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EXCERPT: House members approved the bill 88-6 Thursday and sent it to the Senate for a vote.
The bill by Rep. Mike Ritze of Broken Arrow would authorize installation of a 3-by-6-foot monument on the Capitol grounds. It would be similar to a granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.
Reps Voting - NAY: 6 Bailey, Kiesel, Scott, Collins, Nations, Shelton
Friday, March 13, 2009
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It’s another very SAD LEGISLATIVE OCCURANCE in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives has disrespected a significant religious tradition (the Mosaic Law), the Jewish faith (Judaism) and the First Amendment of the United States’ Constitution. The Christian faith has only endorsed the Decalogue. The Christian faith doe not own the Ten Commandments. The vote of 88 “yes” to 6 “no” to authorize the placing of a religious IDOL on Oklahoma state capitol grounds is a shame.
ReplyDeleteThe Ten Commandments are part of the sacred teaching within the Mosaic Law. The original Hebrew Scriptures instructed that the tablets be put in a box (the Ark), covered with a golden lid (the Mercy Seat), kept in a secluded part of the Tabernacle (Holy of Holies) and not to be displayed in either a religious ceremony or CERTAINLY NOT a secular setting.
The Oklahoma House used its secular, political majority to authorize the placing of a “privately paid for” religious shrine on public grounds. It has no Oklahoma historical significance. It has no secular governmental significance. It is a “stick in the eye” of the principle of “separation of church and state.” It’s blatant political gamesmanship. It’s an effort to prove a judicial political point at the expense of a religious tradition.
The six ‘No” votes were from men of true religious and civic principles. We must contact our Oklahoma Senators and the Governor and express our OPPOSITION to this waste of legislative time and energy on SEGULAR POLITICAL IMAGERY.
JAH