Other states tried and failed to mandate the display of the ten commandments in schools. Why was Louisiana successful? This is the inspiring story.

From WORLD. Eight months ago, Louisiana state Rep. Dodie Horton sat in her Bossier Parish office basking in the afterglow of a successful reelection campaign. When she opened her email, she spotted what turned out to be a significant message. It was from WallBuilders, a national nonprofit that promotes what it calls America’s historical Christian roots. Horton clicked on it. A paragraph about the Ten Commandments caught the third-term representative’s eye, and she leaned in closer to her computer screen. Before she knew it, the bill-proposing side of her brain was working faster than a Cajun cook during crawfish season. …

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She succeeded. Last month, Louisiana became the first state in more than 40 years to require public schools and universities to display the Ten Commandments. …

Other GOP-led state legislatures have pushed similar bills and failed: Oklahoma’s HB 2962 died in February. …

That left observers of Louisiana’s recent accomplishment scratching their heads and asking a question: How’d they do it?

Horton points to 2022’s Kennedy v. Bremerton ruling, a Supreme Court decision favorable to the expression of faith in the public square. She says it rearranged the legal lines. “For 50 years humanists have pretty much had free rein over our education system,” Horton maintains. “It’s time to get back to our tradition.” …

Staff attorneys worked to craft a bill that would be “in the right posture,” Horton said. Then others contributed.

“When you pre-file a bill, it goes online. Different people make suggestions, and we had help from people across the country who felt this could be model legislation if we got it right. We amended it again and again to focus on its historical value and significance to our country,” Horton explains.

Gene Mills of the Louisiana Family Forum also offered assistance. His organization helped Horton pass a 2023 bill requiring “In God We Trust” posters be displayed in classrooms. …

But this time, Mills knew the stakes were high. Every word of HB 71 had to be strategic. He has no qualms about stating the Forum’s intention. “We prepared for the challenge, because our goal wasn’t a legislative success. It was to set precedent that if heard in the U.S. Supreme Court, under scrutiny, would prevail.” …

… Since Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill on June 19, Horton has been in the hot seat. “I’ve never known this level of evil attacks,” she says, referring to a barrage of emails and phone calls. “‘How dare I,’ you know. But you don’t do anything alone in the legislature. I’ve never seen the left so fearful of a change.” …

Meanwhile, Gene Mills is preparing to follow the law’s command. “The governor just called and wanted to know if we could go ahead and get the process going. I said, ‘Governor, don’t you think we ought to make sure we pass our case first?’” Landry didn’t hesitate, Mills said. …

Share your prayers below for other states to follow Louisiana’s example!

(Excerpt from WORLD. Photo Credit: Michael Rivera – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48415924)