Oklahoma to Vote if Ten Commandments Can Return to Capitol
The ACLU vows to fight.
4.22.2016
30
The Oklahoma state House approved a resolution that would allow a vote on the issue of returning the Ten Commandments to the Capitol grounds. The vote was 65-7 late Thursday night.
The resolution would allow voters to decide to remove a provision in the state constitution that prohibits state funds to support a religion. "The state Supreme Court relied on that section of the constitution in June when it ordered a 6-foot-tall granite Ten Commandments monument moved from the Capitol grounds," AP reports.
Oklahoma lawmakers were not happy with the court's decision to remove the monument.
"Since the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision in June regarding the Ten Commandments monument, my constituents wanted to know what could be done," said Rep. John Paul Jordan, R-Yukon, an attorney who sponsored the bill in the House. "I knew it would be a difficult proposition to undo the ruling, so we looked at giving voters the opportunity to remove the basis for the ruling."
The monument was removed after a Baptist minister filed suit claiming it violated the state constitution:
Its placement at the Capitol prompted requests from several groups to have their own monuments installed, including a satanic church in New York that wanted to erect a 7-foot-tall statue that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard. A Hindu leader in Nevada, an animal rights group and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster also made requests.
The ACLU of Oklahoma has promised another suit if the Ten Commandments are returned.
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