Critical Reading Passage Quarter 1 Week 8
category
consume
role
Do the Ten Commandments belong in public schools?
Take a look around most classrooms and you will see a variety of images, bulletin board art
and announcements, student work, motivational posters and so on. What about the Ten
Commandments? Our country has put religion in the category of "off limits" for public
schools, but should religion be totally banned when it plays such an important role in many
citizens' lives?
The Ten Commandments are said to have been given by God to Moses to guide behavior.
Some of the commandments are moral guides such as "Don't steal" or "Don't lie." People
who support displaying the Ten Commandments in schools, say that they provide guidance
to students about correct behavior. However, the Ten Commandments also have a
category of strictly religious commandments such as "Keep the Sabbath Day holy" and
"Thou shalt have no other gods but me." Those who oppose posting the Ten
Commandments in schools argue that the commandments are in violation of separation of
church and state as mandated by the United States government and that religion has no
role in schools.
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Stone v. Graham that it is unconstitutional to
require schools to display the Ten Commandments. Later cases addressed whether other
public places, such as government buildings, were similarly restricted. The cases seemed
to consume the attention, not only of social conservatives, but also of people concerned
about separation of church and state. Courts in different states and at different levels
have sent mixed signals. In 2005, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a
monument listing the Ten Commandments on the Texas Capitol grounds did not violate the
Constitution. That same year though, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a
monument displaying the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Kentucky Capitol
building had to be removed. Due to these and other court cases, this debate will continue
to consume the attention of the American public.
Does displaying a religious document like the Ten Commandments mean that a school is
endorsing a particular religion? Does posting the Ten Commandments discriminate against
non-Jewish, non-Christian students? Would posting of the Ten Commandments be
acceptable if the religious commandments were excluded?
JCCS Academic Language 2011