In what can only be described as unnerving at best to what the United States Constitution was supposed to mean to all of its citizens, two states have decided that their children?s education should come under the influence of a specific religion. Indiana and South Dakota have both passed legislation to allow the Ten Commandments to be posted on the walls of their public schools. The questions and the motives that have arisen out of this inane and selfish move has brought a very old debate back into the forefront. The separation of church and state.
  The United States was founded (and I use the term very loosely) by Catholics and settled (once again, very loose term) by Puritans in the form of Pilgrims. As soon as it was distinguished that we were a nation and that we were going to be separate from Great Britain it was decided that religion was not going to be a part of what made or broke a citizen in this country. Granted, the citizens of this country have found ways of oppressing non-Christian religions since the so called open minds of the founding fathers constructed blueprints for this country, but yet their still should be no reason why the government itself should be involved.
 So why has this issue arisen all of a sudden? Considering the Bible and the ten commandments along with it has been around for 2000 odd years, you think that at least someone would have thought of this idea before. Well, unfortunately you need a school shooting like the one that occurred a year ago at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado for this sort of thing to happen. In response to that particular shooting as well as similar cases in Oregon, Kentucky and Arkansas, many people believe that having the ten commandments on the wall would help bring back a moral responsibility to kids that they had never heard before. By exposing kids to such words as ?Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor? and ?Thou shalt not commit adultery? kids are more prone to act like the fine young boys and girls that their parents expect them to be, and less prone to act out in violent ways that would lead them to go on a murderous rampage. I know doesn?t even look ridiculous in writing?
 What many advocates for these types of measures don?t realize is that this is far from being the solution to our problems. For many of these child killers, preventive measures like putting words on the wall would never have stopped them in the first place. When the bullies at Columbine High School picked on Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the Ten Commandments would have done nothing to stop them. How do you explain that to a child? Now I don?t justify what those kids did. That was obviously wrong. Yet, it seems that they themselves would have been immune to the whole effect that the Ten Commandments is supposed to have, had it been posted at their high school. Not only that, but even if they had, would killers like that have even cared about what these words say or even mean. I myself was never raised in a religious household, but just by pop culture alone, I now what most of the Ten Commandments are, at least the important ones. Having them posted on the wall would not have factored in any of the cases so far. In fact I?m sure that the killers were very aware of the Ten Commandments even if they weren?t printed on the wall of their school.
 What this basically comes down to is that these people are trying to use a preventive measure that would not be effective and only cause problems in other ways. Imagine anyone not of a Judeo-Christian heritage coming into class the first day and being told that what you have been brought up to believe is for the most part hogwash. Now factor in that you would be a very impressionable child and the idea becomes more clear as to why this wrong for schools of this country. The measure would single out one religion and its traditions over any others that might not have the same beliefs or teachings. Not only that but the first four Commandments have nothing to do with a moral code in the first place. They specify the special relationship between God and his chosen people. That of course excludes Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Baha?is, and Spiritists, not to mention atheists and agnostics as well.
 What is most disheartening about the whole problem is the way that some people have rallied around the issue as if it?s the savior of all of the United States? problems. Last summer the House of Representatives passed a bill allowing states to use the Ten Commandments in federal buildings. However, this measure will probably be ruled down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court as they did in 1994 when they disallowed the Ten Commandments to be posted in courthouses. Recently 41 member of Congress passed a resolution that they would hang the Commandments in their offices and anywhere else that they saw fit. ?It is unconstitutional,? claimed Anita Bowser a Democrat State Senator from Michigan City, Indiana. ?It will so be declared by the Supreme Court of the United States.? She also said that legislators are aware that it violates the first amendment, ?they?re so worried about the election coming up they?ll prostitute their beliefs for a vote.?
 For many of the states involved the argument is that the Ten Commandments are a historical document that should be posted along with the rest of the things that this country is based on. Yet, why should schools celebrate this country?s monotheistic upbringing, which it has never really been in the first place. The only reason people think it is, is because the rich (who control what is history) were mostly of Judeo-Christian heritage.
 It is not that I disagree with the teachings of the Ten Commandments, of course I agree with them. What is most distressing about the issue is that the same people who advocate this countries freedom and spirit completely downplay our entire Constitution when they support ideas like this. By making quick decisions like this to prevent such tragedies like the one at Columbine High School it sends the wrong messages to kids and especially adults who should know better.
Links: Americans United for Separation of Church and State. www.au.org