ICC Note: Oklahoma lawmakers recently decided that the November ballot would contain a question regarding the Ten Commandments monument formerly on state capitol grounds. The question would address whether or not the state constitution should be amended, eliminating the section that led to the removal of the monument. As previously reported, following a vote by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the monument was taken down last October on the basis that the monument would be viewed as government property promoting a particular religion.
By Heather Clark
04/24/2016 United States (Christian News Network) – Lawmakers in Oklahoma have passed a resolution that will place on the November ballot the question of whether or not a section of the state constitution should be abolished that was used as the basis for the removal of a Ten Commandments monument at the state capitol.
“Since the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision in June regarding the Ten Commandments monument, my constituents wanted to know what could be done,” said Jordan, R-Yukon, an attorney. “I knew it would be a difficult proposition to undo the ruling, so we looked at giving voters the opportunity to remove the basis for the ruling.”
As previously reported, the monument was removed in October after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in June that the display violates Article 2, Section 5, of the Oklahoma Constitution, which states that property cannot be used to promote a “church denomination or system of religion.”
“No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such,” the section reads.
The display had been proposed by Rep. Mike Ritze in 2009, and was soon after approved by the largely Republican-run state legislature. Ritze paid over $1000 for the display, and no taxpayer funds were utilized in its creation.
