Rep. David Perryman
Rep. David Perryman is taking exception to a movement inspired by the removal of the Ten Commandment monument from the Oklahoma State Capitol. He uses the analogy of the Wizard of Oz to illustrate his point that the real purpose of repealing Article 2, Section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution isn’t as it seems.
In his opinion piece, Perryman points out that groups are supporting an attempt to repeal the part of the Oklahoma Constitution that the state Supreme Court used to rule the Ten Commandments monument as unconstitutional.
“Just like the wizard was a master at fraud and manipulation, there are groups and organizations that are using the Ten Commandments Monument controversy to convince Oklahomans that repealing Article 2, Section 5, of the Oklahoma Bill of Rights would be a good thing,” wrote Perryman.
He believes groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) are supporting the repeal so it would be possible to divert public education money to private, religious schools.
“We often hear about ‘unintended consequences.’ Today, theses ‘great and powerful’ groups are speaking and their agenda is one of ‘intended consequences.’”
United State constitution
The 14 amendment
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
This is what is called the equal protection amendment.
Article II-5 of the Oklahoma State Constitution specifically states, “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.” Pretty clear language here.
This is the part of the Oklahoma Constitution that doesn’t allow the Ten Commandments to be on public property.
The state can get rid of this by a vote of the people. But be where of what you ask for. With the absence of Article II-5 of the Oklahoma State Constitution, people could put the Ten Commandments on public property but so could anyone else because under the Federal Constitution they would have that right. So while the Ten Commandments would be there so would the Sharia laws as well. Is that really what we want?
In most cases the government passes laws to stop everyone from doing something so they don’t have to let everyone do it. School prayer is a perfect example. If a Christian teacher could lead the class in the lords pray than a Muslim teacher could very well tell her class to get out their prayer rugs and start praying to Mohamed.