Please see the special note at the end of today’s email.
The governor of Louisiana recently signed a law requiring the Ten Commandments (10C) be posted in every public school classroom, from elementary through university.
“No later than January 1, 2025, each public school. . .shall display the Ten Commandments in each classroom. . . .The. . .Ten Commandments shall be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches. The text of the Ten Commandments shall be the central focus of the poster. . .and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font.”
I’m guessing if you’re reading Muslim Connect you’re fairly pro-Ten Commandments. You think they’re a good idea and you endeavor to shape your life in alignment to them.
But should governments, local, state or federal, mandate their display in public school classrooms? And you may wonder, like I do, what does this mean for Muslim school kids? Of course there are myriad other considerations as well.
Two questions come to my mind:
- What do Muslims think of the Ten Commandments? Turns out you can find parallels to each of the commands in the Quran, save remembering the Sabbath. They’re not in a list like Exodus 20, but the sentiments are reflected. So Muslims agree generally with the governor of Louisiana that the 10C reflect God-ordained and sensible, moral rails for life with God and society.
But does this make a Muslim fifth grader feel more or less at home in her classroom? And frankly in what ways and how much does that really matter? To me, you, the governor of Louisiana?
- Do you think this law is a good idea or not? I’d love for you to take 30 seconds and weigh in on this one question survey.
However you see this, may God give us all grace to live by the 10C and even more so by Jesus’s sum up of them to love the Lord God with all you have and love your neighbor as yourself!
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