Religious censorship targets another monument

Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow.com)
Thursday, September 20, 2012



Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing a New Kensington, Pennsylvania, high school over a Ten Commandments display.

FFRF sued on behalf of two students and their parents who object to the monument at Valley High School, which was placed there decades ago by the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver is reminded of a Texas Supreme Court decision in favor of a Ten Commandments monument because it had been there for years without objection prior to the lawsuit. Staver is hopeful of a similar decision for New Kensington.

"No one has complained about it until the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed its lawsuit," he tells OneNewsNow. "It obviously has not caused anyone offense. It hasn't caused an establishment of religion and it hasn't even intended to establish a religion."

Staver believes the lawsuit is frivolous and just another attempt to "eradicate our heritage and history from the public marketplace," and to exercise a hecklers' veto.

"That's what Freedom From Religion Foundation essentially is arguing is that they ought to be the individual entity that is able to veto anything that has any religious heritage or history," he says.

"The Constitution does not set up Freedom From Religion Foundation as being the censor of all the monuments and religious words and sayings or history of America --but that's in fact what they're trying to make themselves out to be."


http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2012/09/20/religious-censorship-targets-another-monument

I don't see it as religious censorship. I think it is just
separation of church and state - which is a good thing.

Statues of the Commandments can still be put up on private
property anywhere...it is not censored.

The 10 commandments can be studied at school as an academic
subject no problem - just in a textbook an not as something
being directly advocated by the govt. Churches can advocate
that themselves as much as they like.

The best way is for public properties to not have any
religious dogma displayed - to be religiously neutral and
let our religious institutions and parents advocate for
their observances and philosophies.

Schools absolutely should study comparative religion though
to further the understanding of our kids on this topic and
who believes what and why.

im not understanding,, if its in the textbook, how is that any different than it being on display

they are both GOVERNMENT related (school textbooks and school property)

its not CONGRESS PASSSING A LAW to support a religion, so it should be up to the community if they want it there,,,not some 'rights' group

they have as much Right under the Constitution to oppose the placement of such things as Religious Groups have to support them!
Then it is up to a Court to decide the constitutionality!

there ya go,, sometimes the court upholds such displays
sometimes they dont

The issue is that if it is taught as a subject in school it is
not being advocated as a symbol of the school or location or
government.

On the other hand, if there is a display at the school then this
a public endorsement of this particular religion or religious
symbol over others and this is not right when we have separation
of church and state. It is obviously ridiculous to try to
represent all religions of the world equally in such a display
therefore there should simply not be any religious displays and
leave that to church organizations. At school it should be simply
a religion-free neutral environment except for classroom studies
which compare religions in a neutral way.

Allow me to answer msharmony's question.

The Bible's contents can be taught as literature, so that students will know the origin of Bible references whenever the students encounter them. For example, if they read about a dispute involving the display of the Ten Commandments on public property, then they will know the literary origin of the Ten Commandments and what they say.

Who's heritage and history?

That's the problem with insisting that the Decalogue (a.k.a. Ten Commandments) be displayed on public property in the USA. The reason given for doing so is flawed.

The Decalogue is recorded in the Tanakh, which is part of the heritage and history of Judaism. If the USA were a Jewish theocracy, then displaying the Decalogue on public property would be a display of national heritage and history.

Yet, the USA isn't any kind of theocracy. The USA doesn't even have an official religion. The Decalogue is not referred to in the U.S. Declaration of Independence or in the U.S. Constitution or (to the best of my knowledge) in any U.S. federal statute. So, to claim that the Decalogue is a part of the USA's heritage and history is to make a leap in logic.

Quite frankly, I have never understood why anyone not a Jew would be obsessed with the Decalogue.

Granted, there are Christians who would say that the Decalogue is a list of God's commandments, but those Christians would be overlooking the fact that there are commandments in the Tanakh that are not listed in the Decalogue.

If I recall correctly, the Jewish faith recognizes more than 600 commandments recorded in the Tanakh. When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment in the Tanakh, he did not mention any commandment in the Decalogue.

great,, so if its merely 'literature'

then why cant it be posted on school grounds, with a proper reference to the literary source,, of course?

Im imagining the 'our' being referenced is about the people who have LIVED in the community where the display is,,,,

if the display has been there decades, it is definitely a part of 'their' history,,,,