Religion and The Ten Commandments in Public Schools

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Currently

Considerable public attention is being generated by the State of Louisiana legislating the posting of the 10 Commandments in all public-school classrooms. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/06/19/louisiana-ten-commandments-schools

Additionally, Oklahoma’s Board of Education is garnering national attention by requiring public-school instruction about the Bible.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/us/oklahoma-public-schools-bible.html

Historically

In the 1980 case Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court ruled that a Kentucky law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause prohibits laws that establish religion or prohibit its exercise. The court’s decision was based on the 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman case, which established a test to determine if a law violates the Establishment Clause. Lemon v. Kurtzman held that all laws must have a “secular legislative purpose”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_v._Graham

Recently

On June 21. 2022, In Carson v. Makin, the US Supreme Court held for the first time that a state must fund religious activity as part of an educational aid program.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson_v._Makin

The First Amendment states: 

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

Solutions

Without establishing any one religion, teaching the Ten Commandments in public schools provides a great opportunity for students to explore fundamental Principles that serve their mental and emotional wellbeing. Most especially it offers them an opportunity to discuss Principles that value forgiveness, honesty, fidelity, trustworthiness and selflessness above all else.  

These timeless Principles give students guidance for healthy thought, feeling and behavior towards others, as well as offering guidance for the development of their own sense of integrity and goodness. The opposite should be discussed about the effects they cause within the minds and hearts of those who choose to ignore the importance of these Principles for application to life. 

These fundamental Principles define the lessons of ancient Wisdom. They form norms that promote decency, respect, and shared values among families, societies and nations. Ultimately, they have the potential to promote peace, internal happiness and genuine fulfillment for generations to come. They serve the good of our country. Thereby they serve a most important secular purpose.

For these reasons the Ten Commandments should be taught and studied in public schools. Not to establish any one single religion, but to bring the best that all religions have to offer to the forefront of discussion among our youth. That offering will plant seeds for their moral, ethical and spiritual prosperity. 

Preventing public school discussion about these subjects or running afoul of the First Amendment by being overzealous about the establishment of a particular religion will shortchange our students’ need to reason about why and how they should live their lives. Allowing them to study these subjects objectively, without bias, provides a path for introspection and personal growth about the most important things of all.

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