Oklahoma is about to embark on a path that will reject one of the most successful tenants of our constitutional republic: the separation of church and state. In order for Oklahoma to be admitted to the Union, it had to accept the “Oklahoma Enabling Act” of 1906 that placed particular requirements on Oklahoma's constitution. It required a statement recognizing the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion without governmental interference. Anticipating legislative shenanigans, the framers of Oklahoma's constitution chose a conservative statement that has served us well.

Now the Legislature is proposing a vote of the people to repeal Article II, Section 5 of the constitution in order to permit shenanigans. This is not about freedom of religion. It's about religious zealots in the government establishing Christian theocracy in the public square, beginning by returning the Ten Commandments monument to the Capitol grounds. It still blatantly violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A vote of the people will not change that. Oklahoma will again lose in federal court and the monument will have to be removed.

David Grow, Edmond