1. United States
2. Ark.
3. Letter

Are you aware of the separation of church and state? The statue of the ten commandments on State Government grounds tells me no, but this new law about displaying the commandments in every classroom is a new degree of forcing beliefs on Arkansans. Publicly funded schools must acknowledge multiple religions or none at all. We have plenty of Arkansans who are non-Christian: 20% of Arkansans, one in five, do not practice Christianity. Is there any intention to post prominent faith-related documents from Islam in every classroom? From Judaism? From pagan faiths? Is there any intent to acknowledge and include atheists in Arkansas public spaces? While we may, of course, allow teachers to post what they please in classrooms, there is absolutely no call for any sort of mandate around one singular faith in our public schools. Reconsider this law immediately.