The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - A resolution for Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to allow posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings was passed by the Kentucky House on Tuesday.

In the Senate, an identical resolution cleared a committee. Both measures are sponsored by Republican candidates for governor - Rep. Steve Nunn of Glasgow and Sen. Virgil Moore of Leitchfield.

The House resolution passed 89-6, a margin belying the amount of debate it engendered.

Though Nunn said he intended no discrimination against minority religions, some proponents of his resolution insisted that the United States was founded as a Christian nation.

"We as Christians are sick and tired of being compared to Islamic, militant fundamentalists," said Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington. He said a constitutional amendment is needed "so militant groups like the ACLU will no longer sue us" for religious displays on public property.

Firing back, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, "a card-carrying member" of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the resolution was "political pandering."

She added: "We're seeing a lot of militants, and they're not the ACLU."

Marzian cast one of the six "no" votes, all of which were by Democrats.

On the Senate side, activists wearing pro-commandments T-shirts and stickers flocked to a meeting of the State and Local Government Committee. They blamed the rise in crime and other societal problems on the absence of the commandments in public buildings, including schools.

Richard Treitz of Greensburg, state director of the group Ten Commandments Kentucky, said court rulings banning display of the commandments in public buildings are "invoking the curses of Almighty God."

Federal judges have ordered the commandments taken down from courthouse and school walls in several Kentucky counties. The judges ruled that the postings violated separation of church and state.

Clutching a Bible, John Scheich of the group Harvest Fellowship in Louisville, defended the resolution. "All we want is to bring America back to Christ, bring the Ten Commandments back to schools," Scheich said.