Court Splits on Ten Commandments Displays

[Mr.Vicchio]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050627/D8B03BEO0.html

A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government land, but drew the line on certain renderings inside courthouses, saying they violate the doctrine of separation of church and state. Sending dual signals in ruling on this issue for the first time in a quarter-century, the high court said that displays of the Ten Commandments - like their own courtroom frieze - are not inherently unconstitutional. But each exhibit demands scrutiny to determine whether it goes too far in amounting to a governmental promotion of religion, the court said in a case involving Kentucky courthouse exhibits. In effect, the court said it was taking the position that issues of Ten Commandments displays in courthouses should be resolved on a case-by-case basis. In that 5-4 ruling and another decision involving the positioning of a 6-foot granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas capitol, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the swing vote. The second ruling, likewise, was by a 5-4 margin.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050627/D8B03BEO0.html

At least they got the Texas Monument case right.

[Technosoul]

I think that it is okay to have a monument that illustrates the hisorty of how the law manifested in todays justice system. The momument should depict other famous law givers other then just Moses in order to make it historical and not religious. For example the laws that ruled Babylon, or China, the early Roman government under Ceasar, historical France, histoical Germany, Sumer, early Eqypt, King Authors Court, and tibal chiefs of our American Native culture. That is what the Supreme Court was indicating. In the Supreme Court building Moses holding up the 10 Commandments is just one of a group of people being depicted in that over all picture.

Technosoul.

[Athena]

Quote by: Mr.Vicchio http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050627/D8B03BEO0.html At least they got the Texas Monument case right.

The Ten Commandments do not define God, and therefore, I find the unfensive. The Mayans had an equalivant list of the ten commandments, and I really like the Chinese list that is basically the same thing but better. Liberal education, awareness of all cultures would do so much to reduce that conflicts we are having. It would even greatly reduce the conflict between Christians and non Christians, as then it would be clear, Christianity is not the only source of high standards of morality. We must return to liberal education or we are going to rip ourselves apart.

[belverron]

Since the monument will be in the company of other historical exhibits, I don't have that big of a problem with it. Some aspects of it still bug me. I'll elaborate on that when I get back from work.

[RickSp]

Amusing that you claim victory. The Decalogue inside the Court House was ruled unconstitutional while the one out in the park on the Texas state capital grounds was said to be OK. A muddled but not entirely unreasonable decision. Hardly a victory for the enemies of the seperation of church and state.

[fedfem]

Quote by: RickSp Amusing that you claim victory. The Decalogue inside the Court House was ruled unconstitutional while the one out in the park on the Texas state capital grounds was said to be OK. A muddled but not entirely unreasonable decision. Hardly a victory for the enemies of the seperation of church and state.

SHHHHH--let them delude themselves.

[Osborn F Enready]

Its all a joke. A sideshow, while important matters are shuffled off.

If you believe in God so much, why must you put it on public display. Sounds a little vain to me.

[uberkuh]

I agree, Osborn, but remember that the whole point of Christianity is to spread itself to the exclusion of all other belief systems, religious or scientific. The fact remains that no government building should include religious symbology.

[oranged]

Cristianity? What about Jewdaism, and Islam. They have the commandments, too. I agree that none of these should influence the government.

[Gilligan]

I can't wait until someone wants to prop a statue of Buddah up against it and light incense. Hey, its a free country you know.

[Osborn F Enready]

uberkuh said:
The fact remains that no government building should include religious symbology.

I say:
I couldn't possibly agree more.

[tinybear]

Would you support banning the singing of this song in government funded schools?

http://www.angelfire.com/retro/crnr4...InHisHands.wav

[Gorgo]

Angelfire does not allow direct linking
from offsite, non-Angelfire pages,
to files hosted on Angelfire.
This practice of 'remote linking' reduces
our ability to serve out the homepages
of our members quickly and efficiently.

[tinybear]

Really? Hmm. I wonder why the link works for me though? Never mind. Click on this link and then click on Song No. 17 and see if it works.

http://www.angelfire.com/retro/crnr48/1958A.htm

[Gorgo]

I would say that teachers would have no business starting the school day by singing it. I would say that Judges would have no business starting court by singing it.

There is a lot of religious music sung in schools at Christmas time. I think the schools pick the songs, so in my mind this is government promotion of religion. I think the courts have said that it isn't, but I'm not sure why.

[tinybear]

How about in a music lesson?

[Gorgo]

I think if religious music is all there is to teach, then there isn't anything to teach.

Again, just my opinion, but teaching religion is not the government's business. If you want to learn religion, go to church.

[RickSp]

After all the blather about the Ten Commandments being the foundation for American law, I heard one legal commentator say that only two or possibly three really applied - "Thou shalt not kill" and "thou shall not steal" are obvious choices. "Thou shall not commit adultery" seems not to apply too broadly. Second term presidents are excluded, among most others.

"Thou shalt not covet thou neighbors house" definately doen't apply. That would shut down the entire real estate market, which continues to boom in most parts of the country.

So when the religious go on about the Ten Commandments being the foundation for American law, the right answer may be "well about 20% of the Ten Commandments apply and many politicians even overlook the 'thou shalt not steal ' commandment."