A last call for the Ten Commandments
In his final days on Lew-Port School Board, Lilly wants religious display in all 4 schools
LEWISTON — In a public school district where the terms “Christmas break” and “Easter break” have long been replaced by “winter break” and “spring break,” a Lewiston-Porter School Board member hopes to inject some new religious relevance before his term expires.
Board member Edward M. Lilly said he is pushing one final initiative — that the Ten Commandments be displayed in each of the district’s four schools.
“I think placing the Ten Commandments in each of our buildings will keep the board from doing things they have done in the past,” said Lilly, who has less than one month left in his term.
Lilly maintained that the Ten Commandments represent a moral code that the Lewiston-Porter community may use as a guide.
“It’s not a religious thing,” said Lilly, who is Catholic. “It’s a relevant display that people could benefit from, particularly since board members have looked the other way when it comes to terrible decisions.”
Other Lew-Port board members said they were open-minded about such a display, as long as it would not make the district vulnerable to lawsuits or exclude other religions.
Keith M. Fox, a Christian, described himself as “one of the more religious” board members but pointed out that members of other religions, as well as atheists, attend and work at Lew-Port schools.
“I would be very happy to have them in the schools, but I’d like to make sure we’re not in violation of some kind of law that I’m not aware of,” Fox said.
Board President Robert J. Weller also expressed support for challenging any restrictions on a religious basis, including references to Christmas and Easter.
“We’ve gone to a legal seminar about the different things you can and cannot put into public schools, and I think we ought to investigate that further,” Weller said.
Here’s what they will hear from the state School Boards Association: There is no “gray area” when it comes to displaying the Ten Commandments in schools, the group’s chief attorney said.
The U. S. Supreme Court has definitively answered the question, ruling the display of the Ten Commandments “purely religious,” said Jay Worona, general counsel for the association.
School Superintendent R. Chris Roser also said he has concerns about displaying a religious text on school grounds. By including something from one religion, any other religion must be given the opportunity to be represented on school grounds, as well — no matter how extreme, he said.
In December 2007, for instance, a couple who objected to a Nativity scene being put up outside Olean City Hall put up a Wiccan pentacle beside it. That situation riled tempers and pitted friends against friends, and the Nativity scene was moved down the street from City Hall to the front of a Baptist church.
“If we were to open our doors to a young Republicans club, could we say no to a fascist youth Nazi organization?” Roser said. “You steer clear of making political or religious recognition, or else you’re left high and dry and you’re really obligated to open your doors to everyone.”
Winnifred Sullivan, the director of the University at Buffalo’s law and religion program, said U. S. Supreme Court rulings on public religious displays are “murky.”
Overt displays that endorse one religion over others will clearly be less constitutional than something that honors the historical basis of American values, Sullivan said.
“In a sense, it really matters what the motivation of the local government is and, in a bizarrely particular way, what it’s going to look like,” she said.
But she agreed with Roser— by being inclusive of the community’s diversity, a school district “will be in a better position constitutionally.”
Lilly said his proposal for posting the Ten Commandments was prompted by what he felt were accusations of sexism made against him by opponents in his unsuccessful reelection bid to the School Board.
Also a factor in his proposal, he said, was the decision by fellow board members to allow a male teacher to quietly resign in 2007 after having a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old female student.
Even though there are secular aspects to the Ten Commandments — such as a prohibition on killing and a call to honor one’s parents—there are impressionable minds that may take such a display as a school’s sponsorship of religion, said Worona, the state School Boards Association attorney.
After being told of the association’s opinion, Lilly on Thursday said he would not be deterred from making his proposal. He is expected to introduce the measure at his last scheduled board meeting June 16.
Board member Michael J. Gentile said he was worried the display would be treated like a resolution Lilly spearheaded in April to shrink the School Board. The board’s attorneys said that it wasn’t legal because it was being pushed through too quickly, but a board majority approved it, anyway. Voters defeated the idea during last month’s School Board election, and also voted Lilly out of office.
Gentile said that if an approach similar to the School Board reduction vote is taken, the Ten Commandments would be displayed, and legal ramifications would be an afterthought.
“I’m not sure [Lilly] is sure of the legality of it,” Gentile said. “And frankly, I don’t need Ed Lilly to lecture me on what’s right or wrong.”
News Niagara Reporter Aaron Besecker contributed to this report. niagaranews@buffnews.com
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