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Posting the Commandments

by George Baumler

  Posting the Ten Commandments stirs up religious and anti-religious fervor in like proportions.  Those that support the Ten Commandments being posted in schools and public buildings do so out of the desire to propagate their religious doctrine.  Likewise, those against posting do so for similar reasons.  (Despite protestations to the contrary.)  Both base their arguments on the notion that publicly funded government schools are the best places to teach malleable young minds the moral philosophy that the young students are likely to carry with them the rest of their lives.  If pro- and anti-commandment forces are correct about the public schools being the place for teaching your children about God or lack thereof, then whoever is in the majority should decide.  Or should they?

  Perhaps the argument is not whether the Ten Commandments or any other religious or anti-religious doctrine or should be taught or posted, but rather whether the government should have any control over the education of children at all.  Frederic Bastiat made the observation long ago in his essay “ the Law” about the state’s inappropriate role in providing education.  Today’s arguments bear out his predictions concerning state or government involvement.

  Parents who wish to provide religious education, as well as those who do not, should not be at the mercy of the fickle winds of political change.  It is time the government got out of the child indoctrination industry and concentrated its efforts on legitimate concerns of state.  Parents know far better what education is appropriate for their children than any bureaucrat employed by the state.  Rearing and educating children is the awesome responsibility of parents.  When parents surrender that responsibility to the tender mercies of government bureaucrats, it’s no wonder they are less than pleased with the results.  Children are more valuable to most parents than priceless gems, but it’s doubtful if the same parents who send their children off to some government institution would send a precious stone, were it their most prized possession, to a state run jeweler.