We are beginning to wonder whether or not Louisiana’s State legislators who advocate placing the Ten Commandments in public schools have actually read them; their statements in support of the legislation (HB71) do not square very well with the Commandments themselves.  Here is another example from LRN:

The House overwhelming approves legislation requiring schools that receive state dollars to have the ten commandments posted in their classrooms. Opponents say its unconstitutional because it’s an endorsement of religion, but Chalmette Representative Michael Bayham argues the Ten Commandments set the foundation for laws we follow today

“This is where we get our foundational beliefs of what’s right and what’s wrong. Otherwise where do we get our sense of right and wrong? Does it just pop in our heads? Or does it just come from a statue book? Everything traces back to the ten commandments in Western civilization.”

Rep. Bayham’s argument seems to be as follows:  We should support placing the Ten Commandments in public schools in recognition of the fact that they form the basis of modern Western laws.  That would be a fine thing to do, except it is wrong to claim that this is really the case in the West.  Let’s run through some of the Commandments and contrast them with modern law:

First Commandment:  Proclaims the Holy Trinity as the only True God; forbids the recognition of any other god.  Does any Western country or any State of the US officially recognize the Holy Trinity of the Bible as their God?  Do any of them forbid the worship of all other gods except the Trinity?  As to the first, only a tiny minority; as to the second, not to our knowledge.

Second Commandment:  The making and worshipping of idols are forbidden.  What Western country forbids this in their law code?  None.

Third:  Taking the name of the Lord in vain is prohibited.  What Western law code forbids this?  Rather, such an act is now protected as ‘free speech’ in most places.

Fourth:  Work on the Sabbath day is forbidden.  There have actually been Red/Southern States (Texas, Louisiana) that have weakened Sabbath rest laws lately.

Sixth:  Murder is forbidden.  Abortion and assisted suicide are gaining acceptance in many places across the West.

Seventh:  Adultery is forbidden.  Most Western law codes allow for unlimited divorce and remarriage, and also allow pornography, all of which violate this commandment.

In light of this, Rep. Bayham’s reasoning doesn’t ring true in two crucial ways:

1. The Ten Commandments are not simply a secular law code. They are the foundation of a religious society; and
2. They are not the basis of the laws much of the West follow today, however much he might wish that were the case. The reality is very much the opposite.

Yet he, like other supporters of this legislation, refuses to openly say these things.  Instead, their primary focus when they speak appears to be to separate the commandments about are actions toward God from those that spell out our duties to people, ignoring the former while emphasizing the latter (via the LRN story above):

Denham Springs Representative Roger Wilder believes it would do students good to see the Ten Commandments every day…

“I think the moral decline of our kids in general is something we should be concerned about. So if somebody can answer what’s so unmoral about the ten commandments don’t steal, don’t kill, whatever. We can’t argue a child seeing that and learning from it is a bad thing.”

This separation cannot be done.  The commandments regarding family and neighbors hinge upon the existence of the holy, just, and loving God of the first four commandments.  There is no reason for us to obey the latter six if there is no higher power before whom we will have to give an account of our actions.  Without God, all law becomes an exercise in utility, pleasure-seeking, or domination of the weak by the strong.  Thus, the Ten Commandments are necessarily endorsing religion; they lose much of their value if they are separated from the God Who gave them to Moses and to us.

No one should misunderstand at this point:  We would love to have laws on the books that make Louisiana an officially Christian State under the rulership of Jesus Christ, that outlaws evil images like the Baphomet statues that have been set up at various State capitols in recent years by satan worshippers, that honors Sunday and other holy days as days of worship and rest, and so forth – in short, a State where the Ten Commandments actually serve as the basis of our laws.

Is this what Reps. Bayham, Wilder, Horton, et al. really want?  We could not say with any certainty.  For, judging by their statements, they seem as intent on secularizing the laws, including the Ten Commandments themselves, as any woke Leftist.

The words of the Lord Jesus seem not to have touched their hearts:  ‘So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven’ (St. Matthew’s Gospel 10:32-33).

Nor the testimony of the holy Christian martyrs:

The Holy Martyr Terence and his companions suffered under the emperor Decius (249-251). The emperor issued an edict commanding all subjects to offer sacrifice to the pagan idols. When Fortunianus was a governor of Africa and received this edict, he gathered the people into the city square, set out cruel instruments of torture and declared that everyone without exception had to offer the sacrifice to the idols.

Many, afraid of torture, complied. However, Terence and thirty-nine other Christians resolved to resist the heathens, reminding one another of the words of our Lord: “Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; rather fear the One Who is able to send away both soul and body to gehenna” (Matt. 10:28). Therefore they bravely affirmed their faith in the Savior and ridiculed the idols. Fortunianus was amazed at their boldness and he asked how they as rational people, could confess as God, One Whom the Jews crucified as a malefactor.

Terence answered that their belief was in the Savior, Who voluntarily endured death on the Cross and rose on the third day, and they were determined to not cast aside the worship due to the Creator to pay homage to demons. Fortunianus saw that Terence inspired the others by his example, and so he ordered him to be isolated in prison with his three closest companions . . . .

Later the governor called for Terence and his companions. Having boldly confessed Christ again, they were thrown back in prison, but this time they were fettered in chains on the arms and feet, and beneath them were placed iron spikes. Furthermore, they were given nothing to eat or drink, and in this manner they passed several days. However, God did not allow his martyrs to suffer in this manner, so by night, an angel of the Lord removed the martyrs’ chains and fed them.

In the morning, the guards found the saints cheerful and strong. Then Fortunianus ordered them to be lacerated and then cast to the wild beasts as food, but the wild beasts did not harm them.

The furious Fortunianus then gave orders to behead the holy martyrs. Christians took up their holy bodies and buried them with reverence outside the city.

What terrifying torments make Louisiana’s legislators afraid to speak the name of God – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – in public debates over the Ten Commandments?  A combative newspaper reporter?  A scowl from an ACLU lawyer?  Their campaign rhetoric – often mentioning the ‘Christian values’ they hold dear in order to garner votes of unsuspecting church-goers – makes this silence of theirs doubly shameful.

We do hope that this Ten Commandments bill becomes law, but if it does, the victory will have been tarnished by the craven, mealy-mouthed words of its supporters in the Legislature.