From a press release by the Humanists Association:
In order to preserve our freedoms and especially our religious freedoms, Dixie County Florida must remove a monument of the ten commandments displayed on the courthouse steps.The six-foot tall stone monument in front of the Dixie County Courthouse is beautiful by any standards. It is prominently displayed on the front steps of the courthouse with the wording “love God and keep his commandments†written in large letters beneath a listing of the Ten Commandments.
In the small, out-of-the-way town of Cross City, Florida, it may not seem so important to take notice of the issues and controversy surrounding the displaying of the Ten Commandments in courthouses across the nation. However, the laws and long traditions of separating church and state are just as important in small towns as they are in big cities.
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In order to walk into the Dixie County Courthouse, one must walk past the large Ten Commandments display. Each person entering the Dixie County Courthouse is confronted with the message that the Ten Commandments are central to the beliefs of those running to the courthouse and that God, not justice will be the ultimate guiding force while in the courthouse. This messaging is an affront to the democratic ideas of the American justice system and sends the message that the tenets and laws laid out in biblical texts can and will usurp the laws established in America.
Even more important than the message the monument sets is the precedent it lays for future action. Imagine prayers before sentencing or collection plates in traffic court. It may seem unfathomable that the United States would adopt a state sanctioned religion, but it is only so unimaginable because the separation of church and state has been diligently protected against small and large infractions.
…The freedom to practice any or no religion that our founding fathers afforded each and every one of us allows us to have a just and equitable society that protects everyone. I often think when confronted with arguments by supporters of displays such as the six-ton monument in Dixie County, what if Christians were confronted in their places of justice and democracy with Wiccan stars or Satanic worshipper prayers? Would it be as acceptable to have religious displays in government buildings then?
I agree completely. A monument like this does not belong in front of a courthouse, particularly when once you go inside that courthouse, the majority of the things on the monument are actually legal and not punishable by law. Let’s move this thing to private land where it can be displayed in an equitable and legal manner.
The display of the Ten Commandments could only be acceptable if shown in a context where moral precepts from outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition are given a proportionate amount of display area.
The problem is not with the historical and cultural significance of the Ten Commandments, it is that this display is primarily religious, due to the absence of any other memorial celebrating the diverse foundations of America’s legal system.
The separation of church and state is beneficial to both. Dixie County’s refusal to comply with established Constitutional law is a waste of taxpayer money, in support of the untenable position that our government should prefer one religion above all others.
I disagree!
The laws of this country were based on the Ten Commandments. Look at the words of the commandments without the religious context and you can see that they are what’s required for a civilized society.
I believe that it is not the commandments that you disagree with but the Christian symbol. So why do you challenge its use in a small rural county in North Florida. The Ten Commandments are used over 4,000 times by municipalities across our great nation. Moses sits above the doors to the US Supreme Court holding a commandment tablet in each hand. In side the Supreme Court Building is a sculpture of Moses holding The Ten Commandments. Engraved in the oak courtroom doors separating the courtroom from the central hallway of the Supreme Court building are The Ten Commandments.
I think that your time would be better spent against a more worthy opponent. If you are victorious against the US Supreme Court then you have won the war, believe me, this is a war! Or are you trying to set a president in a small rural community.
You must always remember why this country was founded and on what principles.
I leave you with the following quote.
President James Madison (1751-1836)
4th President of the United States and Chief Architect of the Constitution
“We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
>The laws of this country were based on the Ten Commandments.
This is a nonsensical statement. All you have to do to see how silly it is, is to take a look at the Commandments and notice that most of them are actually legal in our system of law and that very few of them have anything to do with “civil society” and are directly the basis of “religious society” instead.
Actions speak louder than words, so taking Madison quotes out of context to make them look like they support your point of view is nonsensical as well, considering Madison’s actions — writing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights — are in direct contrast to what you are saying. What he personally believed is quite separate from what he thought should be eshrined in law.
Also note that the Madison quote refers to “self-government,” not civil government. He’s actually saying the exact opposite of what you claim.