Arizona Senate passes bill to allow Ten Commandments in public school classrooms

The Arizona Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would allow the Ten Commandments to be posted and read aloud in public school classrooms.

Senate Bill 1151, sponsored by Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, would add the Ten Commandments to a list of materials that can be posted or read in Arizona's public schools. The existing list includes U.S. Supreme Court decisions, the Declaration of Independence, the national anthem, the national motto “In God We Trust,” and the Pledge of Allegiance, among other materials related to U.S. “history and heritage.”

The vote was 16-12, with all — and only — Republicans voting in favor.

"The progressive slide down in our country right now is because we have taken the Ten Commandments away from our schools," Kern said during a Feb. 22 Senate floor session.

The Ten Commandments are fundamental religious tenets in Christianity and Judaism that include edicts not to murder, steal or commit adultery, as well as to have no other gods and to keep the Sabbath holy.

Anne Laurie Gaylor, the co-founder of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a national organization that advocates for the separation of church and state, described Kern's bill and similar bills introduced across the country as symbolic moves that are part of a broader Christian nationalism movement.

Arizona schools have "no business telling schoolchildren how many gods to worship or what gods to worship or whether to worship any gods at all," Gaylor said.

She described Kern's bill as unconstitutional, referencing a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled a Kentucky law requiring public school classrooms to post a copy of the Ten Commandments violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion."

In the 5-4 Stone v. Graham decision, the court used a precedent established in the 1971 case Lemon v. Kurtzman that is used to determine whether a law is constitutional under the establishment clause: It must have a "secular legislative purpose" and "must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion."

The 1980 court found the Kentucky Ten Commandments law had "no secular legislative purpose” and was “plainly religious in nature.”

But during the Feb. 22 Arizona Senate floor session, Kern cited a more recent ruling after a question was posed by Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Phoenix, about whether SB 1151 was constitutional.

Kern referenced the 2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton School District decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, with a 6-3 vote, in favor of a Washington state high school football coach whose contract was not renewed after the school district asked him to stop praying midfield following games.

The court ruled that the coach's actions were protected by the First Amendment's free speech and free exercise clauses and that the school district's attempts to punish Kennedy for "engaging in brief, quiet, personal religious observance" were discriminatory.

In the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that "respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic" and that the Supreme Court "long ago abandoned Lemon" — the precedent used in the 1980 ruling — "and its endorsement test offshoot," referring to another test from a 1984 decision that asked whether a government action endorsed religion. Instead, Gorsuch wrote that the establishment clause should be interpreted by "reference to historical practices and understandings."

During the Feb. 22 Arizona Senate session, Kern said his Ten Commandments bill does not mandate teachers to post or read them; instead, it's an "opt-in" bill.

"Teachers have full authority to post, to read, or not to read," he said.

The bill drew vocal opposition from Democratic lawmakers during the session.

Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, asked which versions of the Ten Commandments would be permitted, noting that the Ten Commandments she subscribes to as a Catholic differ from those observed in Judaism.

Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, said that posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms could make some students feel othered or excluded. Sen. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, called the bill a form of indoctrination, saying it would allow a teacher to promote religion.

“Please take a moment to think about how you would feel as the parent of a child who has to be in a classroom who is commanded to do something that you do not believe," Epstein said.

Last year, a Texas bill that would have required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom failed in the state House after passing the state Senate.

This year, similar bills have been introduced in at least six other states — Utah, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and West Virginia — according to a tally by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, with Utah’s version having passed its state House. Utah’s bill would allow, but not require, the Ten Commandments to be studied in public schools.

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Reach the reporter at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Senate passes bill to allow Ten Commandments in Arizona public schools