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A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom. The issue has faith groups in the state divided. But as NPR's Jason DeRose reports, many of those same faith groups are pledging to continue to work together on the issues they do agree on. It's the latest story for our series Seeking Common Ground, about talking across America's divide.
JASON DEROSE, BYLINE: Saturday morning, at the annual meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, in the expo hallway across from an LGBTQ group's table and next to a church summer camp booth, is Leigh Rachal.
LEIGH RACHAL: So this is our ecumenical council. This is where we kind of work together to live out our faith.
DEROSE: Rachal is executive director of the Louisiana Interchurch Conference, or LIC, a group that works to end the death penalty and promote child welfare, among other issues.
RACHAL: The work for LIC goes on across the state with all those denominations.
DEROSE: Catholics and Baptists, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and United Methodists - 15 denominations in all, a group in which there isn't always agreement.
RACHAL: When the law first passed to put the Ten Commandments in every classroom, there was some concern around a number of the members of the Louisiana Interchurch Conference. There was also some in favor of it, others that were remaining neutral.
DEROSE: Unanimity is a requirement for any Interchurch focus, so it's not taking an official stand, something crucial for cooperation.
RACHAL: We can only move at the speed of trust. That's the way that we hold one another in relationship. I don't know if it's setting aside the differences or just not letting them be the only thing that's controlling how we interact with our neighbors.
RICHARD WILLIAMS: There are things that we've worked to nail down and really have deep agreement on. There's not a ton of them, but the things that we agree on, we really do.
DEROSE: Richard Williams is a Presbyterian minister and the chair of the Interchurch Conference Board. He's also a plaintiff in the lawsuit seeking to stop the Ten Commandments from being posted in classrooms. But he doesn't want disagreements among the conference - which is officially neutral on the issue - to stop all cooperation.
WILLIAMS: We could say, we're just different, and I'm never going to work together. But, man, that leaves so much on the table.
DEROSE: A table where neighbors like Williams serve neighbors in need.
JOHN PARKS: Back here is our kitchen.
DEROSE: Across town, John Parks is introducing me to another group that works across religious difference, the Interfaith Federation of Greater Baton Rouge.
PARKS: This is where the meals are cooked, for the most part.
DEROSE: Meals for a daily free lunch the Federation serves in one of the poorest parts of town. Parks, a Baptist minister and the group's executive director, says the Ten Commandments law has weighed on him.
PARKS: Because I know that it's an important part of several of our faith traditions, and I didn't want to risk saying something that would be offensive.
DEROSE: But Parks doesn't want to avoid the Ten Commandments conversation just because it's difficult.
PARKS: Looking honestly at our differences and acknowledging those but also finding places where we can meet and find common ground.
DEROSE: Some members of the Federation for whom the Ten Commandments aren't part of their tradition aren't really worried about the law.
EMAD NOFAL: Personally, I find it's OK. I'll live with it. I don't mind.
DEROSE: Emad Nofal is with the Islamic Center of Baton Rouge.
NOFAL: As a Muslim and a person who raised four children, I never worried in the school about what is on the wall. They all went to public school, and there were a lot of things against the tradition of Islam.
DEROSE: But the law does lead him to wonder about what might come next. Others for whom the Bible is part of their tradition feel differently.
ROBIN BLANCHE: In light of everything that's going on with the Ten Commandments, that's definitely been a conversation in our household, and explaining that to the children has been challenging.
DEROSE: Robin Blanche is part of the small Jewish community here in Baton Rouge. She's concerned what the law could mean for her young daughter.
BLANCHE: She doesn't believe in God right now, and she had mentioned this in her classroom, and four children told her she was going to hell.
DEROSE: Blanche worries a poster of the Ten Commandments could lead to more bullying. Despite worries and differences, though, all the members of the Interfaith Federation come together in one place.
MELVIN LUTCH: Hey, everybody, stand up for prayer.
DEROSE: Melvin Lutch helps serve the daily meal to 100 or so hungry neighbors at what's called Holy Grill, the Interfaith Federation's feeding ministry.
LUTCH: Heavenly Father, bless the food that we're about to receive in your son's name, Jesus Christ, amen.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: And then one scoop.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: OK. So you want me to do the meat and this.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: It doesn't matter. Like this.
DEROSE: Here, neighbors stand shoulder to shoulder to serve the common good by serving common need.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: That is pork chops and cabbage and smothered potatoes.
(SOUNDBITE OF DISHES BANGING)
DEROSE: Despite different faiths and differing views on the Ten Commandments in classrooms, at Holy Grill, common ground is holy ground.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Smells good, Dee (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Sure does.
DEROSE: Jason DeRose, NPR News, Baton Rouge.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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