Tonight, the second coming of Christian nationalism and what it means for every American institution. The latest flashpoint is in Louisiana. That state's governor, Jeff Landry, signed a law requiring the Ten Commandments to be prominently billed in every public classroom. He did it to cheers.

This bill mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in public elementary, secondary, and post-education schools in the state of Louisiana. Because if you want to respect the rule of law, you got to start from the original law giver, which was Moses.

Landry has laid down an open invitation to sue him, and he wants this to land in the Supreme Court, obviously, a forum where Christian groups have found green grass and welcomed mats for their causes. What we're watching in Louisiana is part of a broader crusade to dissolve that line between church and state. The crusaders are Christian Nationalists. First, here is what Christian Nationalism actually is. Two prominent sociologists described it this way, a cultural framework that blurs distinctions between Christian identity and American identity, viewing the two as closely related and seeking to enhance and preserve their union. Now, Donald Trump uses this as almost a throwaway line when he talks about religious groups.

The radical left is coming after all of us because they know that our allegiance is not to them. Our allegiance is to our country, and our allegiance is to our creator. We have to bring back our religion. We have to bring back Christianity in this country.

His ultra-Christian Nationalist allies want you to see secularism as wrong and God's will as the mandate of the government. For proof, just look Look at some of the writings from these groups. Documents like the Statement of Principles from something called National Conservatism. Where a Christian majority exists, public life should be rooted in Christianity and its moral vision, which should be honored by the state and other institutions, both public and private. A religious doctrine honored by the state sounds nothing like separation. It's marriage, a marriage that the founders would not have blessed, a marriage focused on tearing down the walls between God and governance. Christian nationalists feel that they are called to rule over all facets of society. Some, including Trump's spiritual advisor, Paula White, believe in something called the Seven Mountain Mandate. It outlines the seven areas of life that should be forever and unbreakably linked to the Christian Nationalist version of God's law. Family, church, education, media, arts, business, government. It's clear that they started in the schools in Louisiana and elsewhere, like Phoenix. A new CNN investigation uncovered what religious billionaires see as a model to import religious education into public schools using your tax dollars.

Arizona has a voucher system for families, what the state labeled as education savings accounts. It redirects money that would have gone to public schools to wherever families choose to spend it, and they've disproportionately been spent on unregulated private schools. Now, this is no accident. It is the byproduct of decades of Christian Nationalist lobbying. Nearly a dozen states have laws on the books that are similar and have similar policies. The group at the forefront of this is an organization called the American Federation for Children. They have a familiar face atop its perch. It's Betsey DeVoss. She was Donald Trump's former Education Secretary. January. Internal documents show that they funneled $250 million over the last 13 years to advance their causes. They also have a lot of cash to burn, and their plan is to spend it on elections everywhere they can on hundreds of races. This November, that's what the group told CNN. Joining me now are Louisiana State Representatives, Lauren Ventrela. She is a Republican. She co-authored the Ten Commandments Bill. Also with us, Kyle Green. He's a Democrat who voted against that bill. Lauren and Kyle, thank you both very much for joining us.

Lauren, I want to start with you.Thank you for having me.If your son or daughter had a Jewish or Muslim teacher who chose to hang one of their own religious texts on a poster in their classroom right next to the Ten Commandments, would you have a problem with that?

Hey, thanks for having me tonight. It's a great night in Louisiana because I know tomorrow morning, Ten Commandments are going to be proudly displayed in the classroom. Look, this bill is not about a Muslim text or any other text. This bill is simply about the Ten Commandments. That's what I don't have a problem with hanging in the classroom, and that's why I voted in favor of this bill.

Well, I know that it's not about anything other than the religious text that you subscribe to, but I'm wondering if this were done for any other religious text, one that perhaps a teacher said was another historical document, a Muslim text, a Hindu text. Would you have a problem with that?

Thank you for your question. Again, we could pose a thousand hypotheticals, but the piece of legislation that was brought to the state of Louisiana was specifically regarding the Ten Commandments. You're giving me a scenario that can't be specifically addressed without knowing more of the details. I can only speak to the details regarding this specific bill that we enacted, that I am knowledgeable and educated about on this subject. This is the bill. This is the bill that the state of Louisiana wanted, and we enacted with a resounding positive, yes.

Well, look, it's a hypothetical, I guess, to you, but it's not a hypothetical to many parents who are not Christian, who have kids go to public schools in your state. That's the law that you voted for. Don't you have a responsibility to think about that scenario? If the legislature tomorrow decided to do the same thing for another faith, would you be okay with that?

Look, if the legislature tomorrow, if somebody brought a bill to try to enact one of these other religious texts that you're mentioning, I would take the same consideration that I took with this text to look at in accordance with the Kennedy decision. As you know, the court recently overturned the Lemon decision, which Justice Kalia called a gou in a horror show at one point in time. So thank God we put that thing to bed. We're now looking at the Kennedy decision. I would apply that same reasoning to make that decision. The reasoning here under the Kennedy decision is we have to look at the historical context, the historical practices, and specifically speaking to the bill that we passed in the state of Louisiana, I am confident and secure in my decision that I voted in favor of this bill and co-authored this legislation, that this legislation is, in fact, constitutional and will be supported by the state of Louisiana.

Kyle, the state of Louisiana, I mean, part of the reason this is happening is it's true, the state is overwhelmingly Christian. Do you think that outside of your colleagues, and some we've had a teacher on last night, that there will be any blowback for all of this?

I think they will, Abby, and thank you for having me. I was just made aware that the ACLU has actually filed suit against House Bill 71. What this bill seeks to do is to overturn the Stone v. Graham case, which was decided by the Supreme Court in 1980, which basically overrul what the state of Kentucky attempted to do in having the Ten Commandments posted in their classroom. The reason why they basically shut Kentucky down was because it said that it had no legislative secular purpose, and it also was plainly religious in nature. In Louisiana, we know that this bill has no secular legislative purpose, and it is also plainly religious. We know that because of what the debate that occurred both on the House floor and in committee, where the author indicated that this bill was brought on behalf of religious liberty. The purpose of the bill was that our children should look up and see what God says is right and what he says is wrong. There's no other basis other than religion and the fact that we have... My colleagues I serve with are attempting to basically infuse religious indoctrination into our private schools.

How is this not religious indoctrination, Lauren?

I'm glad to see my friend Representative Green here with me. It's clearly not religious indoctrination, and I have to disagree with my colleague. The reason being, again, like I previously stated, and I did state in my debate on the House floor, look at the historical context of the document. The document itself is specifically written in its form that is maybe a bit confusing to some when they read it. It's in one of the old forms. That's one of the original interpretations of the text. The reason for that is to preserve the fundamental, the classic interpretation of this document. It's based off of our moral fiber in this country.

I'm sorry, I'm not understanding what you're saying. Are you saying that the Ten Commandments are the basis for the moral fiber of the country? On what basis are you saying that?

Yes. You specifically asked me, how would this not be religious indoctrination?

The reason is, the document itself- It's a religious text. What does that have to do with the founding of this country in terms of the moral? I don't even know what that means, the moral founding of this country.

Yeah, and thank you for your question. In Louisiana, we believe in faith, family, and freedom, and we believe that this country was founded on that. You can look at the walls of the Supreme Court. They even have a picture of the Ten Commandments. This is not something that's so preposterous to say that this country, that it's original laws, look, endowed by our creator. I mean, that is something that is historical. We know it is important to this nation.

What does that have to do with it?

It's historical in nature.

It's not religious. To be honest, Lauren, I'm just trying to understand. You're trying to claim that this is secular. It's very clear that the Ten Commandments is religious. In fact, the governor, when he signed the bill, he made it about religion, about faith. It is about faith at the end of the day, and you're going to have to defend that in court.