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Proponents urge posting founding-era documents, including Ten Commandments, in classrooms; critics question legal and pluralism implications
Summary
Supporters of Senate Bill 34 argued it would strengthen civic knowledge by requiring school districts to display historical documents — including, as an option, the Ten Commandments — as part of classroom displays; committee members raised questions about the selection of documents and potential First Amendment implications.
Supporters of Senate Bill 34, the Historical Education Displays Act, told the Senate Education Committee that requiring school districts to post one of a list of founding or historically influential documents in classrooms would strengthen civic knowledge. Two proponents — Tim Throckmorton of the Family Research Council and Monty Lobb of the Christian Business Partnership (Center for Christian Virtue) — urged committee members to support the bill and framed the Ten Commandments as a historical influence on Anglo-American legal and moral thought.
Tim Throckmorton characterized the Ten Commandments and similar documents as part of the nation’s civic heritage and said they have long appeared in American educational materials and public…
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