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The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would require all K-12 schools to display the Ten Commandments in any room where history is taught.
House Bill 178 by Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, requires bo less than a poster display of the Ten Commandments in a common area of each school in the state, in addition to the history classroom displays.
The House did amend the bill Wednesday to exclude colleges and universities, and also amended the bill to clarify that schools only have to create the displays once enough private funding has been collected.
The bill requires only private funding be used on the displays in an attempt to keep the law from being found unconstitutional.
The bill passed 81-11 with seven abstentions. Although all votes against the bill came from Democrats, several Democrats joined Republicans in support of the bill.
Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Montgomery, treated the lectern like a pulpit during his comment time, extolling the need for schoolchildren to come into contact with the Ten Commandments and proposing that it could help curb undesirable behavior.
Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Demopolis, who abstained from the vote, said displaying the text of the Ten Commandments in schools is a poor substitute for displaying them through personal behavior toward others.
Some religious leaders have criticized the bill as a performative act that singles out one vein of reigion above others.
The bill now moves to the Senate with six legislative days remaining.
