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Ten Commandments: Secular or religious?

Ten Commandments: Secular or religious?
Case examines intent behind displays at Kentucky courthouses
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091020/NEWS01/910210313/
[excerpt]


By Dan Horn • dhorn@enquirer.com • October 20, 2009

One of the longest-running court battles over the public display of the Ten
Commandments returned to Cincinnati on Tuesday, but this time it had a new
twist.

Instead of fighting over the content of the displays in two Kentucky
courthouses, the lawyers argued about what motivated public officials to
put up the displays in the first place and whether those motives have
changed.

The new argument matters because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that
the actions of public officials in McCreary and Pulaski counties showed a
“predominantly religious” purpose for the placement of the Ten Commandments
in the courthouses in 1999.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court found the counties were determined to
make a religious statement and, therefore, violated the constitutional
prohibition against government establishment of religion.

The case is back, however, because the Supreme Court ruling applied only to
a temporary order forbidding the displays. The counties now have asked the
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to overturn a permanent
order issued last year by a federal judge.

They argue that their displays now should be permitted because they have
erected new displays called “The Foundations of American Law and
Government,” which include plaques of the Ten Commandments, the Bill of
Rights and the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner.

The counties’ lawyer Tuesday told a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit
that the new display satisfies the Supreme Court’s requirement that
publicly displayed religious documents have an educational or historical
purpose.

“They have done everything possible to wipe away the past,” said Mathew
Staver, an attorney representing McCreary and Pulaski counties. “They have
indicated their purpose is completely and wholly secular.”

But attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union said the counties are
trying to pull a fast one on the courts. They argued Tuesday that changing
the display does not change 10 years of history that clearly show a
religious purpose behind the display.
(end excerpt)

***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:

The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm

American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm

The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html

[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]

HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/

***************************************************************
. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning.  Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic."  New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
. . .
****************************************************************
James Veverka wrote:
One of the ways to counter the attack on American Constitutional principles
by the religious right is to address their revisionism, misinformation and
distortions.

****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote

"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"

That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.

It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.

*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html

****************************************************************

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