During Wednesday's episode of Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," State Rep. Mark Gidley (R-Hokes Bluff) spoke about his legislation requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in Alabama's public schools.
Gidley's bill, HB 216, would require each local board of education to display the Ten Commandments and a context statement in history classrooms serving students in fifth through 12th grade, as well as a common area, serving students at least in fifth grade and above. The legislation passed both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday.
"It's not to indoctrinate our students, but to educate them about the documents that were a very vital part of the formation of the mindset when this country was founded almost 250 years ago," Gidley explained. "I think it's important we bring that back. Some people say, Well, you're putting that in. No, it's returning, what's been removed, because they were there for over 200 years."
Gidley offered high praise for State Sen. Keith Kelley (R-Anniston), who introduced and sponsored companion legislation that recently passed the Senate.
"Let me say kudos to Senator Kelly. He's been passionate about this, as I have, and he's really championed this in the Senate, and I greatly appreciate that," said Gidley. "Kudos for his hard work on getting it all the way back here now to the House."
The lawmaker argued that the United States was built on the foundation of "Judeo-Christian principles."
"I've mentioned this a number of times, but the most important part of any building is the foundation. You start eroding the foundation, or if you don't lay a strong foundation, you won't have a strong building, no matter how pretty it is on top of the ground," Gidley stated. "Regardless of what people say, our foundation of this nation was built on those Judeo-Christian principles."
He added, "Some people say, what if they want to put the Quran in or whatever. And, my answer to that in committee a few weeks ago was that it was not a part of our foundation. It wasn't there. What was there was the 10 Commandments, alongside other documents that it influenced that were the founding principles of our nation. It's part of the foundational structure and pillars of our nation. People can say they don't like religion. They don't have to be a Christian to be an American. But you must recognize what our foundational principles and pillars were that made our country what it is. That's simply what this is doing."
"It's not indoctrinating. This is educating. Putting this alongside other documents that were part of our foundation to make sure our students get a full gamut of what it was that created the mindset of the greatest nation on the planet," Gidley concluded.
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