What is Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law and why is it controversial?
Al Jazeera
Louisiana passed a law requiring all state-funded schools to display the biblical Ten Commandments, prompting lawsuits.
The US state of Louisiana has passed a law requiring all state-funded schools and universities to display the biblical Ten Commandments, which are considered central to both Christianity and Judaism. The new law was signed on June 19 by the Republican Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry.
“If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original law-giver, which was Moses,” Landry said at the signing ceremony, referring to the biblical precepts believed to have been revealed to Moses, a Hebrew teacher and leader depicted in the Bible.
Critics argue that the new law – House Bill 71 – violates the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech, and some say it amounts to an attack on LGBTQ rights.
Here’s a look at the latest in a rising number of new conservative laws, mostly passed by Republican states, and what it means.
Louisiana is the first US state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in schools. The law stipulates the following:
