A state House committee approved a bill Wednesday that would allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed on state property or in public schools.

Arnold Mooney (courtesy photo)

Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Birmingham, the House sponsor of the bill, said the legislation doesn't compel public property or public schools from displaying the Ten Commandments. He added that the document has to be displayed "in a historical context."

Mooney said the bill also bars state funds from being used to defend the legislation should it be challenged in court.

The bill passed the House State Government Committee by a vote of 9-3, with the committee's three present Democratic members opposing the measure.

Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston, said she feared that the bill was a step toward legalizing Ten Commandments monuments like the one removed under then-Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. Mooney denied that was the motivation for the bill.

Rep. Ralph Howard, D-Greensboro, said the bill was a distraction from issues plaguing the state.

"This state has gone through this before. This bill does not solve one problem or any problem that this state has," Howard said, referencing incarceration rates, among other issues.. "We just have so much more real work to be done in this state than for this to be an issue."

But Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle, argued that many problems referenced by Howard were caused by a lack of faith that a Ten Commandments display could alleviate.

"I think it can be argued that the root cause of most of the problems that you address ... happen because ... [people] left God," Henry said. "They forgot who Christ is in their life."

Howard responded, "You know who needs to be praying? The president."

The Senate version of the bill, carried by Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, passed the upper chamber by a vote of 27-3 late last month.