Barbour making progress; signs bill to allow display of religious texts

Governor Haley Barbour doesn't have much to hang his hat on so far during his reign atop Mississippi, but he finally made a bold, admirable move Thursday when he signed into law a bill that will allow religious texts to be displayed in public buildings.

Local boards will now be able to choose whether or not to display documents such as the Ten Commandments, the Beattitudes, or the "In God We Trust" posters. The latter have been hanging in all Mississippi classrooms since 2001. The bill follows a nasty incident in Alabama last year where a state leader lost his job because he refused to order the removal of a monument honoring the Ten Commandments at the state Capitol building.

The display of religious texts has become a national point of debate because of the Alabama mess, and the U.S. Supreme Court is set to make a ruling on the issue by late June.

Hopefully, our local, state and national leaders will follow the principles this nation was founded on — freedom and a high respect for God Almighty.