When I heard that the governor of Louisiana had ordered public schools to post the Ten Commandments, I wondered if he was expecting this to improve students’ academic progress, or perhaps their everyday moral behavior, or was it merely a political gesture aimed at garnering him votes among those who don’t care about climate change (God induced?) or racial inequities in Louisiana. Is all the noise he is making mere dust in our eyes?

Then, as a Christian, I recalled that the Second Commandment has harsh words about “idolatry.” Idolatry happens when anyone of us worship false gods, a temptation the people of ancient Palestine succumbed to again and again, as do Christians today, when they read into the Bible their own politics. And, there also came to mind the Sermon on the Mount and the ethical demands Jesus poses for his followers. Aren’t these more current — more “Christian” — than the Ten Commandments, one of which is the rule to keep the Sabbath holy meaning (in principle) no sports on Sundays?

Thank goodness the Founding Fathers had the wisdom to install, at the heart of our Constitution, the rule that the state would never endorse any one version of religion. The founders knew full well that horrible wars had occurred in the name of “true religion.” And, in our own time, we are experiencing wars animated by the same concept. Have we learned nothing from the Constitution or from our history?

David Hall
Bristol