Christian Nationalists seek to 'infiltrate' schools: Suit challenges Ten Commandments law

Daniel Hampton
June 24, 2024 


"Stock Photo: Gods Ten Commandments" on Shutterstock

A new lawsuit seeks to block Louisiana legislation that would require a copy of the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom.

In announcing the legislation Monday, Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, said the lawsuit was necessary to "protect the religious freedom of public schoolchildren and their families."

"Christian Nationalists are trying to infiltrate our public schools," she said. "Not under our watch."

Republican Gov. Jeff Landy signed the bill into law Thursday and bragged that he welcomed civil rights groups who threatened to sue based on First Amendment violations. He later cast doubts on whether the separation of church and state actually exists.

"You know, the interesting thing about the First Amendment — I heard it in one of the comments that you played — is this separation of church and state. I challenge anyone who says that to go find me those words in the First Amendment. They don't exist," he told Fox News on Friday.

Landry then referred to the section — known as the Establishment Clause — as a "metaphor breathed into the First Amendment by a liberal Supreme Court in the 1930s.

"The hardline conservative governor then continued to lay out his argument, saying the founding documents were based on "Judeo-Christian" principles.

"We've got it on our money, we've got it all over our Capitol. We've got it in the Supreme Court. It is those that want to extract that out of the foundation of this country that really and truly want to create the chaos that ultimately is the demise of this nation," he said.

In a Monday post on X, Laser aimed squarely at Landry.

"See you in court, Governor Landry," she said. "Forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom is unconstitutional. It flagrantly violates church-state separation and the religious freedom of students and their families."

Laser pushed back against his comments in a statement saying secular, inclusive public schools that welcome all students "regardless of their belief system form the "backbone" of the country's diverse communities.

"This nation must recommit to our foundational principle of church-state separation before it's too late," she warned. "Public education, religious freedom and democracy are all on the line."

Nine Louisiana families sued to block the law. The plaintiffs include rabbis and pastors.