Again???

AP Associated Press

3/30/09 7:19 PM

OKLAHOMA CITY — A bill to allow the Ten Commandments to be placed on the Capitol grounds has won approval in a Senate committee over arguments it is unconstitutional. The Senate General Government Committee approved the bill Tuesday on a 5-3 vote. It now advances to the Senate floor for consideration. It will likely wind up in a joint House-Senate conference committee.

Freshman Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, introduced the bill, proposing installation of a 3-by-6-foot monument on the Capitol grounds similar to a granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin. Ritze said his family would pay for the estimated $10,000 cost of the project.

Sen. Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah, argued it was a religious display prohibited on state property by the state Constitution. "We're going to spend a lot of money (defending a lawsuit challenging the measure) and we're going to lose," he said.

He said Oklahoma could not defend the monument and reject other monuments with a religious theme that might be sought by Muslims or members of other religions.