The month of May found the Ten Commandments in the
news again. I don’t think they’ve
received such consistent publicity since Moses let his temper get the best of
them and destroyed the first set and had to go back up the mountain and request
set number two from an extremely irritated Deity. In fact, when seeing those to whom he was bringing the
Commandments praying to a calf, Moses’ act in a fit of pique cost him his
opportunity to see the Promised Land.
Well, the Commandments are back in the news again, as
the United States Supreme Court in a six to three vote refused to hear a case
involving displaying the Ten Commandments right in front of a city building in
Elkhart, Indiana. By not taking the
case, the lower court’s ruling that the display violated the separation of
church and state requirement will stand.
In dissent, Justice Rehnquist somewhat disingenuously
in my opinion, attempted to uphold the display of the Ten Commandments, by
indicating that the City of Elkhart’s display had a secular purpose. Chief Justice Rehnquist indicated that since
the Commandments were being displayed outside the building which houses both
the courts and the prosecutors, that this reflected the “cultural, historical,
and legal significance of the Ten Commandments.”
Well, I guess I’ll give him points for being
creative, but what a bunch of, I guess I’ll say, bunk. Justice Stevens, writing for the majority of
six Justices, stated that it’s hard to argue the secularness of the Commandments,
when the first two lines on this monument say, “The Ten Commandments – I am the
Lord thy God.” I agree with Justice
Stevens, as this does not sound particularly secular to me.
I am clearly with the majority on this one. While I am a fan of the Ten Commandments,
and I think that they are the best way I know of to distinguish between what is
right and what is wrong, they belong in our temples, churches, and ashrams, not
in front of any city buildings. By
their very nature, the Ten Commandments cannot help but put forth a point of
view that stems from one’s religious god.
No matter how highly I view them, I don’t believe they belong in a
secular environment. Something can be
good, actually, something can be wonderful, and still not be appropriately
placed. The issue here is not of one’s
view of the Ten Commandments, but whether or not one should be forced to view
them when taking care of secular business.
As fond as I am of the Ten Commandments, I do not
wish to impose my pro-Commandments view on anyone, and I think that the City of
Elkhart took this a little too far.