this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2024

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The version of the 10 Commandments Louisiana mandates be in every classroom is not from the Bible. It is from a "formerly" racist organization called the Fraternal Order of Eagles. (www.dailykos.com)

submitted 4 months ago by FlyingSquid@lemmy.world to c/atheism@lemmy.world

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

At one point the qualifications for membership were that one must be 21 years old, possess a good character, not be a Communist and be a Caucasian. By the late 1970s the all-white provision had officially been rescinded, but, because the Order used the blackball to admit new members, it was difficult for minorities to gain membership. In 1979 the FOE tried to get a lawsuit dismissed that alleged it was violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by not allowing African Americans to use their athletic facilities. The article stated that a local Eagle official could only cite Joe Louis as a black member of the FOE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternal_Order_of_Eagles

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[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world -1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Huh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternal_Order_of_Eagles

Well, they’re weird, but don’t seem to be particularly evil or anything. I think pulling it verbatim from a supreme court case with the hope the SCOTUS would “have” to allow it makes sense as a stupid idea LA republiQans had. ~~I don’t think it’s some kind of KKK thing, or if it is, it’s not obvious.~~ Edit: Just saw the OP quote where yeah its explicitly racist, or “was”.

More like a run-of-the-mill faux-Masonic thing like Rotary Club, Elks, Gideons, whatever. Not my jam, but not as horrifyingly batshit as Qanon or the republiQan party proper either.

They are big on the ten commandments though which - as a private club if they wanna hand out ten commandment tshirts or whatever, sure, knock yourselves out.

It’s the “don’t say gay” poison pill in the bill that’s worse than where they got their hilarious “eleven” commandments unconstitutional garbage.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Did you read this part about the Eagles?

Ten Commandments

In the 1940s, E.J. Ruegemer, a Minnesota juvenile court judge and member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, launched a nationwide campaign to post copies of the Ten Commandments in juvenile courts across the country. His stated goal was to provide a moral foundation for troubled youth.

In 1956, director Cecil B. DeMille's epic film "The Ten Commandments" opened across the country. DeMille and Ruegemer drummed up publicity for the film by working together to erect granite monuments of the Ten Commandments across the nation.

Although there is no official record of how many monuments were erected, estimates range from less than 100 to more than 2,000. The Fraternal Order of Eagles kept the project going long after the film opened, and some monuments didn't get erected until up to 10 years later. Many monuments went up in public places like parks, city halls, and courthouses.[22] On August 30, 1961, the Fraternal Order of Eagles of Texas presented the State of Texas with a 6-foot-high monolith inscribed with the Ten Commandments, which in 2006 became the subject of a divisive and controversial legal dispute (Van Orden v. Perry) that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.[23] The case was ruled 5–4 in favor of the defendant, the State of Texas, and the monument was allowed to remain on the grounds of the State Capitol.

That seems relevant.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I . . didn’t, I made it through the timeline - is that from the wiki?

Anyway, it’s relevant because . . . they really really like the ten commandments? Or was there something about their interpretation of them or something? Or just that they’re religious nutballs.

I mean the Gideons would pass out bibles on the street corner, which is so not of interest to me, but it doesn’t seem particularly nefarious either (not that it isn’t mixed up with something nefarious, somewhere). It’s an old-timey thing groups would do, hand out “their materials”. It is still unconstitutional to put them in schools and the courtroom, but if they want to put them anywhere they can - ok, i guess?

Like, I expected Louisiana’s idiocy in publishing eleven commandments came from this group, or possibly that there were more hilarious mistakes in there. But neither seems to be the case.