It doesn't take a law degree to see that the Harrisburg School Board is flagrantly abusing its authority by decreeing that a copy of the Ten Commandments be displayed in each of the schools. The decision dishonors education and the principle of religious pluralism. It's isn't about school safety or promoting morals among the students. Instead, we have a gaudy example of advocates for fire and brimstone Christianity marking their turf. Contrary to the declarations of Darrell Scott, the father of a student slain at Columbine High School, God has not been banished from schools.
Students are free to pray and conduct other forms of religious activity among themselves.
But for Scott, who found an enthusiatic audience during an appearance Tuesday in Harrisburg, religion isn't meaningful unless it is being force-fed to students by teachers and administrators. This is what the courts have ruled against for more than 50 years and with good reason. A Kentucky law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980. The Harrisburg School Board's message is that if you disagree with a law, go ahead and break it and dare somebody to file a lawsuit. The long line of court decisions rests on two sound premises.