There has always been friction between those who want government to recognize religion’s role in American public education and those who do not.

Thomas Jefferson first touched on the issue with his metaphor, in a letter to a religious group, that the Founding Fathers built a “wall of separation between church and state” – coining a phrase for the ages.

The First Amendment has often restricted religious teachings and symbols in public schools. Challenges to relax the precept have met with mixed results.

Now, Louisiana is testing the constitutional waters with a law that mandates prominent display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in the Bayou State, effective Jan.1.

An accompanying statement will express how the commandments, divinely revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai in biblical times, played a prominent part in American public education over the last two centuries.

Stone tablets not required. But the commandments must appear on a poster or framed document at least 11 inches by 14 inches, printed in large, easily readable type and be the “central focus” of the classroom.

Cash or material donations must cover costs of the display to avoid concern over the use of tax funds.

Snap quizzes may occur. Students, no matter your religion, beware.

Already, the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and other like-minded groups say they will file a lawsuit challenging the law.

The betting line favors the U.S. Supreme Court overturning it, based on precedent. The court rejected a similar 10 Commandments Kentucky law in 1980, ruling it served a religious purpose in violation of the First Amendment.

“The Ten Commandments are undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths, and no legislative recitation of a supposed secular purpose can blind us to that fact,” said the unsigned opinion.

The court issued the opinion on a petition to hear the case and before receiving written briefs and hearing oral arguments.

Twenty-five years later, the Supreme Court also rejected as unconstitutional Ten Commandments exhibits inside two Kentucky courthouses.

Undeterred by the high court’s interpretation of religious activity, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry is bullish. He’s confident the Supreme Court’s conservative majority will affirm his Louisiana law.

“I can’t wait to be sued,” he said.

Nor can Republican State Rep. Michael Bayham, co-author of the law. He said Moses, the 10 Commandments and the law are not only about religion but also about right and wrong.

“It’s our foundation law,” he told the Washington Post. “It does not say you have to be this particular faith or that particular faith.”

There is a risk for both sides in confronting the First Amendment’s religion clauses.

Courts have applied it in public school cases to rebuff organized prayer, mandatory moment of silence for private prayer, prevent the teaching of evolution, broadcasting prayer over a school’s PA system, direct tax aid to private schools and other cases.

In a much-publicized case two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled the other way. The 6-3 decision said a Washington state high school football coach did not violate the religious clause when he knelt in prayer at mid-field after each game, often joined by several players.

The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing an official religion or promoting religion. But it also features a free exercise clause that forbids government from interfering with an individual’s religious observance.

The Louisiana Ten Commandments case could go either way. The outcome will determine if there is a wall or a fence between church and state.

Bill Ketter is senior vice president of news for CNHI. Reach him at wketter@cnhi.com.