This week, the Louisiana House passed a bill (HB71) that would require that every public school or private school that receives public funds, including colleges and universities, put up a big ol’ picture of the Ten Commandments in every single class room. Only 19 people voted against the bill, which very blatantly violates the Constitution, while 82 members of the Louisiana House, many of them Democrats, voted for it. Fingers crossed that they’re like, the last of the old-timey Dixiecrats who never got around to changing their party affiliation.
Also, this week, the Louisiana House Education committee approved a particularly vicious “Don’t Say Gay” bill (HB122) that bars any and all discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity and even bars teachers from revealing their own sexual orientation or gender identity in all K-12 schools.
Here is the text of that batshit crazy bill:
A. No teacher, school employee, or other presenter at a school shall engage in the following discussions with students in grades kindergarten through twelve:
(1) Covering the topics of sexual orientation or gender identity in any classroom discussion or instruction in a manner that deviates from state content standards or curricula developed or approved by public school governing authorities.
(2) Covering the topics of sexual orientation or gender identity during any extracurricular academic, athletic, or social activity under the jurisdiction of the school or public school governing authority.
(3) Discussing his own sexual orientation or gender identity.
Yes, they’re outlawing your high school Gay Straight Alliance, and also GLAAD! You’ll notice that special exceptions have not been made for heterosexuals and cisgender people, so if this law were enforced as written, things could certainly get interesting.
Both of these terrible bills were authored by the mom from Carrie Rep. Dodie Horton (R-Up Your Ass), who is oddly committed to making life an absolute hellscape for children who do not follow her religion or share her beliefs about “sexual orientation and gender identity.” She is also an idiot who apparently cannot read either the Ten Commandments or the laws of her own state.
“The Ten Commandments are the basis of all laws in Louisiana, and given all the junk our children are exposed to in classrooms today, it’s imperative that we put the Ten Commandments back in a prominent position,” she said, in defense of the bill.
Oh really?
Because it’s not illegal to take the Lord’s name in vain, to put other Gods before the Christian God, it’s not illegal to make graven images, it’s not illegal for businesses to be open on Sundays, it’s not illegal to disrespect your parents, it’s not illegal to commit adultery, it’s not illegal to covet anything, it’s not illegal to bear false witness against one’s neighbor unless it’s in a court of law. The only ones that it could reasonably be applied to are the ones about not stealing and not killing, which, I’m sorry, are not specific to Christianity. Additionally, Louisiana has many laws that do not have anything to do with stealing or killing, such as laws governing who can be a notary public or tying alligators to fire hydrants.
And if I may be so bold, the death penalty is legal in Louisiana.
That being said, what is it she thinks children are learning in schools that would be countered by the Ten Commandments? Like, which commandment specifically does she imagine will be most helpful? Is she concerned about kids making graven images in art class? Or of Christian children forgetting that they are Christian or what the ten commandments are?
No, this is nothing more than a show of cultural dominance for the benefit of those kids who are not Christian (and their parents). Something to let them know who’s boss. Just like she wants kids who are gay or trans to believe that there is something wrong with them and to hide who they are for fear of being socially ostracized.
This whole goddamn (whoops, hope Louisiana won’t come arrest me!) Christian Nationalism trip is a tantrum that Christians like Horton are throwing because they no longer have the socio-cultural dominance in this country they believe they are entitled to and they are trying to claw it back any which way they can. They can’t just enjoy their religion and love their God unless they also get to feel superior to other people, and that includes school children. Who are well known to be much easier targets than adults.
They feel it slipping away, with each poll showing that there are now more “nones” (28 percent) in the country than there are evangelical Protestants (24 percent) and with the increasing awareness that no one is scared of them enough to stay in the closet. Because what that tells them is that they no longer have any power.
So far, while there have been many bills in many states proposing to indoctrinate kids in schools with the Ten Commandments, none has actually been put into action — largely because they are a very obvious violation of the establishment clause. However, we have a crazy Supreme Court now and I wouldn’t put it past them to eliminate that clause altogether, on a whim, for funsies — so it’s still worth keeping an eye out.
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