To reuse an overused phrase, we think you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
That’s why we prefer the end result of a couple of bills recently passed by the Tennessee legislature that allow bodies to do something rather than forcing them to do it.
We’re thinking specifically of 1) the measure (HB0047/SB0303) that will allow public school boards and public charter governing bodies to permit their schools display the Ten Commandments, the first sentence of the second paragraph of the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, and the preamble to the United States Constitution; and 2) the measure that will allow public school boards and public charter governing bodies to open their meetings with prayer.
The initial version of the Ten Commandments bill, as amended by the state Senate, would have required those boards to allow their schools to post the displays if they desired. However, the House refused to go along, the Senate refused to remove its amendment and the House refused to recede.
(READ MORE: Readers respond: Bill to add prayer, display Ten Commandments is misplaced)