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Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ten Commandments, ‘In God We Trust' in classrooms is now Arkansas law
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill into law this week making religious displays in classrooms state law. The governor signed Senate Bill 433, which mandates the display of the Ten Commandments and 'In God We Trust' in Arkansas classrooms and public buildings maintained or operated with taxpayer funds. Bill heads to governor's desk to put 10 Commandments in Arkansas classrooms Funds for the posters must be acquired through private donations, or the posters may be donated. Posters have to meet the minimum size requirement in the law of 11 by 14 inches for 'In God We Trust' and 16 by 20 inches for the Ten Commandments. The law mandates the specific language of the commandments displayed, using phrasing typical in older English translations of the Bible, such as 'Thou shalt.' The Ten Commandments appear three times in the Bible, all in the Old Testament. The bill received broad support in both chambers, with a 27-4 Senate vote and a 71-20 vote in the House. Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R-Heber Springs) were the bill's primary sponsors, with 13 cosponsors. Bill to remove excise tax on soft drinks, impact Medicaid funding, fails in House Louisiana passed a similar law in 2024, but a federal judge blocked it before it was implemented, citing its 'overtly religious' nature. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas lawmakers pursue another pointless adventure in gesture politics
A 3D render of a closeup of the biblical Ten Commandments etched in a stone tablet, highlighting the ninth commandment. () Seven years of expensive legal wrangling over displaying the Ten Commandments outside of the State Capitol — which opened the door for Satanists to demand their own display of a goat-headed winged creature named Baphomet — should have taught Arkansas legislators the folly of trying to sanction religious messages in a secular republic. Instead, Arkansas Republicans have launched another pointless adventure in gesture politics by voting to require public schools to post the Ten Commandments — a list that oddly grew from 10 to 12 in an effort to camouflage religious dogma as 'historical' text to survive constitutional scrutiny in federal court. The 10 Commandments bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, and Rep. Alyssa Brown, R-Heber Springs, has been sent to Gov. Sarah Sanders for her signature after passing the House and Senate. It's the latest example of something that we see far too often at the Capitol: Legislation initiated by political activists from outside of Arkansas — in this case, a father-son duo from Texas — that costs taxpayers money and makes us look ridiculous. The insurmountable problem in setting out a list of commandments acceptable for public display is that there is no historical or theological agreement about what the 10 Commandments actually are. Most Protestants use a slightly different list than do Catholics and Lutherans, while Jews use yet a third set. Different faiths also number them differently. The complexity of the task did not, alas, raise any apparent concerns about its wisdom. Instead, the commandment numbers were just stripped away, and the remaining differences finessed by snatching bits and pieces from all three versions of the Judeo-Christian ethical menu. As you can see from the bill's text, the result is 12 unnumbered commandments, although the first item on the list — 'I am the Lord thy God,' a nod to the Jewish version — might be more of a statement of authority than a command. The list also trims away language used in the biblical passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy on which the commandments are based, including an exhortation not to covet our neighbor's donkey, although not coveting his cattle still made the cut. We might be tempted to call this the Razorback Revised Version of the 10 Commandments, except the list follows word-for-word a similar law passed by lawmakers in neighboring Louisiana last year that was quickly blocked by a federal judge. The version used in Louisiana and in Dotson and Brown's bill is recognizably Protestant enough to cause problems in federal court. The language is drawn from the post-Reformation King James Version of the Bible, and it includes a prohibition on making 'graven images' that Catholics don't include (which some conservative Protestants cite as evidence of Catholics' embrace of idolatry.) The capriciousness of this process was perhaps best summed up on the House floor by one of the only two Republicans who voted against the bill, Rep. Steve Unger, R-Springdale, a former military chaplain: 'I'm afraid what this does is it takes something holy and makes it trivial.' There is nothing wrong, per se, with promoting ethical precepts. We should all be able to agree that murder, stealing, lying and adultery are destructive and ought to be discouraged, that Mom and Dad should be given their props, and that coveting what other people have is a waste of energy that only leads to discontent (the latter being a central tenet of Buddhism.) But here, those ethical standards are embedded within an overtly sectarian framework. They flow from the authority of a deity, not merely from the desire to be decent human beings and treat each other with respect. Arguing that a list that starts out with 'I am the Lord Thy God,' prohibits idolatry right off the bat and demands recognition of a Sabbath is not a religious teaching is in a word incredible, as is the idea that passive exposure to the 10 Commandments on a classroom wall will somehow make students better people in the absence of more hands-on ethical instruction. Or get them to stop worshipping Baal. This particular bill of goods was sold to Arkansas legislators by David and Tim Barton, a father and son team from Texas who lead WallBuilders, a group that promotes the pseudohistory that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and opposes the separation of church and state. Dotson and Brown let the Bartons explain the rationale for the bill during committee hearings, where they insisted that it was simply a way to revive the 10 Commandments as an historical artifact. Tim Barton illustrated this claim by noting that the commandments were published in the 17th century New England Primer and in the McGuffy Readers, a textbook popular in the middle of the 19th century: 'If there's something we've always done in America, it's probably fine to keep doing it.' Of course, there were a lot of things that we did in America until the Supreme Court told us we had to stop, which it did 45 years ago in striking down a Kentucky law mandating display of the 10 Commandments in public schools. The Bartons are resting their hopes on a different outcome this time around because of a 2022 Supreme Court decision that said school officials could not prevent a high school football coach from leading post-game prayers with his players. Most Arkansas legislators were assuaged by this argument. But voluntary prayer that takes place in a school setting is a much different animal than mandating that public schools post religious dogma. Indeed, Rep. Nicole Clowney, D-Fayetteville, warned her colleagues, to no avail, that the Supreme Court has consistently maintained promoting religious messages in schools has a 'coercive' impact on students that is constitutionally impermissible — an argument echoed by the judge who struck down Louisiana's law. Of course, it's easy for the Bartons to advocate for moving full steam ahead in defiance of binding Supreme Court precedent because, if Arkansas gets dragged into federal court, they won't be on the hook for the legal costs. We will. Indeed, gesture politics can be a rather expensive hobby, which ought to be a compelling argument for Arkansas legislators to stop indulging in it. But, hey, somebody has to protect our cattle from all that unneighborly coveting.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill heads to governor's desk to put 10 Commandments in Arkansas classrooms
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A bill to mandate religious displays in Arkansas public schools is on the governor's desk for signature. If Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs Senate Bill 433 into law, it will mandate that classrooms display 'a durable poster or framed copy' of 'In God We Trust' and a 'historical representation of the 10 Commandments.' Arkansas legislature bills filed Tuesday include changes to the Arkansas Constitution, water bonds, human trafficking, more The bill received broad support in both chambers, with a 27-4 Senate vote and a 71-20 vote in the House. Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R-Heber Springs) were the bill's primary sponsors. It has 13 cosponsors. Bill to remove excise tax on soft drinks, impact Medicaid funding, fails in House Louisiana passed a similar law in 2024, but a federal judge blocked it before it was implemented, citing its 'overtly religious' nature. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas bill allowing for display of Ten Commandments in classrooms heads to governor's desk
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A bill in the Arkansas legislature that would allow for the display of the Ten Commandments in public places, such as school classrooms, is headed to the governor's desk for her signature. Senate Bill 433, sponsored by Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R-Heber Springs), would allow for a copy of the Ten Commandments to be posted in visible places in classrooms alongside copies of the national motto, 'In God We Trust'. The bill was filed on March 11. SB433 passed the Senate by a 27-4 vote on March 19 and the House by a 71-20 vote on April 7. Current Arkansas Code § 1-4-133 allows for the 'In God We Trust' to be posted and displayed if funds are available. 'The copies or posters authorized under this section shall either be donated or shall be purchased solely with funds made available through voluntary contributions to the local school boards, local building governing entity, or the Building Authority Division,' Arkansas code says. Multi-million funding allocation bill for Franklin County prison fails in Arkansas legislature for fourth time The bill says the Ten Commandments must be on a 'durable poster or framed copy' and at least 16″ by 20″. It continues, saying that if a copy of the Ten Commandments does not follow the requirements, an institution can replace it with one that does meet the criteria. Similar bills have been filed in Oklahoma and Louisiana in recent years. Sen. Jim Olsen (R-Roland) has filed two bills in the last two legislative sessions that would require the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma classrooms. His 2024 version made it to the Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee but wasn't picked up on the agenda and was effectively killed by former committee chair Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore), according to Nexstar's KFOR. The 2025 version has had no updates in the Oklahoma legislature since Feb. 4. In Louisiana, a law that would have required the displaying of the Ten Commandments in classrooms was deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge in November 2024. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas bill would allow for displaying of Ten Commandments in classrooms
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A newly filed bill in the Arkansas legislature would allow for the display of the Ten Commandments in school classrooms. Senate Bill 433, sponsored by Sen. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R-Heber Springs), would allow for a copy of the Ten Commandments to be posted in visible places in classrooms alongside copies of the national motto, 'In God We Trust'. Current Arkansas Code § 1-4-133 allows for the 'In God We Trust' to be posted to be displayed if funds are available. Bill to eliminate daylight savings time in Arkansas fails in committee 'The copies or posters authorized under this section shall either be donated or shall be purchased solely with funds made available through voluntary contributions to the local school boards, local building governing entity, or the Building Authority Division,' Arkansas code says. The bill says the Ten Commandments must be on a 'durable poster or framed copy' and at least 16″ by 20″. It continues, saying that if a copy of the Ten Commandments does not follow the requirements, an institution can replace it with one that does meet the criteria. The bill has been referred to the State Agencies and Govermental Affairs Committee in the Senate. Arkansas legislature bills filed Tuesday include changes to the Arkansas Constitution, water bonds, human trafficking, more Similar bills have been filed in Oklahoma and Louisiana in recent years. Sen. Jim Olsen (R-Roland) has filed two bills in the last two legislative sessions that would require the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma classrooms. His 2024 version made it to the Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee but wasn't picked up on the agenda and was effectively killed by former committee chair Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore), according to Nexstar's KFOR. The 2025 version has had no updates in the Oklahoma legislature since Feb. 4. In Louisiana, a law that would have required the displaying of the Ten Commandments in classrooms was deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge in November 2024. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
