West Virginia Senators passed a highly debated bill Wednesday requiring local county boards of education offer an elective in public high schools on instruction of the Bible despite feelings the bill may be a violation of the state’s constitution.

The bill has now passed out of the House of Delegates and the State Senate. It’s completed legislation and will be in the hands of Gov. Jim Justice to decide if he wants to pass it into law.

The bill passed with 30 senators in favor of it, and three Democrats against it: Sen. Stephen Baldwin, Sen. William Ihlenfeld and Sen. Corey Palumbo.

Baldwin, who expressed his frustration on the bill just a day before it’s passage, attempted Tuesday to add an amendment that would allow the bill to include any sacred text or comparative religion, not just religions relating to the Bible. Baldwin’s amendment failed, even though the same group of senators passed the same amendment one week ago in a similar bill that originated in the Senate.

The Senate’s bill, which would include any sacred text or comparative religion, has been stalled in the House Education Committee since it passed out of the Senate.

Baldwin remained quiet Wednesday before making his vote against the bill having already expressed his feelings on it, however some Senators spoke reluctantly in favor of the bill.

Sen. Mike Woelfel, a Democrat, said he isn’t against religious education, because he pays for religious education for those in his family every day throughout the school year. However, he feels the bill may be a violation of the state’s constitution.

“I’m going to vote for this bill. I certainly think our students could benefit from this, but you got a bill here that’s going to be declared unconstitutional,” Woelfel said. “By making it restrictive and denying the amendment, [to include any sacred text or comparative religion], I bet you a holy rosary this will be declared unconstitutional.”

Democratic Sen. Richard Lindsay II said he voted for the bill reluctantly, but also feels the amendment Baldwin offered Tuesday would have made it better. He recalled when the Senate Judiciary Committee had the Senate’s version of the bill under consideration, and how “beautiful” it was to listen from other people of other faiths.

“The amendment included multiple faiths, and there was so much discussion how those would be able to be incorporated without others feeling left out or offended,” Lindsay said. “My reluctance with this bill here now, is that we had such a beautiful moment in Senate Judiciary, with beautiful faiths, and I feel we are losing that with this passage.”

Sen. Paul Hardesty, a Democrat, also voted in favor of the bill Wednesday, but said he, too, supports it reluctantly. Recalling a time when he served on the Logan County Board of Education in the 1990s, Hardesty said he felt compelled to place the Ten Commandments on a wall in the school system.

“I thought we were doing something good for Logan County, but I quickly found out I opened up a can of worms in the process,” Hardesty said. “We tried to do something right, but we were told by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) we would be facing litigation.”

Hardesty said in efforts to keep the Ten Commandments on the wall, they created a collage of other historical documents to pair with it, including passages of the Quran, Torah, etc.

“Doing so got us around that ACLU challenge, and why am I telling you this?,” Hardesty asked. “Well, I think this bill is well-intentioned, but I can tell you from first-hand knowledge from two decades ago, this will not muster. They’ll come after you, and we will have to come back and visit this.

“We really need to be careful as we go through this.”

After the vote, Baldwin expressed although he serves as a Christian pastor and is a father, he wants his children to learn the Bible at their church, not their school.

“As a student and teacher of the Bible, it is my guiding light. We should teach it far and wide in our churches and through our actions,” Baldwin said. “However, we should not involve government in religious teaching. I also believe in the separation of church and state as laid out in our Constitution. Therefore, I voted against ‘the Bible bill,’ which allows public schools to teach courses in the Bible.”

ACLU-West Virginia representatives have been present at public hearings regarding the bill expressing the backlash that will come with it if passed. After Wednesday’s passing of the bill, ACLU representatives took to their Facebook page to urge a veto.

“House Bill 4780, a Christian Nationalist-backed bill that would place biblical instruction in public schools, has just passed the Senate overwhelmingly,” the statement read. “We thank Senator Stephen Baldwin, Senator William Ihlenfeld and Senator Corey Palumbo for having the courage and commonsense to vote no. Our fight now moves to the governor’s desk. Call Gov. Justice’s office now (304-558-2000) and ask that he veto this ridiculous bill before it becomes law and exposes our school districts to potential litigation.”

Email: jnelson@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @jhatfieldRH