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Religion & Law

: Religion Clause

South Carolina Passes Bill Permitting Display Including 10 Commandments and Lord's Prayer

By Howard M. Friedman

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The South Carolina legislature yesterday passed and sent to the governor for his signature H3159, that permits schools and local governments to post a Foundations of American Law and Government display described in the statute. The display includes the Ten Commandments and 12 other historical documents from the Magna Carta to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. It also includes the Lord's Prayer. The statute describes the historical significance of each of the documents.

Yesterday's Greenville News reports that some House members were upset that a Senate amendment removed the Pledge of Allegiance as one of the documents in the display. Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell voted against the bill fearing that inclusion of the Lord's Prayer in the display would lead to litigation. Describing the historical significance of the Lord's Prayer, the bill says: "The Lord's Prayer, used to teach people how best to seek their daily needs, is a model of philosophy and inspiration for legal and moral systems throughout the ages. In the colonies, James Oglethorpe brought debtors to freedom in our neighboring state of Georgia in remembrance of 'forgiving our debts as we forgive our debtors'."

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 30, 2008 (boomark / email).