Let’s provide a little commentary on what has happened in Louisiana, just for fun, if nothing else. Beyond the fun, what we are seeing happen in Louisiana and many other extreme conservative-MAGA states is the outline of what life will be like if Christian Nationalists somehow wrestle power nationally. It is no laughing matter.
The Christian Nationalist governor, Jeff Landry, made this comment when he signed the bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in every Louisiana Public School classroom:
“If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses who got the commandments from God.”
Really Governor? So, who is your audience here? If you are interested in respecting the rule of law, how about starting with your criminally convicted Presidential candidate facing three more trials? Instead of classrooms, how about requiring every politician, including Trump and especially Trump, to put this list of commandments in their offices? And they should put in BOLD the one about not committing adultery.
You have the wrong audience in mind. It isn’t the children of Louisiana who need to read this.
If you are so concerned about the rule of law, what about the Constitution, which forbids this entanglement between church and state? Violating the rule of law to protect the rule of law is not only non-sensical, but it is hypocritical and authoritarian to do so.
The good governor next plays a little game by requiring the “poster-sized” Ten Commandments to include a few paragraphs about the “historical context” of how they influenced public education.
Then, to push the ruse further, the bill requires “other documents” to be placed around it; you know, neutral ones like the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Governor Landry is trying to secularize a religious document so that it can get around the law, which forbids proselytizing students in public schools. The traditional name for this is lying, and if I am not mistaken, that would be covered under the ninth commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
Governor, you are not fooling anyone. Everyone knows what the intent of this bill is.
Okay, let’s dive into the Commandments (using actual wording from the law), break them down, and ask some basic questions about what they mean and whether they are relevant for American public school classrooms.
First Commandment: “I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Right off the bat, the Louisiana Ten Commandments are in big trouble. Which “God” is this referring to? What if I worship Allah? What if I worship no God at all? What if I believe in a God that doesn’t match the theistic nature of the Old Testament God?
In a nation that is as religiously pluralistic as the United States, why would you require this commandment to be posted in the eye-sight of non-Christian or Jewish students?
Will this result in a feeling of “othering” if a student doesn’t believe in this God? Will it result in bullying by Christian students against students who have a different religious belief or no belief?
The second part is also problematic. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” I’ve always wondered why the Old Testament “God” was so jealous. But aside from my own personal skepticism, what other “gods” does this include? Does it include money? Does it include power? Something tells me that is not what the good governor has in mind.
Second Commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven images.”
Now, just what the hell does that mean in the 21st century? What are graven images? Other Bible interpretations exchange the phrase “grave images” with “false idols.” Why did Louisiana choose “graven images?” At least a false idol might make more sense.
Wikipedia defines “graven images” this way: “The English words "graven image" or "idol" in translations of the Bible may represent any of several Hebrew words. The word is pesel, translated in modern Hebrew as “sculpture” indicating something carved or hewn. In subsequent passages, pesel was applied to images of metal and wood, as well as those of stone.”
Does this mean the State of Louisiana will outlaw metal, wood, or stone statues? What about Robert E. Lee? OMG, where will it end? (I hope you are picking up on some sarcasm in this statement)
Third Commandment: “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
This is another ambiguous and puzzling commandment. Does it mean you can’t swear in Louisiana? Does this mean that you can say “damn,” but you can’t say “goddamn it?” I know a lot of teachers who would get in trouble right away for that one.
Let’s go to Wikipedia again for some clarification: “The expression "to take in vain" is also translated less literally as "to misuse" or variants.[5] Some have interpreted the commandment to be against perjury [6] since invoking God's name in an oath was considered a guarantee of the truth of a statement or promise. Other scholars believe the original intent was to prohibit using the name in the magical practice of conjuration.”
OK, well, which is it? I wonder if the State of Louisiana can clarify what they mean by this commandment so that students won’t be as confused as the biblical scholars. Maybe Governor Landry has some guidance he will provide to his state’s students (and teachers).
Fourth Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.”
Since the Ten Commandments were originally part of the Jewish faith, this commandment must mean that Friday night through Saturday is the Sabbath. Right? Or does this mean Sunday in conjunction with Christian practice? Maybe it’s both.
The other question arises about how one should “keep the Sabbath Day holy.” What does that mean? Will Louisiana reinstate blue laws? Remember those? You couldn’t shop at the major stores on Sunday or buy liquor. (Interesting, there isn’t a commandment against drunkenness.) Here is a wonderful blue law from my own state of Iowa:
Iowa Code 322.3 states that a licensed car dealership cannot either directly or through an agent, salesperson, or employee, engage in Iowa or represent or advertise that the person is engaged or intends to engage in Iowa, in the business of buying or selling at retail new or used motor vehicles, other than mobile homes more than eight feet in width or more than 32 feet in length on Sunday.
Thank goodness you couldn’t buy a new or used car on Sunday. However, you could buy a mobile home if it wasn’t more than 8 feet in width or more than 32 feet in length… what? Bring your tape measure with you.
Fifth Commandment: “Honor thy Father and Mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy god giveth thee.”
Sometimes, less is more. I’d be fine if it just said, “Honor thy father and mother.” Good enough — no real explanation is needed — let’s go on. But Louisiana thinks they have to put the second part of the commandment on the poster about the land that God gave them.
This opens a can of proverbial worms. What land is being referred to here? Does this justify colonialism, taking land from other groups of people because somehow you have a belief that “God gave you the land?” Does this run counter to the stealing commandment? Is stealing wrong unless God gave you the land, then its alright?
And the thought just occurred to me about family structures. What if a student has two fathers or two mothers? Does this commandment apply to them, too? What if a student is an orphan? Teachers aren’t supposed to talk about these types of family structures in schools, so maybe this commandment doesn’t apply.
Finally, the bible does provide some guidance on what to do with a rebellious child:
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother ... all the men of the city shall stone him with stones, that he die ....(Deut. 21:18)
Well, that would immediately cut down on overcrowded classrooms. Let’s move on.
Sixth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.”
Okay, maybe less isn’t more in this case. I hope Governor Landry plans to provide some detailed guidance on what this means.
Will Louisiana end the state-sanctioned death penalty? Will Louisiana forbid young people from joining the military because they may be called upon to kill other human beings at some point? State-sanctioned killing isn’t mentioned in the commandment, so if there is an exception, where would we find that commandment?
We know the good governor would certainly include abortion under this commandment, which is, I surmise, the purpose of it for the Christian Nationalists who want to impose their will on everyone else. Once again, where would we go to find more explicit language in the bible that says abortion is murder? (Hint: it ain’t in there)
Seventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
This is like poking a hornet’s nest. Fortunately, we do have some other biblical instructions to help us understand this commandment.
Leviticus 20:10 threatened that ‘the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife … the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death’, while Deuteronomy 22:22 thundered, if a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die’.
So, since the commandment says you shouldn’t commit adultery, and the Bible proscribes death as the punishment for such an action (even though killing them violates the sixth commandment), then I wonder when the governor of Louisiana will sign a bill to put adulterers to death?
Donald might want to stay clear of campaigning in Louisiana. And, the Louisiana Statehouse better be careful with this one. Many of them will probably have a target on their backs.
Eighth Commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.”
Well, now, I wonder if the good governor means that corporations shouldn’t steal from the public. Does it include misappropriation of public funds for private schools? Is stealing meant to include predatory loans made to college students?
We all know taking something that doesn’t belong to us is stealing, and we shouldn’t do it. But the Bible gives some interesting guidance on stealing something because you are hungry or in need:
“People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house.” (Proverbs 6:30-31)
So, the guidance is that you shouldn’t get caught if you steal something because you need it, or else. Interesting advise.
Ninth Commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
Essentially, this is a commandment about not lying…good advice. But I wonder if the good governor will include things like perjury and fraud in the definition. If so, why would an honest person ever support the current Republican nominee for President?
But don’t worry, all good Bible-believing Christian Nationalists have the prescribed punishment for lying. Here it is in the book of Revelation 21:8.
"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death".
The Republican liar-in-chief nominee for President has something to look forward to, according to the book of Revelation.
Tenth Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant or maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
I’m not sure if Governor Landry understands the implication of this commandment, but if everyone took it to heart and really practiced it, then the whole capitalist system would collapse. If there is one thing conservatives love, it is capitalism. But without coveting, all marketing and advertising would go away, putting millions of people out of work.
Covet in the dictionary means to “yearn to possess something” or have things. Our whole economic system is based on coveting. Okay, maybe not your neighbor’s wife, manservant, maidservant, or cattle…but we covet just about everything else.
Is the good governor going to require that schools teach a course on how to be content with what they have, resist coveting or wanting anymore, and make do with what they have? I won’t hold my breath on that one.
So, requiring that the Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom might not be the bonanza that the Christian Nationalists might want to covet. If students took them as literally as the Christian Nationalists interpret the Bible, the consequence would be catastrophic.
If Christian Nationalists were truly serious about the teachings of Jesus, they would only need one commandment: “to love your neighbor as yourself.” On this, the whole law and the prophets stand.
Well thought and written!
Outstanding and important lesson.