The Iredell-Statesville School District's Board of Education voted down a proposal to put up posters in public schools which would have shown the Ten Commandments and the United States Constitution.
Board members voting against the posters feared legal action had they allowed the documents, according to The Christian Post.
Tami Fitzgerald is executive director of NC Values. She tells AFN it is a noble effort to have the 10 Commandments displayed in public schools.
After all, they are on display prominently in the US Supreme Court. However, the US Supreme Court did rule in a case quite some time ago called Stone v Graham that schools cannot be required to display the Ten Commandments, and that's unfortunate. It shows you the direction our society has been headed since 1980 when that court case came down."
But, she said she does believe there are other things that parents can do if they are concerned about the lack of religious education in school.
“They can educate their children at home or take advantage of school choice opportunities like we just passed in North Carolina, the Universal Opportunity scholarship, which allows parents to send their children to private schools with a government-funded school voucher. So if parents are concerned about the lack of religious education in school, I encourage them to take advantage of the brand new Universal Opportunity scholarship or home schooling.”
A motion to modify the posters to present both documents but with greater emphasis on the Constitution did not receive a second.
Forty-four-year-old Supreme Court case in play
Fitzgerald said until the Supreme Court overturns the precedent set in 1980 in Stone v. Graham, efforts like
this to get the Ten Commandments posted in schools will be futile.
In Stone v. Graham the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that classroom displays of the Ten Commandments purchased with private funds violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The clause prohibits government from “establishing” a religion.
"As everyone knows, the Ten Commandments are the basis for all law in society throughout the world, not just the United States, but throughout the world,” Fitzgerald said.
