Thou Shalt Not...

By a vote of 6 to 1 one day last November, the school board in suburban New Hyde Park, L.I. (pop. 10.500) passed what seemed to be a most innocuous proposal: to post in the classrooms of its elementary schools a version of the Ten Commandments. The version was to be the same as that used in nearby Huntington since 1954. It was so worded as to offend no particular faith, did not involve any religious instruction. But no sooner had the decision been made than the area was in an uproar.

Backed by the American Jewish Congress and the New York Board of Rabbis, some citizens denounced the whole idea as a violation of the separation of church and state. Others maintained that the interdenominational version was really a "new religion" and hence offensive to all faiths. One lawyer argued that the proposal was a plot to 1) introduce religion into the public schools, 2) equate them with parochial schools, 3) thus open the door to public support for private schools. Finally the case reached the office of New York's State Commissioner of Education James E. Allen Jr.

Though approving the board's motives, Allen ruled last week: "The display of an item which cannot be freely explained and discussed is unsound educational practice." He ordered that the Commandments be banned. "If the end result of the display in the school of the Ten Commandments," said he, "is to stir up bitterness and dissension, then it is better that they not be displayed.''

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