The Tennessee State House passed a bill this week that gives public schools the option of displaying the Ten Commandments and other historical documents.
House Bill (HB) 0047, introduced by State Representative Michael Hale (R-Smithville), passed 75-17, with one member voting present. The bill now heads over to the State Senate for consideration.
HB 0047 allows public schools to prominently display the Ten Commandments, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Tennessee Constitution, and other historical documents.
The bill says the purpose of displaying these items is to “educate students on the historical significance and common cultural heritage the documents have on the principles of the [Local Education Agency] or public charter school, this state, or the United States of America.”
At the hearing, Hale said his bill does not require school districts to display these items but instead provides legal protection for them if they choose to do so.
A proponent of the bill, State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) said teaching kids about the Ten Commandments “might make our society a better place to live.”
“It is a lack of reflection of our society right now, of where we are. I applaud [Hale] for doing this,” he stated.
Cepicky said he hoped all 147 of the state’s school districts would display the Ten Commandments to give children the opportunity to ask questions.
Education should be “inspiring our kids to ask questions,” Cepicky noted.
Many Democrats spoke in opposition to the bill, raising concerns that displaying the Ten Commandments may offend students who aren’t Christian.
State Representative Harold Love, Jr. (D-Nashville) said he had a “concern about what it may send to other faith traditions.”
“Even though we are posting it as a historical document, it may give an indication that their particular faith tradition is not as honored as the faith tradition coming out of the Ten Commandments,” Love stated.
To this concern, Hale said the first public schools in America taught children how to “read and interpret the Bible.”
State Representative John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) questioned why this bill included historical documents with the Ten Commandments, given that they are already permitted to be displayed in public schools.
Clemmons said there are students in public schools who are raised and practiced in other religions.
He noted these students may find the display of the Ten Commandments in a public school “disrespectful.”
“We need to be sympathetic to those and acknowledge those who may not agree with our faith,” he stated.
State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said HB 0046 is “antithetical to the purposes of education.”
“Regardless of religious denomination, everyone’s taxes pay for public schools,” Pearson said.
“When the state is putting in Biblical documents into the school, it is subtly or overtly endorsing a particular belief, particular faith [or] particular tradition that could be antithetical to the beliefs of other children,” Pearson stated.
He asked whether, if public schools displayed the Ten Commandments, they would also display documents from other religions.
Pearson added that if parents want religious instruction in school, they can attend private schools.
He cited Tennessee law that allows parents to use voucher funds to attend religious private schools.
Pearson said he has often heard that public schools should not be “places of indoctrination.”
“What is this?” he asked.
“It is not the state’s job to tell schools or to allow schools the opportunity to tell kids what they should believe,” he noted.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
