LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY pansauce)

Mississippi lets religious documents be posted on public property

By The Associated Press
04.22.05

JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi is among the first states in the nation to make it lawful to allow religious documents to be posted on public property.

The law gives permission to those in authority of public buildings to post the Ten Commandments, excerpts of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and the motto, "In God We Trust."

By signing Senate Bill 2486 on April 20, Gov. Haley Barbour "thrills" the Christian conservative base of the Republican Party, which he'll need if he plans to seek re-election or launch a presidential campaign, said Larry J. Sabato, director of the director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Virginia.

"Fundamentalist Christians can be a majority of those who turn up in caucus primaries. This would be very useful in seeking the Republican nomination for president," Sabato said.