It’s was inevitable that a legal challenge would ensue when Louisiana passed a law mandating that, beginning next year, all state-funded universities and K-12 classrooms display a poster of the Ten Commandments in a “large, easily readable font.” Unsurprisingly, the plaintiffs are the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

It’s pretty basic, and it begins with the 1st Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This is a declaration of monotheism. It’s the key principle of Judaism and Islam, and despite the confusion arising out of the Holy Trinity, it’s central to Christianity as well. There’s supposedly only one God and if you believe there is more than one, then it’s big trouble for you. I don’t think the early Israelites were actually conceited enough to believe there’s one only God, but they were clear that they should only worship one if they wanted to survive and prosper. This is a little different than the Muslim point of view. After all, the first pillar of Islam is the shahada, which states, “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” This isn’t a matter of choosing one god among many to worship but rather an insistence that there is only one God.

Louisiana is endorsing this basic concept. But, believe it or not, there are still people who believe there’s a pantheon of gods, or no gods or god at all. They have an absolute constitutional right to these beliefs, and to be free from state-sponsored indoctrination that tells them or their children otherwise. Now, it’s one thing to require children to say “one nation under God” in the pledge of allegiance, and quite another to tell them “they shall not” have a non-monotheistic or non-theistic religious belief system.

The American system of religious liberty was set up to avoid favoritism toward any one version of Christianity, as the colonies were largely religious institutions. Massachusetts was for Congregationalists, New Jersey for Presbyterians, Pennsylvania for Quakers, Virginia for Anglicans, the Carolinas for Baptists, and so on. In some states, belonging to the wrong sect meant you were ineligible to hold public office. And, of course, these religious communities were safe havens from the persecution various denominations had suffered in England and throughout Europe during the wars of religion. So, to cobble everyone together in one federal government, assurances were needed that no religious tests would be required. These protections extended to Jews and Muslims, but nonbelievers and polytheists weren’t much of a consideration. Nonetheless, they are covered by the 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The Louisiana law “establishes” a class of monotheistic religions. To be clear, the law doesn’t create a religious test for employment or service in government, but it creates an imperative to monotheism in every classroom. That’s religious indoctrination.

We don’t even need to get to other nine commandments to know that there is a constitutional problem here. Telling students not to lie, steal, murder or covet their neighbor’s goat is defensible. Telling them they cannot believe in anything but the one approved god is not.