Thou Shalt Not

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This episode is brought to you by Shopify, whether you're selling a little or a lot.

Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the, we just hit a million orders stage. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify is there to help you grow. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com/specialoffer, all lowercase. That's shopify.com/specialoffer.

Dan McClellan (0:30)

Like in Egypt, you have all, you've got the god of bricks, you got the god of lovemaking, you got the god of beer.

Dan Beecher (0:36)

Those gods knew how to party.

Dan McClellan (0:38)

Yeah, you got your bricks, you got your beer, you got your lovemaking, and you've got a weekend. Hey everybody, I'm Dan McClellan.

Dan Beecher (0:50)

And I'm Dan Beecher.

Dan McClellan (0:51)

And you are listening to the Data Over Dogma podcast where we increase public access to the academic study of the Bible and religion, and we combat the spread of misinformation about the same. We got a hot one today, don't we?

Dan Beecher (1:04)

Ooh, ooh, we're like coming off the heels of some current events.

Dan McClellan (1:10)

Oh, we're getting topical.

Dan Beecher (1:12)

We are, you know, we try. We're maybe a couple weeks late, but it's okay.

Dan McClellan (1:17)

Like an effective cream. An effective cream today, we're topical.

We're gonna be talking about recent legislation that was signed into law by the governor of Louisiana, HB 71, House Bill 71, which requires that all public school classrooms have prominently posted a specific version of The Ten Commandments. And we're gonna talk a little bit about what specific version they're using and why, and then get into some of these commandments, how they're written up, why it's a little confusing, and then talk a little more about some of these commandments, and then move on to some name of God stuff, just an average Thursday.

Dan Beecher (2:06)

Yeah, exactly.

Dan McClellan (2:07)

Or Monday, whatever, I don't know, when you're listening to this.

Dan Beecher (2:11)

Yeah, you listen whenever you listen. It's Thursday for us, but time is a flat circle, so none of it makes any sense.

All right, well, let's dive in to this. Louisiana has, as you say, has chosen to try to force all of the schools to have the Ten Commandments on a poster in every classroom.

Feels a little weird. Definitely problematic, I think a lot. Problematic. And controversial.

Dan McClellan (2:53)

So this has been tried in a bunch of states. Texas tried it recently. Here in Utah, they tried it, and it didn't get passed.

And this ought to strike most people as a pretty flagrant violation of the Establishment Clause of the very First Amendment to the Constitution. And we're gonna get into that. But shall we just kind of, I wanna read one of the paragraphs that introduces The Ten Commandments, and then we can read through it. Does that sound okay?

Dan Beecher (3:25)

I love it.

Dan McClellan (3:26)

So paragraph, let's see, line 11 on page three of the final form of this bill that was signed into law. No later than January 1, 2025, each public school governing authority shall display The Ten Commandments in each classroom in each school under its jurisdiction.

The nature of the display shall be determined by each governing authority with a minimum requirement that The Ten Commandments shall be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least 11 inches by 14 inches. The text of The Ten Commandments shall be the central focus of the poster or frame document and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font. The text shall read as follows. And then.

Dan Beecher (4:08)

It starts with The Ten Commandments. That's the first bit of text that you have to have on there.

Which I think should probably be read only in your best Charlton Heston impression.

Dan McClellan (4:23)

My, when I think Charlton Heston, I think of Wayne's World. Because I never watched the movie, The Ten Commandments.

Dan Beecher (4:35)

Really?

Dan McClellan (4:36)

Never seen it.

Dan Beecher (4:37)

Oh. DeMille is rolling in his grave.

Dan McClellan (4:40)

Well, he can roll around all he wants. I just have, I was not raised in a religious household.

It was just never a movie that we watched. And so I know I'm a heretic already to a lot of people out there, but that makes me even more heretical. So that's the movie that I first saw Charlton Heston in. I was like, okay, this guy's a much better actor than the first guy that they had in the gas station, but I don't get the significance. And then later on I was like, ah, okay.