In the Bible, Moses is on Mount Sinai and God appears to him through a burning bush, giving him the Ten Commandments. This is a story and belief of the Christian and Jewish faiths. It consists of a list of commands for Christians and Jews to follow. While not every religion is taught this or believes in this, a bill in the Nebraska legislature has been introduced that would require a 11’ by 14’ framed list of the Ten Commandments to be placed in every school-funded classroom to communicate elements of this biblical history.
State Sen. Dave Murman created this bill, called LB 691. One of his biggest goals for originating it was to teach students about the foundational elements of the United States and its political and legal traditions. Since the bill was introduced, there have been concerns that it crosses the border between church and state.
State Sen. Rick Holdcraft said that the separation between church and state is a false rumor that schools must enforce. There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution, he said, that focuses on a separation between church and state; it is a suggestion that Thomas Jefferson coined. The real version of the separation of church and state is that there is no national religion, Holdcroft said. The First Amendment allows freedom of religion and the freedom to speak it whenever and wherever wanted, including inside school buildings, he added.
Even though this separation isn’t written in the U.S. Constitution, it still may be concerning for those who do not believe in a God or may practice other religions. This concerns those people, since having the Ten Commandments would not be part of or apply to their faiths.
“In 2019, the Supreme Court wrote in a majority opinion that the Ten Commandments ‘have historical significance in our legal system’ and that their display may have ‘multiple purposes’ and represent a ‘common cultural heritage,’” Murman said over an email interview. “The goal is not to force any religion on any student, but instead to expose students to historical principles that have had a lasting importance on our nation.”
At GHS, 12 classes fall under the category of social studies. Within each, students may learn entirely about history or at least some elements of the past. In some of these classes, religion and the Ten Commandments are taught as part of history. Trying to cram as much history as possible into students’ heads during class can be difficult. For example,And that can cause teaching things, such as the Ten Commandments, mayto not be as detailed as they could be. The state senators supporting LB 691 believe that incorporating the Commandment in each class will allow this foundational information to be taught and remembered more.
In the end, Murman said he doesn’t want to force a religion on anyone, but wants to plant seeds of knowledge within the heads of students. He and others on the legislature’s Education Committee want the current bad behaviors to decrease and for students to create better habits while in school before they enter the world independently. Murman argues that this posted sign will enhance better behaviors in students.
Enforcing good behavior now strengthens students for the real world and creates a better work environment for everyone. Assistant Principal Theresa Huttmann said she agrees that good behavior needs to be visible in classrooms, but maybe not by posting a framed religious text that only some of her students practice.
“My opinion is that I think we can do something that’s not religious based that gets to the same end, you know?,” Huttmann said. “Classroom expectations are basically to be kind to one another, which is essentially what the Ten Commandments are.”
Huttmann and all the other administrators, teachers and even senators want well-behaved students. Disruption and bad behavior can stop that learning in classrooms, which defeats one of the main points of coming to school. But every student learns in different ways and has different opinions.
“I think that you’re leaving out a whole lot of students in the public realm who don’t even know the Ten Commandments are, because they haven’t been taught that, because they don’t have a history in religion. They have a different religion,” Huttmann said. “So it may be lost on a lot of people just because they don’t even know what it is.”
Currently, LB691 remains a bill in progress in the legislature’s Education Committee.
“At the heart of the matter, we want people to be good. We want people to be good humans,” Huttmann said.
