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 | 2005-MAR-01: U.S. Supreme Court to hear two Ten Commandments cases:
On 2005-MAR-02. the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on two
cases:
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| 2005-JUN-27: U.S. Supreme Court rules on
the Ten Commandments cases: On 2005-JUN-27, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled on both cases. As in most cases involving religion or morality,
the decision was by its usual 5 to 4 vote:
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| 2005-JUL-13: WV: Clay County commissioners
vote to retain the Ten Commandments: The commissioners installed a copy
of the Ten Commandments on the wall of their
chamber some years ago. This was followed up by other documents, including
the Bill of Rights. Jesse Sizemore, a resident of the county, has asked the
commission on several occasions to remove the plaque. The American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter in 2004-OCT to the commissioners
asking that the plaque be removed. No action was taken. The ACLU is
currently considered filing a lawsuit. Andrew Schneider, executive director
of ACLU in West Virginia said: "It's not as if we haven't decided that
the Ten Commandments plaque in the county commission room of Clay County is
violating the law. ... We are only considering how to deal with that
violation. We view litigation as a last resort." He suggests that the
commissioners would "face a heavy burden of proving that the displays do
not convey, and were not intended to convey, the religious message that the
Ten Commandments clearly represent." The first few Commandments require
people to worship Yahweh and threaten dire punishment on themselves, their
children, their grand children etc onto the third or fourth generation if
they do not. The ACLU appears to suggest that this is not an appropriate
message to give to the general public -- particularly those who are neither
Jews nor Christians. Schneider continued: "There are many different
versions of the Ten Commandments. The Catholic version differs from the
Jewish version, which differs from the many Protestant versions - so how
does one decide which version is best? The Ten Commandments advocate
religious beliefs that should be left to each individual. ... People should
not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community because they might
not share the dominant religious view. Religious freedom is alive and well
in America precisely because government cannot tell us what to believe and
cannot favor one religion over another." Almost 200 people attended the commission meeting. All but about five favored retention of the display. 4 |
| 2005-NOV-01: Ten Commandments Commission organized: Ron Wexler and Pastor Myles Munroe have organized a Ten Commandments Commission to promote the integration of church and state by restoring and expanding the placement of Ten Commandments monuments, plaques, symbols, etc. throughout America. They have declared Sunday, 2006-FEB-05 as Ten Commandments Day and have asked Christian and Jewish religious leaders "...to host special celebrations and/or deliver stirring messages centering on the Ten Commandments." 5 |
| 2008-MAR-31: UT: Small
religious group at U.S. Supreme Court: Summum, a UFO oriented group
in Ogden, UT, was refused permission by city officials of Pleasant Grove City,
UT to add a
granite monument listing the group's "Seven Aphorisms" to an existing
municipal cultural display of religious and secular objects. The display
currently has two Jewish Stars of David, the Greek Letters Chi and Ro (the
first two letters of "Christ"), the Ten Commandments, a (presumably Masonic)
all seeing eye and pyramid, an eagle, and an American flag.
The group lost at lost at federal district court, and later won on appeal. The city has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has decided to hear the case. More details. |
Related essays on this site
References:
- "Join us! Wednesday, March 2 rally at Supreme Court..." AANEWS, 2005-FEB-28.
- Bill Mears, "Ten Commandments before high court. Explosive church-state issues from Kentucky, Texas," CNN,com Law Center, 2005-MAR-01, at: http://www.cnn.com/
- Antonin Scalaia, "God's Justice and Ours," First Things 123, 2002-MAY, Page 17 to 21.
- Kelley Schoonover, "Clay to keep Commandments on wall," Rominger Legal, 2005-JUL-14, at: http://www.romingerlegal.com/
- "The Ten Commandments Day," has a web site at: http://www.tencommandmentsday.com/
- "Circuit court rules for 'Aphorisms' as squabbles over religious sloganeering, commandments continue," AANews, 2002-AUG-1.
- Pete Yost, "Court Agrees to Take 2 Free Speech Cases," Associated Press,
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Site navigation: Home page > Religious Laws > Ten Commandments > here |
Copyright © 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2005-MAR-01
Latest update: 2005-NOV-09
Author: B.A. Robinson
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