RALEIGH -- School districts would have permission from the state to post the Ten Commandments if the governor signs a measure the General Assembly passed Thursday.
Opponents charged that the legislation wrongly mixes religion with government, a recipe for costly legal challenges. Federal courts have ruled that biblical tenets do not belong in public schools.
House members backed the bill anyway, 94-18. It had already overwhelmingly cleared the Senate.
Besides sanctioning the Ten Commandments in classrooms, the measure requires school districts to implement programs that teach good character -- traits such as integrity, responsibility, service to others and citizenship. Other sections mandate North Carolina history courses in elementary and middle schools and that schools adopt "reasonable" dress codes for students.
Gov. Mike Easley, in a statement Thursday, said he would sign the bill into law because its emphasis on character and proper attire "will help give our students a proper environment not just to learn but to excel." The Democratic governor did not comment on the Ten Commandments.
Proponents argued that the Judeo-Christian Decalogue belonged in schools because the commandments were a basis for the nation's laws.
The measure says districts may post the Ten Commandments alongside other historically significant documents that "exemplify the development of the rule of law."
A sign with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution -- the section prohibiting an official state religion -- must accompany the display.
Several North Carolina counties, including Davidson in the Piedmont Triad, have adopted resolutions supporting the Ten Commandments in schools.
"The people want it," said Rep. Don Davis, R-Harnett, who successfully inserted the Ten Commandments provision.
A few lawmakers said state lawyers had determined the law would pass constitutional muster.
John Bason, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, later suggested the future was less certain.
"The way local school boards choose to apply the law is vulnerable to challenge," Bason said, "because we are not aware of any case involving posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools that has been held to be constitutional."
Two months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its 1980 decision that barred state legislatures from requiring that schools display the document. A U.S. district judge more recently ruled that three Kentucky counties must remove posted copies of the Ten Commandments from local schools and courthouses.
Officials with the N.C. American Civil Liberties Union chapter have said they believe school districts -- not the state -- would bear the brunt of lawsuits if they post the Ten Commandments and someone complains.
Several House members argued the bill was not only unconstitutional but insensitive to people who are not Christians.
Rep. Bob Hensley, D-Wake, noted that one of the commandments says "you shall have no Gods before me," an affront to Hindus and others who worship several deities.
With passage almost assured, though, Rep. Paul Luebke said he understood why many of his colleagues would back the bill.
"Very few people can afford to vote against apple pie," said Luebke, D-Durham, "because it's too difficult ... to explain (to constituents) that this apple pie is actually sour."