Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, said he’s a Christian who morally supports the Ten Commandments, but he prayed about the bill, and he couldn’t support it.
Ellsworth said senators swear an oath to defend the Constitution, which prohibits the establishment of a religion.
“So if we put the Ten Commandments up, which are Christian commandments, then we’re actually violating the plain language of our Constitution in our First Amendment,” Ellsworth said.
The Senate voted 24-26 against the bill after a lengthy debate, which followed an earlier floor debate and a committee hearing that brought supporters with national profiles to testify in its favor.
Sen. Bob Phalen, R-Lindsay, sponsored Senate Bill 114, modeled after a similar bill in Louisiana that’s being litigated, and proposed with the idea the U.S. Supreme Court may be evolving to be more friendly to government accommodation of religion.
In an earlier debate, Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, [pictured above] proposed an unsuccessful amendment to exempt school districts on or near Native American reservations with more than one Indian student enrolled.
Webber said the federal government and Catholic church subjected Native children to mental and physical abuse, and they should not experience more abuse in the name of Christianity.
“Not on my watch will I allow the Indian children of Montana to suffer more indignities,” said Webber, member of the Blackfeet Nation.