Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling in Favor of Louisiana’s Ten Commandments Law is a De Facto Establishment of State Religion

Interfaith Alliance, a leading advocate for healthy boundaries between religion and government, is disappointed by yesterday's ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Rev. Roake v. Brumley that allowed Louisiana to enforce its law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom from Kindergarten to college. Interfaith Alliance was one of 20 religious organizations that co-signed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. 

In response to the ruling, Interfaith Alliance’s president and CEO Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush shared the following comment:

“Louisiana’s law requiring Ten Commandments displays in classrooms is an obvious violation of the First Amendment and a gut punch to every American who believes in religious freedom.

Right-wing Louisiana lawmakers and Fifth Circuit Court judges should crack open the Constitution. It leaves no room for religious indoctrination or coercion in public schools. Our founders believed that students should be free to learn without government-imposed religion. As a pastor who believes deeply in America’s commitment to religious freedom, I am deeply concerned about this ruling and the ongoing Christian nationalist push to break down critical boundaries between government and religion. As a parent with children in public school, I object to the government attempting to impose one religious text on my children. 

Interfaith Alliance will keep fighting to keep religious instruction where it should be: with religious institutions and families. Whether or not you hold the Ten Commandments to be sacred scripture–and I do–we should all agree that the government co-opting it and robbing it of its religious significance is demeaning.”

Faith leaders across the country are leading the pushback on this egregious attack on religious freedom, in places such as Alabama, Texas, Missouri and Kentucky. Rev. Raushenbush and representatives from Interfaith Alliance’s 20 state and local affiliates are available for interview to discuss the impact of this decision.

CONTACT: Ben DePasquale, [email protected], 717-779-4660