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Commentary on Displaying the Ten Commandments in Schools

by Jacob G. Hornberger, president, The Future of Freedom Foundation (8-06-01)

The Associated Press reports that the North Carolina legislature recently enacted legislation that would permit public schools to display the Ten Commandments. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down these types of laws as unconstitutional, Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat, has signaled his willingness to sign the measure into law. Representative Don Davis, a Republican, said, "I have a folder full of letters and emails in support of allowing the Ten Commandments to be posted in schools. The people want it." What Easley and Davis fail to recognize, of course, is that the Constitution is supposed to protect us from the will of the majority in such areas as religion. The Supreme Court properly recognizes that children who attend public schools are there because the state forces them to be there. Do we really want a system in which the majority can force the minority to send their children to a state institution to receive religious indoctrination? Of course not. So is there a solution for everyone? Of course -- to end state involvement in both religion and education. In that way, every family would be free to have its children raised and educated in the manner the family deems best. Moreover, with a free market in education, people such as Easley, Davis, and North Carolina legislators would be more likely to learn the true nature and purpose of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.