Debating the Display of Ten Commandments in Public Schools a

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
In Giles County, Virginia, the school board has removed displays of the Ten Commandments in its schools. The county thought that posting the Ten Commandments, along with the first part of the United States Constitution, might help increase moral values.
There had been few complaints since the Commandments were posted almost twelve years ago. But recently, civil liberties groups had threatened to take the county to court if it did not remove them.
The United States Supreme¹ Court permits the Ten Commandments to be on public property so long as the goal of displaying them is not to gain support for religion. But in nineteen eighty, the Court ruled that the Ten Commandments cannot be shown in public schools because displaying them shows support of religion by the government.
Jewish and Christian² holy books say the Ten Commandments were laws given to the prophet Moses by God. Many Americans believe the country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Many of their beliefs are expressed in the Ten Commandments. They are a set of rules against murder, stealing, cheating, adultery and profanity.
A monument with the Ten Commandments sits near the Texas capitol in Austin, Texas.
Douglas Laycock is a professor of constitutional law at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville. He says the Supreme Court has ruled that governments must be neutral about religious teachings.
DOUGLAS LAYCOCK: “Putting up the Ten Commandments in a way that promotes the Jewish and Christian scriptures³ is a violation⁴ of the Constitution, and especially if they do it in a public school. Parents are entitled to send their children to school without having to proselytize⁵ somebody having somebody else’s religion.”
Officials in Giles County say they may put the Ten Commandments back on the walls of the schools but will add other historical documents. Professor Laycock says it is possible that might satisfy a court.
DOUGLAS LAYCOCK: “Whether or not they can keep the Ten Commandments on the wall…depends on how serious and plausible⁶ the things they put around it are. And, whether it looks like a genuine secular⁷ display that happens to include the Ten Commandments or whether it looks like just an excuse for putting this religious document on the wall.”
Since the Supreme Court ruling in nineteen eighty, more conservative justices have been appointed to the Court. Professor Laycock says some conservative activists⁸ believe this new, more conservative Court might be willing to once again permit the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. Tell us what you think about religion in public schools. You can comment at voanews.cn. You can also find transcripts⁹ and MP3s of our reports. And you can find us on Facebook and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Christopher Cruise.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 scriptures   

经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典

参考例句：

• Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the Scriptures are 'inspired'. 使徒彼得在此表达了他相信《圣经》是通过默感写成的。
• You won't find this moral precept in the scriptures. 你在《圣经》中找不到这种道德规范。

4 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

5 proselytize   

v.改变宗教

参考例句：

• I assured him we didn't come here to proselytize.我向他保证我们并不是来改变他的信仰的。
• Christians were arrested for trying to convert people,to proselytise them.基督徒因为试图改变他人信仰而被捕。

6 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

7 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句