Mississippi Bill Forcing Teachers to Recite the Ten Commandments Daily Is Dead

Well, that didn’t take long.

A Mississippi Democrat’s bill to force teachers to recite the Ten Commandments at the beginning of every school day is dead, a mere 15 days after being introduced.

House Bill 1100, sponsored by State Rep. Credell Calhoun, would have amended the law by requiring a moment of silence at the beginning of every school day (rather than keeping it optional), requiring a copy of the Ten Commandments to go up in every classroom (in addition to the already-required “In God We Trust” signs), and requiring teachers to say the Ten Commandments (unless they opted out of it).

I have no idea why Calhoun thought kindergartners needed a daily reminder not to commit adultery, but nothing in the bill was useful or constitutional. Had it passed, it would likely have been the subject of lawsuits from various church/state separation groups.

But thankfully, the bill has died in subcommittee. So has House Bill 783, another piece of awful legislation sponsored by Calhoun, which would have required school districts to institute a moment of silence in schools. (Wait, you say, isn’t that what his other bill already did? YES! HE FILED TWO DIFFERENT BILLS TO DO THE SAME THING.)

I don’t say this often, but the Mississippi House Education Committee deserves credit. They didn’t let these grotesque pieces of faith-based legislation see the light of day.

Murder may be prohibited by the Ten Commandments, but we can all celebrate the death of these bills.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Ryan for the link)