In July 2001, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, in the cover of
night, placed in the middle of a public courthouse foyer a two-ton granite
display that ignited a firestorm consuming American politics and the
national media for months. Lawsuits were filed, protests on both sides
were
organized, and the battle over this country's destiny began.
What could cause such an ill-tempered debate on the future of
religion
in American politics The 10 Commandments of course! Actually, it's hard to
believe that God's law, delivered to His people on their freedom tour of
the
Middle East, could cause such an outrage. Designed specifically to give
humans a guide to peace and harmony on earth, it was turned into a smoking
platform of anger and self-righteousness. Perhaps not since the Scopes
trial
of the early 20th century has America experienced such rancor over the
state-church controversy.
By the time the granite dust settled, the 10 Commandments had been
removed from the court by the order of a higher justice; furthermore,
Chief
Justice Roy Moore was removed from office for unrepentantly defying the
law
of the land. Yet on the day of his expulsion, the passionate judge gave a
warning to those who challenged his attempt to acknowledge God from his
chair-he'd be back! And what he planned would change the course of
American
politics.
A foreboding claim, indeed, in what might appear to be the first real
thrust by Christian-backed political forces to challenge the deepening
secularization of the United States. Of course, this particular skirmish
is
only a preview of a greater conflict to come that will be like nothing we
have ever experienced in this nation.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Bible predicts who in America is going
to
win this war over religion and government. But before you begin figuring
that out, you should ask yourself two questions: What side do you stand
for
on this issue And are you sure that God is standing behind you The
Anti-Defamation League believes that the increasing call by private
citizens
and public officials for the government to post the Ten Commandments in
schools, government buildings, courts and other public places -- while
often
well-intentioned - is bad policy and often unconstitutional
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do
any
work-you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your
livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy Keep the Church and State
Forever
Separate
Should Students Pray in Public Schools?
The Ten Commandments Controversy:
A First Amendment Perspective
Prohibitions on Display of the Ten Commandments
The Supreme Court has long held that the government may not take any
action
that endorses a specific religious belief. All of the Court's decisions
banning government sup****t for religious activity have rested on the First
Amendment's requirement of separation of church and state. Over the years,
this precept has led the high court to ban such government practices as
organized prayer in public schools, the inclusion of creationism in public
school science cl***** and the sponsor****p of nativity scenes by
government
agencies.
In the majority of cases considering official posting of the Ten
Commandments, the Court has extended this prohibition. In its 1980 (Stone
v.
Graham) decision striking down a Kentucky law requiring that a copy of the
Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom, the Court
said:
The pre-eminent purpose for posting the Ten Commandments on schoolroom
walls
is plainly religious in nature. The Ten Commandments are undeniably a
sacred
text in the Jewish and Christian faiths, and no legislative recitation of
a
supposed secular purpose can blind us to that fact. The Commandments do
not
confine themselves to arguably secular matters, such as honoring one's
parents, killing or murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, and
covetousness. Rather, the first part of the Commandments concerns the
religious duties of believers: wor****pping the Lord God alone, avoiding
idolatry, not using the Lord's name in vain, and observing the Sabbath
Day.
The Court recently issued two decisions concerning official display of the
Ten Commandments with differing results. In McCreary v. ACLU of Kentucky,
the Court considered county courthouse displays of the Ten Commandments in
Kentucky. Similar to the Stone decision, it again recognized that the Ten
Commandments is ". an unmistakably religious statement dealing with
religious obligations and with morality subject to religious sanction."
The
Court ultimately decided that the displays were unconstitutional because
their history and context demonstrated a clear religious purpose and
intent
on the part of county officials.
In Van Orden v. Perry, the Court considered a forty-year-old granite Ten
Commandments monument on the Texas capitol grounds - one of seventeen
monuments on the broad plaza. Reaching an opposite result, the Court
decided
that this display is constitutionally permissible. However, Justice
Breyer,
who cast the deciding vote in the case, characterized the display as
"borderline" and found that it served "a mixed but primarily nonreligious
purpose." Significantly, as with the McCreary decision, a majority of the
Justices indicated that displays in public schools likely will be
unconstitutional. In other situations, a display or posting's location,
history and context will be critical in determining its constitutionality.
These recent decisions mean that - outside the school context - there is
no
bright-line test for Ten Commandments cases. Rather, the legality of these
displays will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Many of them will be
found
unconstitutional.
Of course, the First Amendment protects the right of any citizen to post
the
Ten Commandments on private property and to engage in other kinds of
private
religious expression. There are many places in this country where the Ten
Commandments would be welcome and appropriate - houses of wor****p, private
schools and universities, and private parks. Yet sup****ters of Ten
Commandments initiatives are willing to engage in lengthy, costly and
divisive legal battles. They ignore Justice O'Connor's recent warning in
the
McCreary case that:
Allowing government to be a potential mouthpiece for competing religious
ideas risks the sort of division that might easily spill over into
suppression of rival beliefs. Tying secular and religious authority
together
poses risks to both.
True religious liberty means freedom from having the government impose the
religion of the majority on all citizens. It is precisely this point that
advocates of posting the Ten Commandments are missing.
For me, the controversy raging over the display of the 10 Commandments is
not really about legality or the constitution. No. It really seems to be
all
about irony.
As the news re****ted daily of this battle, I soon began to wonder if
anyone else was finding the whole thing paradoxical. As this huge outcry
for
for the 10 Commandments to be displayed in schools, courthouses, and in
other public places reached a feverish pitch in Internet chat rooms, on
talk-radio shows, and in newsmagazines, I understood that most Christian
churches in the country still teach that all or a part of them were nailed
to the cross. (A belief that teaches the Commandments and/or their
penalties
are no longer in force for Christians.)
Proponents of that stance say that America should have them on
display
because they are a part of our Judeo-Christian heritage, even as they also
say that Christ did away with the Commandments when He died. In fact, some
also say He left just two new commandments with which believers should
concern themselves.
Yet this is confusing: If the Commandments are no longer in effect,
why
are they, as Christians and Americans, trying to force them on every other
citizen by displaying them as a government-sanctioned artifact Also, if
Jesus did away with them, can they really be part of a common
Judeo-Christian heritage Wouldn't the most correct course of action be to
post the two new covenant commandments of Jesus for a Christian nation
On the other hand, if the 10 Commandments were so im****tant to this
nation's Founding Fathers, why should we not be compelled to obey them
implicitly-every one of them, with or without the benefits of grace-if
America is to return to its glorious roots If the Founding Fathers
established this nation on the pillar of the 10 Commandments, might they
have reasonably expected them to be followed to the letter by likeminded
Christian citizens
Some might label me unpatriotic because I feel it necessary to point out a
fundamental flaw in the reasoning of the many Christians who want to see
the
10 Commandments displayed in government institutions. Although my purpose
is
not to argue the details of why this nation was founded, I do believe that
the United States plays a pivotal and wonderful role in God's plan of
salvation. As such, I love this nation as the gift from God that it is. My
heart always soars with joy when I hear our national anthem.
Yet whether or not "Christian" leaders established this country as a
"Christian" nation is not the issue. Of course, the ideals of Christianity
and Judaism should be the moral compass that guides the hearts of our
leaders. Christianity offers freedom to every human being, just as the
United States has a strong record of fighting for freedom throughout the
world.
However, I don't think America is responsible for spreading God's
end-time message to the world. Rather, America is here to protect His
church, so she can take the gospel to every people and nation. I believe
this is why America has acquired such undisputable power, unprecedented in
the history of the world. Its economical and political influence protects
God's last-day church from tyrant governments and unwanted political
intervention, enabling it to freely spread the good news to people all
around the world. God would surely bless such a nation.
Some Christians boldly claim that they want the Commandments
displayed
as a way to get God back into America, in addition to prayer in schools
and
in Congress. But is that really safe Is the government the right power to
tell us what is right and wrong morally Surely we are blessed that our
laws
reflect the basic principles of God's Commandments; that's a very real
comfort to even non-Christians. But by separating church and state, we are
assured that no religious power will have the authority to override the
conscience of those who might believe otherwise, suppressing the religious
beliefs of another church. Yet well-meaning but misguided Christians who
want to smash the wall of separation of church and state will turn the
blessings of this country on their head and lead America into a terrible
disaster.
Frankly, this nation hasn't lost its way because the government or
strident
humanists seek separation of church and state, forbidding the government
display of Commandments; it's lost its way because more and more of her
people's hearts are seeking separation from God in their everyday living.
It's
not secular government that's sending this nation down the sewer of moral
decay; it's secularized hearts!
Make no mistake; everything about the 10 Commandments speaks of
religion. It just cannot be displayed as mere history, because any person
who sees it, Christian or heathen, will understand its towering religious
significance. It is so powerful that an atheist will feel its influence in
a
chamber of justice on the other side of the building and truly believe he
has no fair shot because of his or her beliefs. And Christians need to
understand this about God's law: It is not just a statue to display in
public, like a costume from a famous movie. It affects everybody's lives,
even the unbelievers', whether they want it to or not.
Likewise, every Christian acknowledges that the Commandments come
directly from the hand of God. "And he gave unto Moses . two tables of
testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (Exodus
31:18).
They are religious laws, period. The government of man has no real power
or
mandate to enforce them-they are enforced solely by God's omnipresence,
universal power, and wisdom. And yet far too many Christians are
secularizing their own hearts to God's Commandments, believing the
government plays a part in the task He has given to each individual. We
should not attempt to use the government to spread God's message-we should
be using our own voices and the example of our lives. What example
Reflecting the spirit of the 10 Commandments.
So as some clamor about the separation of church and state, they
still
yet deny with their hearts and mouths the ultimate authority of God's law.
They lift up the Commandments without any intention of honoring them
completely-the very definition of a form of godliness without power.
Shouldn't Christians in this country be more concerned about obeying
those Commandments than making them a historical display on the walls in
our
halls of justice Shouldn't we stop treating God's law as an idol of
government, but instead as the living, fulfilled testimony of Jesus Christ
The answer to these questions is yes, yes, yes! And here is why.
Any healthy debate among Christians about God's law must begin with how
God
Himself defines the terms. Without this step, it's impossible to find a
biblical consensus. Yet by letting God define our terms in this
discussion,
it won't take long to realize that the evidence compelling us to obey His
Commandments today, in the new covenant faith, is overwhelming.
Here are 10 indisputable facts, or definitions, about the 10
Commandments from the Old and New Testaments-two witnesses, or
dictionaries,
of God's message to humanity.
1.
God wrote the 10 Commandments. "And the tables were the work of God,
and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables" (Exodus
32:16).
2.
They are eternal, meaning they will not change or be erased. "All his
commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever" (Psalm 89:34).
3.
They are perfect as they are. "The law of the Lord is perfect" (Psalm
19). If they were perfect, would their function or purpose need to change
4.
We'll die if we break them. "He poured out his life unto death .
[bearing] the sin of many." (Isaiah 13:9). Satan was first to convince a
human otherwise.
5.
It is our job to obey them. "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for
this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
These first five points are taken from the Old Testament. Many of
those
who want to display the Commandments argue that the laws are an old
covenant
relic meant for the Jews, and Christians aren't subject to them because
they
are outmoded in our relation****p with Jesus. Although points 2 and 3 each
seem to shatter this argument, we'll see later from the New Testament that
Jesus also denied the claim that the Commandments have been nullified.
But first, this viewpoint contradicts one major reason given to
showcase the Commandments in schools and other government-run
institutions;
that being, we have a government established on Judeo-Christian principles
and displaying them is simply honoring that. If we live in contradiction
to
the Commandments, merely displaying them as a testimony of past
government,
it is hollow praise at best. We shouldn't treat God's law with such
diminished value!
At worst, it is hypocrisy. For if we tell non-believers we want to
honor our Judeo heritage, and then claim that actually following its
principles is no longer im****tant in a saving relation****p with God, what
other message could that send It seems logical to conclude that to honor
our
Jewish heritage, we would honor the 10 Commandments in our lives and
hearts.
(In addition, displaying a religious icon to honor our past is in fact a
sincere endorsement of those principles-something God has asked us to do,
not an earthly government.)
But the New Testament, even after Jesus' death, doesn't regard the
law
itself any differently than the Old Testament. In fact, it is easy to
conclude that the New Testament also affirms that God's law is forever and
ever.
6.
Breaking them is still wrong. "Sin is the transgression of the law"
(1
John 3:4).
7.
Humanity still needs them. "I had not known sin, but by the law: for
I
had not known lust, except the law said, Thou shall not covet" (Romans
7:7).
8.
Obeying them is still a sign of loyalty. "If ye love me, keep my
commandments" (John 14:15).
9.
They are still eternal. "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass,
than one tittle of the law to fail" (Luke 16:17). Jesus exalted them! God
established the law with His own voice; might it need Jesus' voice to do
away with them Yet He never does, before or after His death!
10.
They are still perfect. "Think not that I come to destroy the law .
but
to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17, 18). Jesus did not change any part of them.
It's clear that Jesus wants us to keep the laws of God-the 10
Commandments-and I believe He is dismayed at the hollow gesture of
displaying them in our government halls and not in our outward lives.
Jesus
continued to call the Commandments "laws," and He never defined them
differently. So this next verse is a clear message: "Whoever shall keep
the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10).
Of course, Jesus also obeyed them exactly the way they were intended,
so Christians surely cannot conclude that they are not meant to follow
them
as Jesus followed them. Isn't that what Christians are-a reflection of
Christ.
Reference:
© 2005 Anti-Defamation League; http://www.adl.org/10comm/print.asp;
© 2008
Anti-Defamation League. All rights reserved. The Anti-Defamation League is
a
not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal
Revenue
Code section 501(c)(3).
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten_Commandments;
This
page was last modified 21:02, 30 January 2008.
· All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free
Do***entation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a
U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.
Annie Laurie Gaylor. Copyright 1995 by the Freedom From Religion
Foundation,
Inc., PO Box 750, Madison, WI 53701 (608) 256-8900
1. "Kentucky school board reposts Ten Commandments" at:
http://www.mcjonline.com/news/00b/20010102b.htm
2. Laurence Cruz, "Commandments bill defeated: Schools will
not be allowed to display the biblical doctrine," Statesman Journal, at:
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=24194
3. Rachel Kovner, "Ten Commandments in schools OK's in
Senate," The Charlotte Observer, 2001-JUL-18.
4. Mark Niesse, "Chief Justice unveils Ten Commandments in
[Alabama] Supreme Court building," Associated Press, at:
http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/l
5. American Atheists, newsletter, 2001-AUG-3
6. "Alabama congressman prepares to introduce patently
unconstitutional 'Ten Commandments Defense Act," Americans United news
release, 2001-AUG-23
7. "Ga. Town Posts Ten Commandments," Assocaited Press,
2001-SEP-25, at: http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/
8. The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of
religious
and moral imperatives that according to religious tradition, were written
by
God and given to Moses on the mountain referred to as "Mount Sinai"
(Exodus
19:23) or "Mount Horeb" (Deuteronomy 5:2) in the form of two stone
tablets.
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