State Rep. Reed Ingram (R-Pike Road) presented his legislation on Wednesday afternoon to offer residents of the state a constitutional amendment to restore voluntary prayer and devotion time in schools and to mandate that the Pledge of Allegiance be recited daily in all K-12 schools.
During the public comment period, one speaker got up to oppose the bill on the grounds that America isn't a Christian nation, saying that the bill was "prioritizing Western Christianity and the Bible."
The State Government Committee was largely receptive and supportive of the bill.
State Rep. Barbara Boyd (D-Anniston), a retired educator with over 45 years of service in public and private education, started her comments and concerns with a joke.
“I always said that will be prayer in schools as long as there are tests. Now, you... Everybody bow your head just about forward, ‘Dear Lord, let me pass this test.’”
She then inquired what the difference was between this bill and previous pieces of legislation that have come before the legislature.
Ingram explained to Boyd, “So this is a little different, Dr. Boyd. This puts it to the vote of the people. This is a constitutional amendment.”
Boyd asked Ingram why now.
“So, this country was built on God, we trust. My great-great-grandfather, that I was named after, Robert Tree Payne, signed the Declaration of Independence. And, I mean, this is what our foundation is, and I think we need to get back on that. where we are, where we started.” Ingram explained.
The first speaker in the public hearing portion was Kierra Burks, a first-year law student and the Communications and Programming Associate for Project Say Something, who took issue with those remarks.
Project Say Something list their "values" as:
- We reject patriarchy and misogynoir
- We dismantle all forms of white supremacy
- We support the LGBTQIA Plus community
- We believe in inclusivity and the power of coalition building
- We oppose all forms of oppression (locally, nationally, and internationally)
- We believe in education (black history and critical race theory)
Burks began her remarks by citing a contentious line in the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Tripoli, signed in 1796 to steady the unrest and hostility between Muslim Barbary pirates who were raiding ships and enslaving European captives.
“I want to preface by saying, in 19, in 1797, Joel Barlow, the U.S. Consul General, he drafted and signed a treaty of Tripoli, and Article 11 states that the government of United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion. So, I just want to put that out there.”
“I think about the student sitting in those classrooms, the Christian student, the Muslim student, the Jewish student, and especially the student who does not practice any religion. And this bill would force the school to choose that religion. Even if participation is labeled voluntary, children often feel pressure. They notice who's going to stand up and who won't.”
“Prioritizing Western Christianity and the Bible in public schools is inherently divisive in the state where students come from many traditions and no faith at all. Public schools are supposed to belong to everyone. And when a government elevates one religious tradition in a public institution, it says a message about who belongs and who doesn't.”
Burks' comments were followed by two mothers.
“Even if House Bill 511 labels participation in school prayer as voluntary, we all know how school environments work. Kids notice who participates in public faith-based activities and who doesn't. Social pressure is real. Students who opt out are singled out or labeled as outsiders,” Stephanie Butler of Vestavia Hills said citing her Jewish faith and challenges she said her children faced not being Christian.
Caleigh Rathmell Alevy, a social worker who lives in Mountain Brook, then spoke out against forced religious education, though this bill does not require it in any way, shape or form.
“My family is also Jewish. My husband and I belong to a temple, and we choose to send our children to religious school to learn prayer and religious education. I do not expect our public school to provide Jewish instruction, nor should it be their responsibility. According to our founders, when they wrote the Constitution, we are all free to practice our own religion or no religion, without government influence,” Alevy said to a confused committee.
“This law makes life worse for those of us who don't share your beliefs. My mother, too, said the prayer when she was your age, or when she was younger. But we don't wanna go back there,” she concluded.
Committee chairman State Rep. Chris Sells (R-Greenville) then attempted to clarify the bill for the seemingly confused or misinformed speaker.
“So what this does is go back to what we did before, in the morning, that we have a pledge and a prayer last, maybe 60 seconds. And you don't have to stand up and say, you just stand there. I mean, it's not really saying you’re participating or whatever,” Sells explained.
“So there's no teaching, no classes here. Just a 60-second prayer,” he said before acknowledging State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) for comments.
“I just want to share some historical facts with you. I'm amazed that people don't know this, but you can Google this, look it up,” he began.
“Public school actually began in the church. The first teachers were our pastors. The term Sunday school comes from school being taught at church on Sunday, and that is a fact. You know, the Bible to this day is legal to be used as a history book or a literature book. But the very first textbook was the Holy Bible, and the first reader, used from 1690 to 1930, was the New England Primer, which is full of scripture, and you can look up the New England. Primer. Every single founding father learned to read with that,” Butler started
"And to the young lady back there," he said, gesturing to Burks.
" I just want to point out, I think it was 1892, there was a Supreme Court case that ruled, the United States is a Christian nation. And I would submit to you to read the Mayflower Compact, which started the whole nation in modern language, it literally says, 'They came in the name of Christ for the discipleship of Christ.'"
"That document inspired the Declaration of Independence, which has four references to God. It also inspired the Constitution, which is based on biblical principles. But if you look at the very first act of our Congress, with a two-hour prayer service, the very first official act, the U.S. Capitol was used in the church for almost 70 years," Butler continued. "Every president, and that was by a vote of the Congress, by the way, in 1800. Every president from Jefferson to Lincoln attended church at the U.S. Capitol. Jefferson attended as vice president, later as president," he said coming to a close before saying, "I could go on for days, but with that, I moved for a favorable report."
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity) was recognized next. He spoke to what he's read in textbooks used in Alabama classrooms that teach the appalling view that our God-given rights are government-given.
"The very plain implication is, is if they come from the government, the government can take them from you. And our founding fathers spoke of inalienable rights that come from God. So the idea that we can escape this concept of giving a religious and moral world, you to our children, that education can somehow be inherently and completely agnostic, is simply not true," Yarbrough said.
"So, we are a Christian nation, and I would make the argument that because of that, people have known more freedoms and opportunities than in other nations, and where we have drifted from that, we get mandates of COVID vaccines. I could go on and on. But I just think it's really important that we stop propagating the idea that public education is somehow morally and spiritually neutral. That neutrality is a lie. It's impossible. And we need to, therefore, give our children what's good and right. So I commend you for the bill," he concluded.
State Rep. Marilyn Lands (D-Madison) then spoke.
"I know we would all agree that public schools function best when all students feel equally welcome and equally accepted. And I'm not sure that this bill advances that. I know that's the desire of all of us, but I do think this makes students feel left out. Um, like they're not part of the larger group. And we're in the midst of a mental health crisis, and our young people are suffering. And I see this as making the problem worse, and not making it better," she said.
"We had the pledge, and mental health has, what, gone up 200% since then. So that may be the problem, that maybe because we took prayer out of school, that maybe the mental health is an issue, because what we're doing now is not working. We've got to change, Ms. Lance, Representative Lance, and it's just, we need a new, we need something new," Ingram said in response.
The bill passed along party lines. It will now be sent to the floor for a full vote.
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