Source: The Dispatch
by Michael A Helfand
“There’s a reason so many conservative justices over the past 40 years have rejected the idea that the establishment clause prohibits only compelled religious exercise. If government is permitted to use its power, prestige, and resources to overwhelm citizens with government-preferred religious messages, it paves the way for the manipulation of religious conscience, especially when dealing with children in classrooms. Protecting the independence of religious conscience is a core constitutional commitment, expressed perhaps most famously by James Madison in his 1785 ‘Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,’ where he insisted that ‘[t]he Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man.’ The First Amendment is allergic to religious orthodoxies. For this reason, requiring the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms crosses a fundamental constitutional line.” (05/26/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/ten-commandments-religion-state-public-schools/