Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A proposal that would authorize local school boards and governing bodies of charter schools to showcase several different foundational documents was passed by the House Education Administration Subcommittee.
House Bill 0047 (HB0047), sponsored by State Representative Michael Hale (R-Smithville-District 40), passed the subcommittee with 5 ayes and 1 no.
Hale began by noting that the legislation does not require schools to display documents but would allow them to do so if done within their historical context. Those documents include the Ten Commandments, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Constitution of Tennessee, and the Bill of Rights.
During questioning, State Representative Ronnie Glynn (D-Clarksville-District 67) asked if the listed documents were the only ones that would be allowed, to which Hale replied that the list was not exclusive or comprehensive.
State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka-District 64) then asked what documents would be limited. Hale stated that the LEA would be able to choose what could be displayed and what could not.
When a vote was taken, Glynn was the sole representative voting against the bill.
It will now move on to the full House Education Committee for consideration.
3 Responses
Good!
This is a touchy subject and even touchier proposal. I’m not sure why State Representative Ronnie Glynn opposed this bill but, if I was a Representative I would have voted with him, and I’m a Republican. I don’t claim to be a Christian (anymore) even though I once did make that claim and, I was raised in a Christian Church. My objection would be because of the introduction of the 10 Commandants as a foundational document of this country. The 10 Commandants were in my personal foundation but, it wasn’t in everyone’s. I totally understand documents like the US Constitution & Bill of Rights. There’s no debate about documents such as those being “foundational” just like the Commandants IMO would be foundational to Judaism and Christianity. If the 10 Commandants were truly foundational for this country, I believe they would have been mentioned in that same Constitution. Yes, Nature’s God, Creator, etc. is mentioned in the Declaration but, you can’t find God in the Constitution. The God of the Commandants was the God of Israel and Christians adopted that belief. I would argue that it is the “foundational document” of Israel and not the U.S.A. The 10 Commandants date back thousands of years. The Constitution dates back to our country’s beginning. Please stick to our foundational documents only. Don’t beat me up over this. It’s just an opinion (that happens to be a fact).
2 Peter 2:1-3, 20-22 NIV
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
The founding Father’s of this great nation used the Bible as the foundation for the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The 10 Commandants are the moral law by which all people should live by. God is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence . If you would like to educate yourself on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence visit this site https://www.patriotacademy.com
In God we trust not government or man.
Have a blessed day.