Were there any peaceful and legal methods of settling this dispute?
At least three existed.
The first would have involved a list of all of the congregations of Abrahamic
faiths within, say, a 50 mile radius of the Justice Building in Montgomery
AL. Abrahamic faiths are major religions who revere the patriarch Abraham who is
described in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). They include, in
chronological order of their founding, Judaism,
Christianity, Islam and
the Baha'i Faith. Included would be
congregations from:
The
Orthodox, Conservative and Reform traditions of Judaism.
Conservative, mainline, and liberal Protestant denominations, from
the Southern Baptist Convention to the United Church of Christ; from the
Jehovah's Witnesses to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(Mormons).
The monument could have be moved among all of the congregations in, say,
alphabetic order, on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. The location in a given month could
have be advertised in the local newspapers and registered with the local
community information center. This would have given anyone interested the
opportunity to view the monument for as long as they wished.
There are a number of benefits arising from this solution:
It would have emphasized the common bond that these diverse faith groups
possess.
It would have taught the public about the religious diversity in America.
The monument placement would certainly have been constitutional, since the monument
would be located on privately-owned land.
There was one overwhelming disadvantage to this solution:
The monument would not be displayed in the Rotunda of the Judicial
Building. Thus, this solution would probably not have been acceptable many of
the protestors.
There was also a potential problem with this solution:
Exodus 20:2-17 contains 19 to 25 separate instructions which
various religions have grouped in different
combinations into Ten Commandments. The monument is inscribed with
the version of the Ten Commandments used by ancient Judaism,
Protestant denominations, and Eastern Orthodox
churches. The versions used in Judaism are grouped differently. The Roman Catholic Church and
some Lutherans use a third grouping. It might create some friction if a
Protestant monument were located at on the grounds of an Jewish, Roman Catholic or Lutheran congregation.
Sponsored link:
A cultural display could have been created in the rotunda of the Judicial
Building. In order to be constitutional, it would have had to include texts
and/or artifacts
from a variety of sources, both religions and secular. It might include, for
example:
The Ten Commandments monument,
Ur-Nammu's Code (the earliest legal code of which we have a copy. It
is dated to 2050 BCE.
The Code of Hammurabi. This is the second earliest known legal code,
predating the Ten Commandments by almost 500 years. Some believe that
the Ten Commandments were based on it.
Other texts of laws from a variety of other religions and cultures,
The Magna Carta,
The Declaration of Independence,
The U.S. Constitution,
A copy of "An act for establishing religious freedom" in Virginia,
1786
A collection of statements of Ethics of Reciprocity
from dozens of different religions and secular movements. This might include:
The Golden Rule of Christianity "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them." Matthew 7:12.
A Muslim Hadith: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for
his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's
Forty Hadiths." 6
An excerpt from the Hebrew Scriptures:.thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself.",
Leviticus 19:18
An excerpt from the 21 moral precepts that form the moral code
explained in L. Ron Hubbard's booklet "The Way to
Happiness." "Try to treat others as you would want them to
treat you." (Hubbard is the founder of Scientology)
An excerpt from "Principles of Humanism," by the
Humanist Association of Canada: "(11) Humanists affirm that individual and social problems can
only be resolved by means of human reason, intelligent effort,
critical thinking joined with compassion and a spirit of empathy for
all living beings. "
A student behavioral code from a local university, and
Similar civil laws and secular codes of ethics.
There would have been a number of benefits arising from this solution:
A cultural display including the Ten Commandments would probably be
constitutional, if a sufficient diversity of items were displayed from
both secular and religious sources.
It would demonstrate the diversity of religious, philosophic and
legal sources from which Americans derive moral and ethical guidance.
There was one overwhelming disadvantage to this solution:
It
would not have had the monument being displayed in isolation. Thus this
solution would probably not have been acceptable to many of the protestors.
The simplest solution of all was to take up the offer of a church which
is located across the street from the Judicial Building. They have offered
some of their land to host the monument. This solution would have offered
some of the
same benefits, and have the same overwhelming disadvantage as the first
alternative, explained above.
When we wrote this essay in 2003, our assessment of the chances of implementing any of these compromises
was
essentially zero. It turned out to be true.
Page Translator:
