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BJC: Okla. governor should veto religious monument on state capitol grounds |
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Written by Cherilyn Crowe
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Tuesday, 12 May 2009 |
 Governor will decide this week whether to sign the controversial legislation
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry should veto legislation that would place a monument honoring the Ten Commandments on the state capitol grounds, says a Baptist organization supporting religious liberty for all people.
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty says that while some Ten Commandments displays may be held constitutional, all Americans should be concerned when government meddles in matters of religion.
On May 11, the Oklahoma state legislature passed a final version of a bill allowing the creation of a Ten Commandments monument paid for with private money to be placed on the state capitol grounds. The final version allows a private group to help the state's attorney general if there is a legal challenge to the monument. Gov. Henry had five days to decide if he will sign or veto the legislation.
K. Hollyn Hollman, Baptist Joint Committee general counsel, said that
government displays of the Ten Commandments tend to send a message of
exclusion to those who do not share the Judeo Christian tradition and a
message of favoritism to those who do.
"We should be more concerned with following the Ten Commandments rather
than merely posting them on government property," Hollman said.
"Religion flourishes best when the separation of church and state is
protected."
The Baptist Joint Committee is a 73-year-old, Washington, D.C.-based
religious liberty organization that works to defend and extend
God-given religious liberty for all, bringing a uniquely Baptist
witness to the principle that religion must be freely exercised,
neither advanced nor inhibited by government.
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