Louisiana, one of the states in the United States, has made it mandatory that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public classrooms, a decision that has sparked public debate.
Governor Jeff Landry, on Wednesday, signed the legislation – making Louisiana the only one in the U.S. with such a mandate.
Critics such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have vowed to pursue a legal fight against the law.
They described the development as “blatantly unconstitutional.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Centre, in a joint statement, argued that the law “violates students’ and families’ fundamental right to religious freedom.”
However, Mr Landry said he could not wait for the decision to be taken, and while signing, he argued that the Ten Commandments contained valuable lessons for students.
“If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses,” he said.
It will also include a three-paragraph statement asserting that the Ten Commandments were a “prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.”
The state – Louisiana – is the first to enact a requirement for displaying the Ten Commandments in schools since the Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky law in 1980 that had a similar directive.
