Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s battle cry in his latest foray into the culture wars was “Respect the rule of law,” but it sounds like something stolen from Ronald Reagan, “Tear down that wall.” However, “the Gipper” was not referring to the Berlin Wall but to the wall separating religion and state, erected by America’s founding fathers and enshrined in the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights.
Landry, last week, signed a bill mandating a copy of the Ten Commandments be posted on the wall of every public school and university classroom. He should be ashamed of himself, claiming he and his Republican super majority in the state legislature are doing this for the children of his state, when they know – and are responsible for the fact – that their state ranks 47th in support for education. It is also at or near the bottom in economic opportunity, equality, health care, fiscal stability, and crime and corrections.
But culture wars apparently take precedence.
Landry displays his ignorance of history by calling the commandments a “foundational document of our state and national government.” In fact, the founders had just the opposite in mind when they erected the wall of separation. God is not mentioned once in the Constitution. James Madison, the father of the Constitution, wrote that “religion and government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together.”
As Landry intended when he said, “I can’t wait to be sued,” the new law brought on threats of lawsuits. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called it “blatantly unconstitutional.” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), a former constitutional law professor, called it “unconstitutional and blasphemous.” The Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that posting the Ten Commandments violated the establishment clause: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
So why now? Because of rulings handed down by a lopsidedly conservative court: Dobbs on abortion, another on prayer at a football game, and one on public funding for private religious schools. All six conservative justices are Catholic. The three liberals are a Catholic, a Jew, and a Protestant.
Justifying the new law, Landry cited “the original lawgiver... Moses.” If he were serious, he’d know that the version he is promoting is not the one the Bible says was given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Nor does he know that there are actually three different versions in the Torah. And then, what about all the different versions in various Christian teachings? What about other faiths’ versions of the commandments? The fourth commands keeping the Sabbath day holy? Which day is that? Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? While he’s at it, what about enforcing all 613 of Moses’s laws, starting with keeping kosher?
Lara Crigger, a New Orleans-based author, wrote in The Forward that as a Louisiana Jew, she found Landry’s version of the Ten Commandments “haphazardly” translated and defined it as “not from the Hebrew Bible or any recognized Christian translation.”
Governor Landry's true intentions
This is not about education; if Landry and his legislature were serious about educating their children, their state wouldn’t rank near the bottom nationally in support for education as well as on economic opportunity, crime and corrections, equality, health care, and fiscal stability. Landry and his culture warriors have another agenda. They are part of a powerful right-wing religious minority that wants to declare America a Christian nation, undermine advances in civil, women’s, and LGBQT+ rights and impose their very sectarian views on the rest of us.
John Daniel Davidson, senior editor of the conservative web magazine The Federalist, believes Christianity “is the bedrock of this country” and should be taught in the public schools.
There’s always been prayer in schools, notably before math tests and final exams, on an individual basis, but the Supreme Court in 1962 ruled that school-sponsored prayer violates the First Amendment. The religious Right today sees openings for change in this Court.
Multiple studies have shown that more Americans support the separation of church and state than they do its weakening. White evangelical Christians make up about 20% of the national electorate, but within that group eight in 10 voted for Donald Trump four years ago.
The former president spoke to the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference this weekend, heartily endorsing the Louisiana law. He called the commandments “incredible.” (It is unclear whether that includes the ones he’s broken.) The Louisiana law is a “desperately needed”... “first step in the revival of religion” in the United States,” he said. Fox News noted that Trump has been “vague about the specifics of his own beliefs.” He accused President Joe Biden, a Catholic who regularly attends mass, and his administration of persecuting Christians.
If he gets a second term, Trump is expected to try to implement much of the Christian nationalist agenda, although he dodged pressure to commit to a national abortion ban. “We need Christian voters to turn out, and the largest numbers ever,” he exhorted the cheering crowd.
“Christian nationalism is a political ideology... distorting both the Christian faith and America’s promise of religious freedom,” said Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. She said it relies on the “false narrative of America as a “Christian nation founded by Christians in order to privilege Christianity.” She finds the GOP “increasingly accepting” of Christian nationalism.
Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are among the most outspoken Christian nationalists. “I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk,” Boebert said. “The church is supposed to direct the government, the government is not supposed to direct the church.” Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a devoutly religious evangelical, has called the Bible “my worldview” and said, “My faith informs everything I do.”
A Pew Research survey found that two-thirds of all Americans oppose declaring a state religion, with those in favor being predominantly white Christian evangelicals who identify as Republicans. Democrats tend to be more racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse.
Many Christian nationalists subscribe to the Great Replacement Theory that non-white foreigners are flooding this country to replace the Euro-ethnic white Christians like them and take away their country, their power, and their wealth. This is reflected in the isolationism and xenophobia of much of today’s conservative politics. You heard it in Charlottesville where demonstrators chanted “Jews won’t replace us.” You can hear it in the anti-immigrant invective of the former president.
To advance their goal of the federal government declaring the US a Christian nation they look to Trump, the GOP, the Supreme Court majority, and the November 5 election, to tear down that wall. The new Louisiana law has nothing to do with children and everything to do with the extremist Christian nationalist agenda – a direct threat to Jews and every other religious minority.
The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former American Israel Public Affairs Committee legislative director.