Facts GOP gov. 'should’ve looked up' before signing Ten Commandments bill: expert
Before Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a bill that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every K-12 and state-funded university classroom last week, he said, "I can't wait to be sued."
NBC News reported Monday that the state's education department was, in fact, sued by nine families.
"The families, who are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious, alleged in court papers filed in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Louisiana, that the new law 'substantially interferes with and burdens' the parents’ First Amendment right to raise their kids in whatever religion they want," the news outlet noted.
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Constitutional lawyer Andrew L. Seidel, on Tuesday explained in a post on X (formerly Twitter) why the new law goes against the US Constitution.
"The text of the Louisiana law actually specifies a state-sanctioned version of God's holy writ," Seidel wrote. "It begins 'I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shall have no other gods before me.' The point of this bill is to give the false impression that America is a Christian nation. That's Christian Nationalism."
The attorney continued, "Don't believe me? Just ask the law's sponsor, Rep. Dodie Horton: 'I'm not concerned with an atheist. I'm not concerned with a Muslim. I’m concerned with our children looking and seeing what God’s law is,' she said, explaining why she proposed the bill."
"Christian Nationalism is un-American," Seidel emphasized. "In fact, this display in public schools is un-American. The first commandment, 'I am the Lord your God … You shall have no other gods before me,' directly conflicts with the principles on which the United States was founded.No law—and this would be a law—can tell an American to worship a god, let alone which god. Americans are free to be godless (as a growing number are), or, if they wish, to worship every god from every holy book. The commandments would prohibit free expression and art by outlawing the creation of graven images. These commandments would prohibit free speech by making it illegal to take the Lord’s name in vain."
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Seidel also noted that he further explains in his book, The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American. "Which shows that the Ten Commandments are emphatically not the basis of the US Constitution," he emphasized.