SC House approves bill requiring classrooms to post Ten Commandments

COLUMBIA — The House approved a bill Wednesday requiring all public school classrooms in South Carolina, including those at colleges, to display the Ten Commandments.

Representatives made no major changes to the bill, which also allows schools to accept volunteer chaplains, before passing it in a vote of 84-31, mostly along party lines. One Democrat voted in favor, and one Republican voted against.

The decision comes days after a federal appeals court allowed a nearly identical Louisiana law to remain in effect as a case challenging its constitutionality continues.

SC bill would require Ten Commandments in every classroom. A Louisiana law is already in court.

Supporters of the South Carolina bill said the Ten Commandments are important historically.

Requiring an 11-by-13-inch poster or framed copy in every classroom in the state, alongside a “context statement” explaining its history in public education, will reinforce the basis of the country and its laws, said Rep. Robby Robbins, one of the bill’s 47 Republican sponsors.

Even better would be a commandment telling students to respect their teachers and principals, Robbins said. But the 10 from the Bible’s Old Testament could help guide students morally, the Summerville Republican said.

“The posting of the Commandments, I think, reiterates and reminds everybody on a daily basis of how we got this entire institution started,” Robbins said.

“I don’t see any problem with it,” he added. “You don’t have to read it. You don’t have to follow it if you don’t want to. But the young people these days need to know this was how we organized our country.”

Rejected proposals

Democrats attempted over several hours to add a list of other historical documents to the bill as options for teachers to display, arguing those listed in the bill as additional options to post ignored Black history. Among those proposed were the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution; the Reconstruction Acts of 1865 to 1877; and information about investigative journalist Ida B. Wells.

Every addition was rejected.

Teachers are already allowed to post those documents if they wish. The bill explicitly permits teachers to put up copies of the Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence and Emancipation Proclamation, though none are required.

All three of the documents mentioned in the bill mention God in some form, which is important because of the religious nature of the Ten Commandments, said Rep. Jay Jordan, a Florence Republican who led the committee that advanced the bill.

He worried deviating too much from Louisiana’s law could open the state up to different legal challenges than that state, complicating matters, he said.

Democrats argued those mentions of religion could alienate students and teachers of other faiths. Some who noted they’re religious themselves worried forcing religion upon non-believing students could sour them to the faith.

“The gospel works because the spirit draws hearts,” said Rep. Wendell Jones, a Greenville Democrat and pastor. “The gospel loses its power when belief is reduced to compliance. Faith that is forced is not faith; it’s pressure, and pressure has never saved a soul.”

Teachers might end up in the uncomfortable position of explaining concepts such as adultery to curious young students who start asking about the new poster in their classroom, said Rep. Jermaine Johnson. Establishing what the Ten Commandments mean based on a person’s faith should be a conversation between parent and child, not teacher and student, the Hopkins Democrat added.

“I believe 100% in Christian values, but this is a step too far,” Johnson said. “This is a step too far for our young ones who don’t even know what it means to them.”

Such discussions might result in costly lawsuits for school districts, said Rep. Roger Kirby, D-Lake City, who proposed requiring a prominent display of the Ten Commandments in the Statehouse instead. At least start with that, he said, as a test to see if the Legislature gets sued and if legislators read the instructions.

Rep. David Weeks, D-Sumter, proposed requiring a display from the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament instead: “You must love your God with all your heart. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself.” That sums it up and teaches love. Voting against that would be a vote against Jesus, he told his colleagues.

Republicans rejected the idea that children wouldn’t know what certain commandments meant or that teachers wouldn’t be able to find a way to explain difficult concepts to them.

Some children may not see the Ten Commandments elsewhere in their lives and learn to follow them through a teacher’s thoughtful explanation, said Rep. Kathy Landing, R-Mount Pleasant.

Multiple religions follow the basic tenets, she added.

The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus and Deuteronomy of the Christian Bible’s Old Testament and the Jewish Torah, though the numbering of the 10 differs in how the faiths traditionally separate the verses. No similar listing exists in the Muslim Quran, though there are parallel teachings.

“Not everybody can get to church,” Landing said. “Not everybody can get to synagogue.”

Allowing faith leaders in schools could further guide that development, supporters of the bill said. Volunteer chaplains could visit school grounds and counsel students on religious issues under the bill.

Parents would have to opt in to any services involving the chaplains.

Rep. James Teeple said it’s time to “put God back into schools.

“When we all grew up, most of us had the Ten Commandments on the wall. Look at how things have changed when we removed prayer and God from our schools,” said the Johns Island Republican. “This is creating exposure not indoctrination. … That will ensure our kids at least know that God exists.”

Democrats repeatedly accused their Republican colleagues of hypocrisy, claiming they failed to uphold the religious values they preached.

That came to a head when Republicans invoked a rule to limit debate, causing Rep. Justin Bamberg to spend his allocated 10 minutes standing in silence, holding a piece of paper that read, “Cloture silenced Christian voices… Exodus 14:14.”

That verse reads: “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Some Republicans accused Democrats of using such stunts and lighthearted amendments to mock their faith.

“Shame on you for mocking our Lord,” Teeple said.