ne month into legislative sessions, state lawmakers across the country are proposing a slew of proposals which would move religious instruction and activity further into the nation's public school system. Currently, over a dozen states have legislative items pending -- everything from display of the Ten Commandments to calls for teaching the Bible, silent or unison prayer, and including some form of creationism in classes.

   ¶    In Colorado, the specter of last April's shooting at Columbine High School looms large in the rhetoric of many legislators. Pending is a measure introduced by Sen. John Andrews of Golden which would have public schools display a copy of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Gov. Bill Owens has already declared that he will sign the legislation if it is passed.

   The legislation is grandly flaunted as the "Moral Heritage Act."

   "Since Columbine, we're dealing with a new level of concern that value-free education is failing," Andrews recently told news reporters. He opined that the alleged spike in teen violence and pregnancy rates -- a claim questioned by critics of the proposal -- and lower SAT scores were related to a lack of overt religious instructions in the schools.

   "Our argument is that an educated young person cannot be ignorant of the fact that this country was founded on the principles embodied by the Ten Commandments," he told Religion Today news service. "This has legitimate secular and educational purposes..."

   ¶    In Indiana, the State Senate voted 38-9 in support of a bill which would display the Commandments in schools and other government venues, along with other historical documents.

   ¶    In Georgia, a similar proposal would require public school districts to display the Ten Commandments, and include stiff financial penalties -- even a funding cutoff -- for those not complying.

   Introduced by Democratic State Rep. Judy Poag, the legislation would "require local school systems to ensure that the Ten Commandments is displayed in every classroom within the school district, in order to receive state funds."

   Another proposal introduced by Mr. Poag is House Bill 1209 which compels state school boards to permit "student-initiated spoken prayer during the school day." The vagueness of the statute would permit everything from genuine private expressions of prayer (at lunch or other occasions) to a "student led" religious oration during class time. Under the proposal, teachers and administrators would be prohibited from "participating in or actively supervising such prayer."

   ¶    Legislators in Virginia last week approved a measure requiring public schools to observe a "moment of silence."

   The 28-11 vote was along partisan lines, with all dissent coming from Democrats. Senate Bill No. 209 was sponsored by Sens. Barry, Boling, Chichester, Colgan, Forbes, Hawkins, Holland, Martin, Maxwell, Newman, Potts, Pubkcett, Reynolds, Schrock and Trumbo. It provides that:

"One minute of silent meditation, prayer or reflection shall be observed daily in each classroom of each school division. At the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in all public schools, the teacher in charge of the room in which such class is held shall announce that a period of silence, not to exceed one minute in duration, shall be observed for meditation, prayer or reflection; during any such period of meditation, prayer or reflection, silence shall be maintained, and no other activities shall be performed."

REHNQUIST AND THE TEN TABOOS A critical analysis of the Decalogue by Frank Zindler

AGAINST DISPLAYING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN GOVERNMENT CENTER Essay by Jim Senyszyn against government-sponsored Decalogue display.

GUEST OPINION BY MIKE SUETKAMP The Indiana State Director of American Atheists reports on his case challenging a Ten Commandments monument

ATHEIST DIRECTOR LOSES SUIT AGAINST INDIANA COMMANDMENTS MONUMENT

SCHOOL TRIES 'SNEAK ATTACK" FOR COMMANDMENTS DISPLAY

ILLINOIS TOWN RALLIES FOR COMMANDMENTS IN SCHOOLS

   "The big question is: What are we going to do to try and stem the increase in violence in our public schools?" Barry asked. "This may just be a nibble, but it's a nibble in the right direction."

   (Critics dispute claims of increased violence, and cite statistics from the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice which reflect declining rates of violent incidents for the nation's high schools, and within the cohort of adolescents.)

   The bill actually amends a portion of the Code of Virginia which permits local school boards to impose a moment of silence, but does not require teachers to announce the purpose. Barry's proposal would require teachers to "take care that all pupils remain seated and silent and make no distracting display."

   Sen. Barry told the Post that his bill was prompted by a constituent who had unsuccessfully tried to place a religious display outside the Fairfax County government center. The woman also failed to persuade her local school board to adopt a voluntary moment of silence, and then turned to Barry to take action at the state level.

   Despite the option to impose a moment of silence on students, no school boards in Northern Virginia have bothered to institute the practice.

   During debate on Bill No. 209, Sen. R. Edward Houck (D-Spotsylvania) showed his colleagues in the chamber a copy of Virginia's state constitution and warned that they were "treading" on it.

   Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) opined that the moment of silence bill would violate the rights of students, including those who chose not to pray.

   "If you want a government that's dominated by religious people, you might want to try living in Iran for a few years," Saslaw declared.

   The Virginia measure is blatant in its attempts to pre-empt local school boards, and promote religion in classrooms. The bill strikes language from the Virginia Code, for instance, which states that students should "be subject to the least possible pressure from the Commonwealth either to engage in, or to refrain from, religious observations on school grounds..."

   ¶    Other states are hopping on the bandwagon to order religious symbols or practices in public school classrooms. Laws to mandate display of the Ten Commandments are also being pushed in legislatures in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma.

   The South Dakota Senate, for instance, has passed a bill permitting teachers and administrators to display any religious document or text.

   In Indiana, the state senate has passed a statute that would permit the display of the Decalogue on government property; approval in the House is expected shortly.

   ¶    Creationism -- a doctrine based on the Old Testament account found in Genesis -- is alive in well in states like Arizona and West Virginia.

   Rep. Karen Johnson (R-Mesa) wants to enact legislation which require Arizona teachers to "present scientific evidence that supports or is consistent with the theory of evolution, and scientific evidence that does not support or is not consistent with the theory of evolution."

   In an interview with Associated Press, Johnson asked: "If you come from a little bit of slime out of a pool, then what's so great about life? I believe we are children of a heavenly father. I believe in Adam and Eve -- all of that..."

   In Virginia, Democratic Delegate Paul E. Prunty has introduced a "Balanced Treatment" bill which is now in the state House Committee on Education. It would mandate that all schools "give balanced treatment to creation science and evolution science, in classroom lectures, in textbook materials, in library materials, and in other educational materials in public schools to the extent that the lectures, textbook materials, library materials and educational programs deal in any way with the subject of the origin of man, life, the earth or the universe..."

   Why this sudden wave of state legislative proposals telling Americans whether they must pray, and under what circumstances? We see two explanations...

   ¶    Campaign 2000 is an important one for the major parties, and the use of religious rhetoric -- from the Presidential campaigns to local races -- is reaching fever pitch. Candidates stumping for the Democratic and GOP nominations have all attempted to showcase their religious beliefs as a credential for public service.

   ¶    Most if not all of these recent state bills reflect an effort to chip away at or circumvent established U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

   For instance, in 1987 the high court ruled in an 8-1 decision (EDWARDS v. AGUILARD) that a state law requiring that evolution could not be taught in public schools without equal emphasis on creationist accounts of how life and the universe supposedly began was unconstitutional.

   Two years earlier, the court ruled in WALLACE v. JAFFREE (1985) against Alabama laws which required school prayer and a moment of silence. The court has struck down other forms of religious exercise in classrooms, going back to McCOLLUM v. BOARD OF EDUCATION (1948), ZORACH v. CLAUSON (1952), ENGEL v. VITALE (1962), and MURRAY v. CURLETT -- ABINGTON TOWNSHIP v. SCHEMPP (1963).

   Display of the Ten Commandments was taken up in the 1980 case, STONE v. GRAHAM. There, in a 5-4 ruling, the justices found that "the preeminent purpose for posting the Ten Commandments on school room walls is plainly religious in nature," and thus violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

   Many if not all of the current proposals, if passed, are likely to be challenged. States can expect help from religious right groups, including Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, the Rutherford Institute, Christian Legal Society and others. Rather than attempt to counter the claim that the statutes amount to a government endorsement of religious faith, such groups now argue that display of the commandments, or even a moment of silence represents a form of "free speech" guaranteed to students under the same First Amendment.

   Most of the proposals also seek to pass constitutional muster by supposedly minimizing the involvement of government or school authorities. Whereas in the early 1960s school prayer was usually selected and led by a teacher (thus creating the appearance of government endorsement), contemporary schemes for prayer call for it to be "initiated" and led by students. Critics charge that this is a ruse, however, and that even "student led" prayer still marginalizes those who embrace a minority faith or no religion at all.

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