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The Ten Commandments could be hung in Ohio classrooms under a Republican bill

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — A bill moving through the Ohio General Assembly would force history and social studies teachers statewide from grades four through 12 to hang several historic documents on their walls.

A classroom is seen at the new East Elementary school, in Athens, Ohio, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. [Joseph Scheller | WOUB]
A classroom is seen at the new East Elementary school, in Athens, Ohio, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. [Joseph Scheller | WOUB]
Under Senate Bill 34, school boards of districts getting state funds would choose four documents from a list assembled by lawmakers. The Ten Commandments are one of the several documents on the list, which has been the focus of most of the scrutiny around SB 34.

School districts could take donated funds or materials to fulfill the mandate, according to SB 34. And schools could “erect a monument inscribed with one or more of the documents,” too.

Its Republican proponents have said districts maintain a choice in the matter, and they argue the foundational religious doctrine for Judaism and Christianity has additional historical significance.

“The actual Ten Commandments are not found in our Constitution, but the principles of many of our founders came from a biblical understanding that all of our rights come from God,” Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) said on the Senate floor last Wednesday. “A lot of these are coming from a biblical basis, and that is what our society and our country and our state is based on.”

Opponents have said SB 34 violates the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“James Madison believed that even neutral funding or symbolic gestures, like asking for religious proclamations, were potentially dangerous entanglements of government and religion,” Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said last Wednesday.

Other states have renewed efforts requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms but have so far faced legal hurdles. The governors of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas signed similar mandates facing similar lawsuits.

But SB 34 backers see this effort as distinct from those.

One Republican, Sen. Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), joined the minority caucus in voting against SB 34. It now heads to the House for further consideration, which won’t meet until next year.