With every progressive milestone this nation achieves, such as the legalization of gay marriage in 2015, Christian fanaticism grows. Certainly, in retaliation against these commendable policies, they strangle liberties elsewhere, like reversing Roe v. Wade and ending the once-lauded constitutional right to abortion. If US citizens do not take an adamant stand against these changes, we may find ourselves no better than those living in Islamic theocracies.

Louisiana citizens are the latest to befall such medieval decisions. On June 19, 2024 state Governor Jeff Landry passed a law mandating every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments. They must be shown prominently and clearly, and schools must have them in place by 2025. While Landry justifies this by saying the Commandments have 'historical significance,' this is a weak argument when confronted by the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights - another document with historical significance yet is not required to be displayed in every classroom - which states we 'shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...'

The law is just part of this religious trend with conservative lawmakers. Last month, Louisiana legislators also banned abortion, declaring abortion pills as dangerous controlled substances. Elsewhere, states like Texas and Florida passed laws allowing religious chaplains to provide mental health services or support for public school students.

There are critics of these laws. Maitreya Rael, founder and leader of the Raelian Movement, advocates for freedom in all things, including religion. He spoke in 2006 about the Western world potentially sliding backward towards religious policies that favor discrimination and constrict peoples' rights. "...[T]he western world must continue to accelerate its progressive reforms which allow it to completely destroy the last puritanical and conventional traces inherited from the oppressive Judeo-Christian traditions," he said that year. That was almost 20 years ago, and it seems like the US is struggling in this regard.

In order to destroy these last traces, as Maitreya Rael says, we must start with the children. We must reconsider the values we expose to them. How much time and effort is taken teaching the names of military generals, brutal colonizers, and tyrannical kings compared to the names of the brilliant inventors of daily objects like toilets, laundry machines, dishwashers, and the automobile? How can we drill the details of the Magna Charta but omit the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? This is the document that should be in every classroom.

If we are thoroughly examining our children's education, we must critique religion itself - monotheistic beliefs in particular. After the World Trade Centers were attacked in 2001, Maitreya Rael said, "Whether it is the Bible, the Gospel, or the Koran, all these sacred books spread hatred, intolerance, and encourage violence and barbarism." The very nature of monotheism and its traditions endorse discrimination and conflict - after all, if there is only One God and you believe a different one then one must be wrong and the other right. He continues in his speech,

...such texts must no longer be taught to children! Because the fact is that while the world cries over the victims of Manhattan, there are children who are receiving a religious education that will turn them into the terrorists of tomorrow who will in turn create new strife among different religious schools.

To post the First Commandment in a classroom, which says, 'You shall have no other gods before me,' is to instill intolerance of those who believe in a different one!

We must embrace tolerance and celebrate the differences among each other. However, we cannot impose them onto others, nor throw out decades of freedom and liberty, all of which are happening more and more in this country. We must teach our youth tolerance, respect, and fraternity for all other men and women, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, or religion.

Rob Sansone