Thou Shalt Post?

On the wall of Carolyn Sherrod’s business, a laminated sign tells visitors: “God is like Coke . . . he’s the real thing.” Outside is a copy of the Ten Commandments.

Sherrod is among area residents rallying around the school board’s decision to post the edicts in district schools. A rally in support of the display is planned for tonight.

This is, after all, Bible country--the kind of place that boasts more than a dozen churches for its 9,000 residents.

Still, the board’s newest member and the American Civil Liberties Union want the decision reversed--one of many such controversies cropping up across the country.

From the Deep South to Southern California, displaying the Ten Commandments in government buildings has become a contentious topic in recent months.

In June, the U.S. House gave broad approval to a measure allowing their posting in schools and other places, despite a 1980 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits such an act. A Senate measure is stalled.

The House vote simply affirmed what some school districts have already done on their own.

In the shadow of the Columbine High School massacre and other deadly acts of school violence, students have found the Ten Commandments appearing on the walls of classrooms and school offices from Jackson County, Ky., to Perris, Calif.

Before some schools embraced the idea, an Alabama judge sparked a legal tempest by posting the commandments in his courtroom. The state Supreme Court eventually dismissed a lawsuit brought against the judge on technical grounds, leaving the issue unresolved.

It’s raging anew in Harrisburg.

“Why are they so afraid to let good come into the schools?” said Billye Stalcup, a waitress at John’s Cafe, where the Ten Commandments flap gets lively discussion. “I’m floored that this is even an issue.”

The Harrisburg posting, which is currently limited to the principal’s office in each of the district’s four schools, includes the Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta in what supporters are calling a display of “historical documents.”

Many here are befuddled by the furor.

“There’s nothing wrong with the Ten Commandments,” said Karen Foster, whose children attend the town’s schools. “They’re just good rules to live by.”

Maybe for some people, said Harrisburg High School senior Dave Bianco, who says he’s a Christian, “but they aren’t everybody’s rules.”

“It’s just the majority being intolerant of the minority,” he added.

The American Civil Liberties Union agrees, saying the display is clearly illegal. Although the organization has asked the board to reverse its policy, it has not filed suit.

School board member Judy Cape, who was sworn in after the board took its Oct. 26 vote, promises to ask the board to reverse what she calls a “coercive situation.”

The Rev. Terry Gwaltney, who began the local Ten Commandments movement, noted that nearly a third of the town’s residents signed petitions asking that the documents be posted.

“This is something that’s close to the heart of this community,” he said.

Indeed, residents have embraced the movement, which has adopted a white ribbon as its symbol. Hundreds of supporters are wearing the ribbons and tying them to their homes, businesses and cars. The City Council recently said a prayer for the school board.

The board is expected to discuss the policy at its Tuesday meeting. School officials say the district’s lawyers have provided a legal opinion on the issue, but have declined to reveal what they said.

Tonight’s rally at Southeastern Illinois College is expected to draw thousands from throughout southern Illinois who support the display. It gives Stalcup, the waitress, confidence that supporters will prevail.

“If we stand together, we’ll win this,” she said.