Georgie Farmer
An image of a classroom that could potentially be affected by this bill.
Imagine you’re sitting in math class, it’s fifth period, and the day is almost over while your teacher drones on about functions and slope. Your eyes start to stray as boredom takes over, and then suddenly, you notice a new poster on your teacher’s wall. It’s pretty big and seems a bit out of place. After closer inspection, you realize it’s the Ten Commandments-in your public school math class.
The idea of posting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is not new. While most people would think of the recent case in Louisiana, it goes back further than that. In 1980, the Stone v. Graham court case ruled that displaying the Ten Commandments in schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Stone v. Graham was decided in Kentucky almost 45 years ago, so the issue should be resolved, right? Wrong.
At the start of this year’s state legislative session, House Bill 65 was proposed. It would require a 16-by-20-inch durable and permanent display of the Ten Commandments in every K-12 public school classroom in Kentucky. There would also be a small notation below stating, “The secular application of the Ten Commandments is clearly seen in its adoption as the fundamental legal code of Western Civilization and the Common Law of the United States.”
But how can a religious text be secular? In Stone v. Graham the courts ruled that the Ten Commandments did not confine themselves to secular matters because it says there is one God, and to observe the Sabbath day.
As a quick reminder, these are the Ten Commandments:
I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
Honor thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods
Mr. Tevin Washington, a social studies teacher at Danville High School, said he finds the potential required incorporation of the Ten Commandments into public school classrooms problematic.
“As an educator — as a person in this country — I think it is unconstitutional,” he said, “We have a separation of church and state, and our legislators are going against that.”
According to the United States Courts, Engel v. Vitale was a U.S. Supreme Court case in 1962 that ruled voluntary non-denominational prayer in schools to be unconstitutional because it violated the Establishment Clause which separated church and state. This case became the precedent for the separation of church and state in public schools.
When asked about how it compares to Engel v. Vitale he said, “Whether [students] are Christian or not, they are confronted with it every single day. I think that is a violation of their right as a citizen of this country.” Calling HB65 a violation of the Engel v. Vitale ruling.
Dr. Matthew Pierce, an associate professor of religion at Centre College, has a different view.
“Well, I think I have an unconventional opinion about this in that I think more religion in schools is preferable … what I would like to see is greater religious literacy, greater public awareness of these religious texts and traditions,” he said.
One of his concerns is that of a religious document becoming the subject of heated political debate.
“I think there’s wonderful things about these texts that could be learned and studied, but it’s being reduced to a divisive cultural argument in a very heated political moment, and I think it strips the beauty of these religious texts and reduces them to a political argument,” he said.
While opening classrooms to discussion around religion and faith is beneficial and welcomes diversity, it becomes difficult when the curriculum doesn’t have a place for religion, such as math classes.
Mr. Washington said that he already teaches about religion in some of his classes but still does not feel comfortable with the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
Mrs. Kellsie Covington, an English and theatre teacher at Danville High School, does not have religion in her curriculum.
“There are times that I’ve briefly talked about the Bible because the text we’re reading has references to it,” she said. “But I don’t see a reason to have it displayed in any classroom… it’s definitely not a foundation that should be taught in a public school setting.”
Mr. Ron Ballard, the superintendent of Danville Independent Schools, provided an administrative perspective.
“Especially with this being a 30-day [legislative] session, there are so many things going on in education.” He continued by saying that the Legislators need to focus on beneficial additions to education that would cause actual change.
He also said that if it were up to districts, he didn’t see a reason to put up the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Currently, HB 65 is sitting in committee and awaiting further action.