Fr. Mario Alexis Portella: When God Returns to the Public Square

The State of Louisiana, this June, became the first state in our country to enact a requirement for displaying the Ten Commandments in schools since the U.S. Supreme Court, in Stone v. Graham (1980), struck down a Kentucky law that had a similar directive. In that case, the Court found that the law violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The new legislation is being contested by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, to name a few, as a violation of the separation of church and state as stipulated by the First Amendment, as if the Commandments, like “Honor they Father and Mother” or “Thou Shall not kill” are an actual infringement. The aforementioned associations are reportedly acting on behalf of nine “multi-faith families” who have students enrolled in Louisiana public schools. The families involved in the lawsuit include parents who are “Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and non-religious.” …

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