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Ohio Senators are considering a new bill that would allow public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Senate Bill 34 makes the Ten Commandments one of nine “historical educational” documents school districts, charter schools and STEM schools could display in each classroom. The legislation requires that at least one document on the list must be displayed.

This is a plainly obvious attempt to impose explicit religious beliefs and practices on young, captive audiences in our public schools. Schools should not be pawns in larger culture wars, and SB 34 intentionally blurs the lines between the separation of church and state.

Public schools are not Sunday schools, and religious freedom thrives best when the government stays out of it. .

TAKE ACTION: Contact the Senate Education Committee and urge them to REJECT SB 34.

Message Recipients: Members of the Ohio Senate Education Committee

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Dear Senator,

I urge you to vote no on Senate Bill 34.

Message Body

Senate Bill 34 is a plainly obvious attempt to impose explicit religious beliefs and practices on young, captive audiences in our public schools.

Displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools imposes one religious belief on school faculty, staff, students, and volunteers who may follow different religions, hold different beliefs, or have none at all. This bill blurs the lines between church-state separation and religious freedom for all. It’s imperative that lawmakers safeguard public education.

It is additionally concerning that schools may seek donations to pay for the displays or to erect monuments with the documents on school grounds. The Ten Commandments are not the Ten Helpful Hints or the Ten Friendly Suggestions. They are, as the name suggests, religious commandments – not historical documents. There is no way to secularize or dilute this language to strip it of its religious significance.

Ohio’s children and school staff should not have government-influenced religious beliefs forced upon them. Schools should not be pawns in political culture wars.

I strongly urge you to REJECT SB 34.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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