civic office.
Clearly, the American Founding Fathers did not believe in the modern myth of the “Separation of Church and State”. Instead, the Founders wanted to delegate the establishment of religion to individual states instead of the Federal government.
Moving back to the present, Louisiana’s new “10 Commandments” bill does NOT violate the 1st Amendment when you look at the actual intent of HB 71.
In fact, let’s take a look at the language of HB 71:
By now, you can tell that the The 10 Commandments bill does NOT violate the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. Instead, the bill promotes the 10 Commandments as one of the foundational documents in American History.
Similarly, the 10 Commandments posters in Louisiana public schools will not use government funds. Instead, private donations will pay for these displays in Louisiana classrooms. So, no one can say that the Louisiana’s government is “paying” for this law.
As HB 71 notes, the 10 Commandments and the Bible were widely used in American public schools throughout most of American history. The American judicial system had no problem with public schools promoting these foundational documents to American schoolchildren for the first 200 years of American history.
Unfortunately, HB 71 is going to have plenty of legal scrutiny in the coming months/years. The notoriously radical ACLU already shared its plan to sue the state of Louisiana over the “10 Commandments” display law.
Fortunately, LA Gov Jeff Landry and AG Liz Murrill are ready to defend any lawsuits against the “10 Commandments” law.
Governor Landry and AG Murrill also made media appearances to defend the new law on Fox News and Newsmax respectively.
If you want to learn more about the “10 Commandments” controversy in Louisiana, then make sure to check out the following articles on the subject:
-“Good News in Louisiana: Ten Commandments Revivalism” by Scott McKay on The American Spectator
-LA Freedom Caucus press release on Substack
-“Posting the Ten Commandments in Louisiana Public Schools” by Royal Alexander on The Hayride
Thank you all for reading, and may Christ Jesus bless the state of Louisiana! Only Louisiana First!