This week's cartoon does not deal, in a direct way at least, with LGBTQ+ issues. I still think it's relevant to point out Louisiana's new law mandating the posting of the Bible's Ten Commandments in each and every public school classroom, from kindergarten to science lab.
The LGBTQ+ community is a frequent target of the Christian Nationalists who are constantly seeking Establishment of their particular Religion in direct violation of the letter and spirit of the First Amendment. 44 years ago, the Supreme Court invalidated a similar Kentucky law on that very reasoning. But now, having stacked the Court with like-minded judicial activists, religious zealots are seizing the opportunity to cram their dogma down everyone else's throats.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry's mealy-mouthed platitudes about the Decalogue being the foundation of Western Law instead of a religious test are belied by the first three of the commandments. Many of us who revere the teachings of Jesus Christ do not share Mr. Landry's belief that the government has any business deciding who the Lord Thy God is. Or dictating how to spend the sabbath.
Nor did centuries upon centuries of religiously inspired war, torture, and bloodshed recommend itself to the Founding Fathers of this nation.
Tennessee was only the first to get its religious poster decree signed into law. West Virginia, Oklahoma and Mississippi are rarin' to follow suit. Oklahoma has gone ahead with requiring indoctrination teaching of the Bible in public schools. I patiently await reading about a teacher including the actual reason Y*w*h got pissed at King Saul in her lesson plan.
There is a meme going around proposing that teachers post the Ten Commandments in the original Hebrew. It's a clever thought, but the Tennessee legislature has already thought of that. They mandate what exact language must be used. The Required Tennessee Version of the Bible lists one commandment as "Thou shalt not kill," as opposed to the original Hebrew, which translates as "Thou shalt not murder." (OJB)
Distinctions like that do make a difference, and could very well be the basis for a lesson plan. That teacher might want the assign an essay on how to reconcile either translation of that commandment with Y*w*h's command that King Saul commit genocide.
I patiently wait.
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