Republican Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana recently signed legislation requiring that every public school classroom in Louisiana, from kindergarten through the university, to display a poster-sized copy of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily legible font.”
Landry explained that if public schools want to instill respect for the law into students, “you’ve got to start with the original law-giver, who was Moses.” Supporters of the law argue that the Ten Commandments are not solely religious but have “historical significance,” which makes them appropriate to display in public school classrooms when paired with a four paragraph context statement — the content, size or legibility of which has not been specified.
Not to be outdone, Oklahoma Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters announced a new mandate for public schools there, declaring: “Every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom.”
Walters believes that the Bible is a “necessary historical document to teach kids about the history of this country.” It is worth noting that the Biblical canon was closed centuries before this country was founded and that Protestants, Jews and Catholics do not agree on what it is.
And on July 1 in Florida a new law went into effect allowing religious pastors to serve as volunteer counselors in public schools, as long as they pass a background check. And aren’t Satanists. Upon hearing that members of the church of Satan planned to take advantage of the law to minister in public schools, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Satanic Temple pastors ineligible stating: “That is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this.”
I am a pastor and a practicing Christian, but all this blasphemous foolishness has me declaring this Festivus in July because, in the words of the fictional Frank Costanza on Seinfeld, “I got a lot of problems with you people.”
If the govenor of Florida can, by the power not vested in him, unilaterally declare that the church of Satan isn’t a religion, then he can also wake up one morning and decide that Islam isn’t a religion, or Hinduism, or Catholicism or any faith that allows women to preach or doesn’t handle snakes.
The point of the separation of church and state, as any fourth grader with a reasonably competent history teacher can tell you, isn’t to limit a citizen’s ability to practice their faith, but to protect it.
I do not want DeSantis to be able to decide what is and isn’t a religion. For an agent of the American government to seize this kind of power is incredibly ironic, since this is precisely the kind of oppression that some European Christians were fleeing when they settled in the “New World.” It wasn’t that they were prohibited from being Christians, it was that their government had declared that their understanding of Christianity wasn’t a legitimate religion.
I pastor a church and we don’t display the Ten Commandments on any of our walls. Because honestly, it’s a kind of idolatry. It’s tempting to conflate displaying the commandments with keeping them, but nothing could be further from reality.
The sacredness of these or any words of scripture comes in the messy, sacrificial practice of living them out in community and discerning together how God is calling us to keep them. This is work for a voluntarily formed faith community, not a government institution. I want my daughter’s math instructor to teach her how to do quadratic equations, not how to honor her father and mother.
All these men believe they are doing the Lord’s work, but they really haven’t thought it through. I know they don’t want someone like me teaching students how to interpret scripture. Because I’d teach the kindergartners that all people are created in the image of God and must be treated with reverence and respect. I’d teach the fifth graders that God is as much female as male and that God hates the patriarchy and all systems of oppression. I’d teach the middle schoolers that Jesus and the prophets saw amassing wealth and the pursuit of power as the worst kinds of sin and idolatry. And I’d teach high schoolers about restorative justice and God’s preferential option for the poor. Because that’s how I read the gospel.
I know Landry, DeSantis and Walters don’t want me and a Bible anywhere near their children, and I don’t want them and their Bibles anywhere near mine.
Let’s agree to protect the rights of all peoples to be guided by their consciences and not their governments when interpreting scripture. Mandatory Ten Commandment posters, Biblical instruction and pastor chaplains do not belong in publicly funded schools.
Kate Murphy is pastor at The Grove Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.
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