In a move that has sparked controversy and legal challenges, every public school classroom in Louisiana, from elementary to university level, has been ordered to display a poster featuring the Ten Commandments, as reported by BBC. This Republican-backed measure, signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry on Wednesday, is the first of its kind in the United States.

The new law mandates that the sacred text be displayed in "large, easily readable font" on an 11-by-14-inch poster, with the commandments being "the central focus" of the display. The posters must include a four-paragraph "context statement" describing how the directives "were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries."

The law's author, Republican state lawmaker Dodie Horton, has spoken of the importance of returning a "moral code" to classrooms. "It's like hope is in the air everywhere," Horton was quoted as saying when the bill received the governor's approval.

BREAKING NEWS: Louisiana just became the 1st U.S. state to require the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms. pic.twitter.com/aGtfEehxsj

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) June 19, 2024

 While Christians regard the Ten Commandments as fundamental rules from God on how to live, opponents argue that the law violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing an official religion. "The law was 'blatantly unconstitutional,'" read a joint statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

BREAKING: We're suing Louisiana for requiring all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

Public schools are not Sunday schools.

— ACLU (@ACLU) June 19, 2024

Similar laws have recently been proposed by other Republican-led states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah. The US Supreme Court has previously ruled against a similar law in Kentucky, striking it down in 1980 on the grounds that requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools "had no secular legislative purpose" and was "plainly religious in nature."

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Muslim leaders from the Xinjiang region rejected Thursday Western allegations that China is committing genocide against the Uyghurs.

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Speaking to media at a celebration for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, president of the Xinjiang Islamic Association Abdureqip Tomurniyaz said China had eradicated the breeding ground for extremism by improving livelihoods, teaching people about the law and setting up vocational training and education centers.

On Wednesday, human rights groups and Western nations met and demanded unfettered access for UN human rights experts to the region and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned China for "crimes against humanity and genocide against Muslim Uyghurs."

"They want to sabotage Xinjiang's harmony and stability, contain China's rise and alienate relations between China and Islamic countries," Tomurniyaz said.

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Speaking at the second annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom conference in Washington, DC, Katz said, "Anti-Semites will always find a reason to hate the Jewish people. The world is also facing the threat of radical Islamist extremism such as Daesh [the Islamic State group] and al-Qaida and the radicalism of Iran and its proxies. As the son of Holocaust survivors, I am only too aware that when anti-Semitism and religious extremism rise, the whole world becomes a darker and more dangerous place.

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"Religion should unify us – not divide us," Katz added. "It is my hope that this will be the true role of religion in our region and the worlds."

Yesterday I met publicly with the Foreign Minister of Bahrain @khalidalkhalifa at the @statedept Ministerial on Religious Freedom
Another example of our growing diplomatic connections
I will continue to work with @IsraeliPM to advance Israel's relations with the Gulf countries pic.twitter.com/EElPlWbwiZ

— ישראל כ"ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 18, 2019

He further noted that "in Israel, and in our capital Jerusalem, Christians, Muslims, Jews and people of every other faith are free to practice their religion. For the first time in 2,000 years, the holy places are protected. Our nearly 2 million Muslim citizens and our growing Christian population can celebrate their faith as they wish."

According to The Algemeiner, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who spoke at the same event, said, "Religious freedom isn't just a Christian concern, a Jewish concern, a Muslim concern, a Buddhist concern, a Hindu concern, or a humanist concern. It's all of our concern; it is everyone's concern."

On the sidelines of the event, Katz met with his Bahraini counterpart, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

Manama and Jerusalem have no official diplomatic relations.

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