Ten Commandments for Parochial School; Ten Amendments to the Bill of Rights for Public School

There has been so much brouhaha regarding the Ten Commandments lately. There is an effort by some to post them in public schools. As is often the case, I have a few thoughts on the matter that I’d like to share.

I was public school educated. We were introduced to the Bill of Rights; however, I can’t remember if they were posted in every class. The teacher would explain the purpose of each amendment and eventually test us.

I was introduced to the Ten Commandments at Catholic school, where I took religious instructions. I don’t recall the Commandments being posted in the classrooms. Perhaps there was no real need. I think it was more a case of teaching us to live by them rather than to memorize them by rote.

This might be an appropriate time for us to revisit the Bill of Rights. Some of us haven’t thought about them for a long time. Think of it this way: how many of the Ten Commandments do you know off the top of your head? How many of the original ten amendments in the Bill of Rights?