The state of Louisiana in the US recently became the first state in the country to pass a law making the display of the Ten Commandments mandatory in public school classrooms. The Republican-backed law is the first of its kind in the US and governs all classrooms up to the university level. The controversial Bill was signed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry last Wednesday.
The legislation makes it mandatory for schools to put out a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” in all public classrooms. It expects all public-school classrooms, from kindergarten through state-funded universities to display the Ten Commandments in the required format by 2025.
The new law has sparked widespread opposition as opponents questioned the constitutionality of the law and alleged it violated the basic principle of freedom of religion guaranteed to US citizens.
A coalition of groups have reportedly filed a lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s new law mandating the display of Ten Commandments in the state’s public schools. The suit was filed in the US District Court by the Freedom from Religious Foundations, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the American Civil Liberties Union’s national and state families, as per various media reports. The plaintiffs reportedly include nine Louisiana families of different faiths, with four among them being members of the clergy.
The plaintiffs alleged in court papers filed in the US 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 complaint also reportedly states that the new law “pressures students into religious observance, veneration, and adoption of the state’s favored religious scripture”.
The complainants also include families with mixed Jewish-Christian roots and thus the alleged prioritization of one version of the Ten Commandments over the other has also catapulted into a major issue. According to a report by NBC News, one of the complainants alleged that the mandatory display law distorts the Jewish significance of the Ten Commandments and sends the troubling message to students that one set of religious laws is to be favored over all others.
Another interesting aspect of the new law is that the Ten Commandment posters that are mandatory in all Louisiana classrooms will also be paired with a “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries”.
Most importantly, the defendants of the new law emphasize that making the display of the Ten Commandments mandatory in public schools is not just about religion but is a part of the value system of the US and should be seen in the context of the nation’s history.
It’s a bit rich coming from a country like the US that blames Bharat for “taking away the rights of minorities” and “propagating religious intolerance” at the drop of a hat. From the construction of the Bhagwan Ram Temple in Ayodhya to the proposal for teaching Ramayana and Mahabharata in Bharatiya schools, everything is made into a “conspiracy against the minorities” by the US academia, think tank, and media ecosystem. Yet, in the US, laws blatantly violating “secularism” are being conveniently passed.
Making the display of Moses’ Ten Commandments in public schools sends forth a larger message, that the history of the US should be seen as synonymous with the history of Christianity. Besides imposing Christianity on followers of other religions including Hindu Dharma, the law also subtly normalizes hatred and prejudice against non-Abrahamic faiths like Hindu Dharma. It further reinforces the narrative that everything related to Christianity should be seen as “history” whereas everything related to non-Abrahamic faiths like Hindu Dharma should be viewed as “myths” and make-belief.
Interestingly, the US Supreme Court in 1980 declared unconstitutional a Kentucky law requiring the display of Ten Commandments in public schools.
In signing the new law, Louisiana Governor Landry reportedly said that displaying the Ten Commandments would help expand faith in public schools. He also stated, “If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver which was Moses”.
The new Louisiana law has been seen in the context of blatant Hinduphobia being perpetuated through the US academia. School textbooks in the US are increasingly becoming notorious for their derogatory portrayal of the Hindu Dharma and culture. These portray Hindu Dharma as an exploitative religion invented by the Aryans and dominated by Brahminical patriarchy and the caste system in stark contrast to this, Abrahamic religions like Christianity and Islam are portrayed as paragons of equality.
Furthermore, there is ample evidence to show that Biblical events are taught as factual historical events in US schools whereas Hindu Dharma is portrayed as a sham religion, steeped in dogmas and inequality. Educational institutions in the US have also conducted caste sensitization workshops in which students are essentially told how evil the caste system practiced by Hindus is. This puts Hindu kids in a vulnerable position and the ground is laid for them to hate their own culture and religion.
Laws like the one passed in Louisiana have the potential to make Hindu American kids even more vulnerable; in an ecosystem already steeped in Hinduphobia, such draconian mandates covertly declaring the “superiority” of Abrahamic faiths would make Hindu kids withdraw from their religious and cultural identity further.
Although one hasn’t yet seen any major opposition from the Hindu community in the US regarding the new Louisiana mandate, the Hindu American Foundation, a Hindu advocacy group in the US, has put out a couple of social media posts critiquing the new law.
Suhag A. Shukla, Executive Director of the Hindu American Foundation, has put a post on her X account, listing the Ten Commandments and highlighting specific commandments that are Hinduphobic in nature. The first two commandments saying “I AM the LORD thy God” and “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” have been highlighted.
“Want to know why we oppose the Louisiana law requiring a display of the Ten Commandments in public schools? Sec 2 & 3. There are thousands of Hindu schoolchildren in LA. Their murtis of Gods and Goddesses are celebrated – certainly not “false”, she says in the post.
Whether the new Louisiana law will see the light of the day or will it be struck down by the US Supreme Court, only time will tell. But it certainly points to the blatant double standards of a country like the US which plays self-anointed global morality police, lecturing countries like Bharat on “freedom of religion”, while it itself blatantly displays favor of one religion over all others.
