Clergy members, high school student oppose bill to require Ten Commandments in Missouri classrooms

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Missouri schools could be required to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom if one lawmaker gets his way.

High school student Calvino Hammerman used to attend a Jewish private school. Now at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis County, the sophomore appreciates all the diversity of his peers. But as a practicing Jew, Hammerman said he understands what it’s like to have someone else’s religion forced on you.

That’s why Hammerman opposes a bill that would require all public and charter schools in Missouri to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

“My Hindu friends do not believe in this, but who is the government to tell them that that is wrong,” Hammerman said in a Senate Education Committee hearing.

A bill sponsored by Cape Girardeau-area Republican Sen. Jamie Burger would require all Missouri public and charter schools to display the Ten Commandments in the lobby and in all classrooms on a poster no smaller than 11 by 14 inches. If this passes, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. There is no plan to allocate money to schools to pay for the posters, but Burger said he is confident there will be donors willing to fund the posters for schools.

“I honestly believe that when prayer went out of schools, and religion was removed from schools, that guns came in and violence came in,” Burger said.

In a public hearing of the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning, far more Missourians stepped up to oppose the bill than support. The committee ran out of time to hear testimony from all of those gathered to oppose the bill, but many of those who did speak were religious clergy members who said it would violate Americans’ religious freedoms.

“As you have already noted, there is a Ten Commandment monument just outside this building, and that has not made the members of this body follow all of those commandments,” said Brian Kaylor with the Christian nonprofit Word & Way.

Bills like this are popping up across the country, at least a dozen other states are considering or have passed similar requirements. Louisiana was the first state to pass this law, but it was blocked by a federal judge. The case could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern said the legislature shouldn’t act on this bill until the court makes a decision.

“Placing these in a public school classroom is a very frustrating use of our time and what I see as our tax dollars moving forward as we litigate these things,” Nurrenbern said.

While those opposed say this bill would violate religious freedoms, Republican lawmakers like Sen. Rick Brattin argue the complete opposite.

“We just need to be willing to plant that flag that God, and the God of the Ten Commandments, is who gave us this amazing nation and we need to be able to reflect and look at that,” Brattin said.

The bill needs approval from the Senate Education committee to move forward, the committee could vote as soon as next week.

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