A monument to the Ten Commandments is once again at the center of a fight between the American Civil Liberties Union and Oklahoma lawmakers. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled last June that a monument to the Ten Commandments on Capitol grounds violated a law barring preferences for “any sect, church, denomination or system of religion.” The monument was moved in October to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs down the road, but now lawmakers argue the court’s ruling opened the door to new forms of religious discrimination.
“What is problematic with that opinion is it became very bad legal precedent,” state Rep. John Jordan, R-Yukon, told KFOR 4 on Monday. “Anything that has content that can be considered religious if it receives a benefit from the state either directly or indirectly, it now violates the state Constitution.” Jordan and his allies will begin introducing bills to bring the monument back to the Capitol. They say banning Section 5 of Article 2 of the state’s constitution, which forbids use of public money or property for sectarian or religious purposes, would allow that to happen. READ MORE
