In the United States, Louisiana requires the display of the Ten Commandments in schools

The southern state of the United States announced on Wednesday June 19 that it had required the display of the Ten Commandments in all its schools from the next school year. For Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of this conservative state, “if we want to respect the rule of law, then we must start from the original law, that of Moses“.

Civil liberties groups have already announced that they will take the matter to court, such as the American Civil Liberties Union. “The law violates the separation of church and state and is clearly unconstitutional” she said in a statement.

The association highlights the first amendment of the Constitution which prohibits the establishment of a national religion or the preference of one religion over another. It will therefore be up to the Supreme Court to decide. But supporters of the law retort that the text is not only religious in nature. It would also have a historical dimension and they emphasize that the Ten Commandments constitute an important part of American public education.

In fact, Louisiana is one of the most conservative states in the southern United States. It belongs to what is commonly called the Bible Belt, which includes formerly secessionist states. In this geographical area there is a concentration of a significant number of people who claim to be Christian fundamentalists.

For example, Louisiana not only bans almost all abortions, but it recently criminalized the possession of abortion pills, now classified as dangerous substances. A first in the country, denounced by President Joe Biden who described this decision as scandalous.