Last week Louisiana passed a law requiring public schools, colleges, and universities to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms.
The law highlights the historical impact that the Ten Commandments have had on American government, and it provides how each school should display them, based on past court rulings.
Arkansas does not have a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments. However, state law does provide for the national motto — In God We Trust — to be displayed at school. Arkansas also has placed a privately-funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the state capitol grounds.
The monument is identical to one ruled constitutional at the capitol building in Texas.
Shortly after Arkansas’ monument was unveiled, atheist groups and the Satanic Temple joined a lawsuit to have it removed from the capitol grounds.
The case originally was set to go to trial in July of 2020, but the trial was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit has remained in limbo ever since.
As we have said many times, there shouldn’t be anything controversial about a monument honoring the significance of the Ten Commandments.
Historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have helped shape philosophy and laws in countries around the world.
Arkansas’ monument commemorates that legacy. It’s good to see Louisiana take similar steps to commemorate that legacy as well.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
