FILE - A copy of the Ten Commandments is posted along with other historical documents in a hallway of the Georgia Capitol, Thursday, June 20, 2024, in Atlanta. Christians and Jews believe in the Ten Commandments just not necessarily the version that will hang in every public school and state-funded college classroom in Louisiana.
“This cause has persisted because conservative partisans believe it’s a way to mobilize their base,” said Kevin M. Kruse, author of “One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America” and a history professor at Princeton University. He disputes the historical reasoning being used in Louisiana.
Translated in 17th century England from biblical languages, the King James version was for centuries the standard Bible used by evangelicals and other Protestants, even though many today use more modern translations. It is still the go-to translation for some worshippers. The Louisiana law contains plenty of evidence, including the specific Bible translation used, that the real intent is to privilege a particular expression of Christianity, Jones said.
“Decades ago, we would have seen this as a triumph of Protestantism in a deeply Catholic state, but I think its adoption today just shows how little the political leaders of the state actually care about the substance of religion,” Kruse said.