On Tuesday, a federal judge in the US state of Louisiana rightly struck down, on constitutional grounds, a controversial state law requiring that the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament in the Bible be displayed in every public school classroom.

In his ruling, the judge said that the Louisiana law that was set to take effect next January was “coercive to students and, for all practical purposes, they cannot opt out of viewing the Ten Commandments when they are displayed in every classroom, every day of the year, every year of their education”.

When state lawmakers passed the legislation earlier this year it was the clearest indication yet that conservative Christian groups were willing to ignore the beliefs and practices of adherents of other religions, or people who were non-religious.

As stipulated in the law, posters containing the commandments would have to be mounted in each classroom of every public elementary, middle, and high school in the state, as well as in classrooms at public colleges.

According to news reports, the posters must be no smaller than 11 by 14 inches, and the commandments must be listed in a large, easily readable font and include a three-paragraph statement asserting that the Ten Commandments were a “prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries”.

There has been a long-standing tendency among some religious groups to want to impose their beliefs on the rest of the population. Louisiana was the first state to enact this kind of mandate in more than 40 years, against a more modern trend towards religious liberty.

The removal of religious teaching in public schools in the United States has not sat well with these conservative Christians who continue to rail against it. The Supreme Court struck down a similar Kentucky law on First Amendment grounds in 1980.

Supporters of the law argue that the Ten Commandments were not merely a religious text, but also a historical document, laying out the guidelines that have underpinned the modern legal system, indicating that they would appeal the ruling.

Critics say that a major dilemma in imposing a single religion on others in a multi-cultural society is that it will foster constant conflict with people of other beliefs and ensure there is no peace in that society.

Moreover, when one religion is forced on public schools and institutions, it means that taxpayers of other faiths or non-believers are also being forced to finance or practise rituals against their will.

The US enshrines religious freedom in the constitution, but no single religion is given preference. In his ruling the judge suggested that there are “any number of ways that the state could advance an alleged interest in educating students about the Ten Commandments that would be less burdensome”.

The nine families who brought the legal challenge to the law included at least two Unitarian Universalist families, a Jewish family, an atheist family, a Presbyterian family, and some non-religious families with children in Louisiana public schools.

We in this space believe that children should receive secular education in public schools and their religious education at home, in private schools, and within the family’s faith communities.

This makes for a more peaceful society and applies constitutional rights more equally.