Christian Nationalists and their political allies are on yet another crusade to post the Ten Commandments in as many public buildings as possible, including public schools, libraries and courthouses.
Americans United and allied groups are fighting back and are representing parents, children and taxpayers in litigation to block the mandated display of a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in public schools in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas (where we won an important legal victory yesterday).
These displays raise several issues. First and foremost, they violate the separation of church and state by elevating one religious view over others and coercing schoolchildren to observe a religious text. But they also promote bad history and mislead Americans. As we’ve noted time and again, the Ten Commandments are not the basis of U.S. law and had virtually no impact on our nation’s founding.
Some communities are learning the hard way that it’s not a good idea to promote religion at public expense. In Jefferson County, Ill., officials recently agreed to remove a Ten Commandments monument that had been placed outside the courthouse about a year ago. On behalf of local residents, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union sued over the matter.
The county’s insurance company was not eager to defend against a lawsuit like this, so the Board of Commissioners decided to fold. They voted 7-2 to donate the monument to a local church. It was a good move – that’s where a religious monument belonged all along.
If officials in Jefferson County hate looking at a bare courthouse lawn, we’d like to make a modest proposal: There is a list of 10 items that, unlike the Ten Commandments, had a profound influence on American law. These items were drafted chiefly by James Madison; they’re uniquely American and essential to our history. They remain important to Americans today – some would say they’re the basis of our rights and freedoms. They ought to be posted, celebrated and defended.
They’re called the Bill of Rights, and they would look great on courthouse lawns as well as the walls of public schools and libraries.
If you want to hang ten, this is the way to go.
