Source: The Courier-Journal
On February 16, 2000, The Courier-Journal reported that
the Kentucky Senate passed a resolution to encourage schools to post
the Ten Commandments and teach about religion's influence on America
by a 37-1 margin. A great deal of debate ensued over the inclusion of
the influence of the Jewish faith on American history. The original
resolution only referred to the teaching of the Christian faith, but
the Senate decide to include the entire Judeo-Christian faith's impact
in the United States. Sen. Albert Robinson, who sponsored the
original resolution and ultimately voted for the amended version,
spoke out against the inclusion of Jews in teaching American history:
"I think we have done the Christians and the Christian history of
this nation a terrible injustice...When the boat came to these great
shores, it did not have an atheist, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Muslim, a
Christian, and a Jew...Ninety-Eight percent plus of these people were
Christians."
The one dissenting vote came from Sen. Ernesto Scorsone,
who felt that the resolution diminished the separation of church and
state and did not adequately include other religions. The resolution
would require that the State's Education Department quell "any
climate of fear by those who would discourage teachers from teaching
about Judeo-Christianity's historic influence on the founding of
America and the development of its law and government." The
resolution also prevents the "suppressing or censoring" of historic
documents that acknowledge God. The Kentucky House of Representatives
is drafting a bill that would allow the teaching of religion in
schools only if it is part of a comparative religion class. House
Floor Majority Leader Greg Stumbo said that the House won't be quick
to move on the Robinson resolution. Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport of The
Temple in Louisville, KY opposes the new resolution: "From my
perspective, and from the perspective of a minority religion, I think
it's essential that we protect the rights of everyone."