Opinion: The Ten Commandments don’t belong in schools | CNN (2024)

Editor’s Note: Eli Federman has written for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters and other publications. Follow him on X@elifederman.The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. See moreopinionat CNN.

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This year, the Jewish holiday ofShavuot begins on Tuesday evening.The holiday commemorates Moses conveyingthe Torah(the “Law”) and the Ten Commandments — a central religious text in Christianity, Islam and Judaism — and underscores the deeply religious nature of the commandments.

Eli Federman

However, Louisiana’sHouse Bill 71(HB 71) attempts to disingenuously secularize this sacred and uniquely religious document byrequiringits display in public schools. The bill passed the state Senate 30-8 last week, and the House 79-16 on Tuesday. It’s now awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry before becoming law.

This unprecedented bill would be the first tomandate the display of the Ten Commandments, requiring “elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools” to display it in “easily readable font” on a poster “at least eleven inches by fourteen inches.” Other states, including Utah, Texas and South Carolinahave attempted to pass similar legislation.

In 2022, the Supreme Courtruledthat a high school football coach could publicly pray on the 50-yard line immediately after games.Although that ruling was based on the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, it and others are being misconstrued to help fueladvocates of these constitution-eroding bills that clearly violate theEstablishment Clause,which prohibits the government from establishing a “religion.”

HB 71 not only violates the separation of church and state, but harms religion by undermining the commandments’ sanctity. The bill references civil documents like The Mayflower Compact of 1620, citing phrases such as “a Covenant with Almighty God to ‘form a civil body politic’” in an attempt to put the compact on the same historical footing as the deeply religious Ten Commandments. Such secularization relegates the commandments to a mere historical document, eroding faith, mischaracterizing the origins of scripture and violating the Constitution.

With HB 71, proponents ultimately hope that the Supreme Court will overturn established precedent like Stone v. Graham, whichheldin 1980 that“requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school rooms has no secular legislative purpose, and is therefore unconstitutional.”

To make the bill appear constitutional, supportersclaimthat the Ten Commandments are historical documents, integral to the foundation of Western civilization. Senators such as Adam Bass gesture totheir display at the Supreme Court, wheredepictions ofMoses and the tablets appear in sculptures and carvings. At the same time, the author of the bill, Rep. Dodie Horton,laudsthe measure for introducing God and “God’s laws” into the classroom.

The Ten Commandments didinfluenceuniversal Western principlesincluding the sanctity of life, importance of honesty and the need for justice. “Thou shalt not kill” helped develop prohibitions against taking innocent life, while “Thou shalt not steal” helped form the basis for laws protecting property rights. The idea of “not bearing false witness” relates to perjury laws, and to “honor thy father and mother” influenced societal values around family and respect for elders.

In their essence, however, the Ten Commandments are fundamentally religious edicts. Monotheistic faiths like Christianity, Judaism and Islam believe these directives are divine mandates from God to Moses, establishing a moral order deeply rooted in theistic belief. Unlike other scripture, these commandments are described in Exodus as “written with thefinger of God.” Why would religious people want children (or anyone) viewing them as primarily historical documents?

Jews worldwide celebrate the profoundly religious holiday of Shavuot through public readings of the Ten Commandments in synagogues. There is even a custom to stay up studying the Torah all night to commemorate the historic revelation and remedy the mistake of the Israelites falling asleep the night before God gave the commandments.

The commandments’ undeniably sacred nature and their role as divine mandates — rather than just secular laws — are essential to preserving religious sanctity.

Anamendmentto HB 71 provides for the concurrent voluntary display of historical documents like the “Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance.” While attempting to make thosedocuments analogous to the deeply religious text of the Decalogue, forcing religion in classrooms is still evident — displaying the commandments would be required, but the other civil documents remain voluntary.

Of course, putting the commandments on equal footing to those historical documents is an affront to religion, and no reasonable person would agree that a declaration or pledge citing “God” is the same as a religious text described as a product of the “finger of God.”

Furthermore, the Ten Commandments even include directives explicitly referencing God and religious observance such as “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3) and “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). These commandments enforce specific religious beliefs unlike the general ethics drawn from other documents like the Declaration of Independence or Magna Carta, which also reference God.

What’s next? Interpreting the Sabbath as promoting mere “work-life” balance or having no other God as some new age warning against the worship of people, materialism or false values? Reframing these religious texts as civil documents robs them of the spirituality integral to religious practice and belief.

HB 71 itself also unconstitutionally takes sides on religious expression since it would require a display of the Protestantversionof the Ten Commandments, translated from the King James Bible. Since Catholics, Muslims and Jews have different versions of the commandments, displaying the Protestant version endorses it over other religiousversions (and over traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism, which don’t have it at all), violating the separation of church and state.

To further understand the Ten Commandments’ uniquely religious nature even in historical context, consider other ancient legal codes. TheCode of Hammurabireferences the deity Shamash and provided a comprehensive legal code for Babylon, influenced by the needs and structures of ancient Mesopotamia. Similarly, theTwelve Tablesaddressed the legal needs of Roman citizens in the 5th century BCE. The Egyptians had goddessMa’atgoverning truth and justice, and the Greeks used theirpantheon of 12 Godsto impart moral lessons.

Unlike these legal codes, the Bibledescribesthe Ten Commandments as originating in the wilderness of the Sinai Desert, away from societal influence, underscoring their sacred purpose as divine commandments, and not as products of secular human culture or society.

By keeping Ten Commandment displays out of public schools, we respect their sacred religious nature and acknowledge their role in religious traditions like Shavuot observance. We must preserve tradition in preventing the dilution of their significance and ensures that public education remains a neutral space, free from religious endorsem*nt.