Removal of Ten Commandments ordered (IN)

http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/133735-3245-103.html ^

[Stew Padasso]

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A judge ordered Elkhart County to remove a Ten Commandments display that hangs along historical documents in the Elkhart County administration building in Goshen.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. ordered the display's removal in a judgment filed Monday, saying the Constitution forbids a government to post the Ten Commandments in a government building.

[onedoug]

...administration building in Goshen.....

Change the town's name! It's religious too.

[GrandEagle]

saying the Constitution forbids a government to post the Ten Commandments in a government building.
He obviously has never been to the Supreme Court of the United States Building.

[Ol' Sparky]

Has the judge informed the Supreme Court that the mural of the Ten Commandments inside the Supreme Court is unconstitutional and should be removed as well?

[beelzepug]

"...the Ten Commandments display does not serve the... purpose of contributing to moral character..."

So, precisely what DOES it do, then?

[DustyMoment]

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. ordered the display's removal in a judgment filed Monday, saying the Constitution forbids a government to post the Ten Commandments in a government building.

BS!! The Constitution makes no such stipulation. It might amaze this leftist twit of a judge to know that the bulk of our laws are PREDICATED on the Ten Commandments.

And, thus, the leftist assault on religion continues.

Disgraceful!!!

[sam_whiskey]

Weren't the Ten Commandments displayed with other historical documents?? Did I read that wrong?? I think this is a case of a guy interpreting a court ruling the way he thinks it was rather than what it is.

[orionblamblam]

> that the bulk of our laws are PREDICATED on the Ten Commandments.

Really? Wow. So all this time... it's been *illegal* to work on Sunday? To not respect ones parents? To not put Jehovah before all other gods? To have a painting of a bird? To covet your neighbors stuff (and here I though we were a capitalist nation...)? To have the hots for your neighbors wife?

Man. Somebody REALLY aught to tell the news media that these things are illegal... I see people doing them all the time!

[dirtbiker]

It might amaze this leftist twit of a judge to know that the bulk of our laws are PREDICATED on the Ten Commandments.

First, there were the Ten Commandments. Then, the Bill of Rights are the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. 10 Commandments, 10 Amendments. Hmmmmm, I detect a pattern here.............

Also, doesn't the Constitution state that "...all men are created equal....and endowed "by their Creator" (God to all those atheist and activist judges out there!) with certain rights?

The Constitution gives us "Freedom of Religion", not "Freedom from Religion"!

[sheik yerbouty]

How about the removal of the ACLU?

[Zack Nguyen]

I think what DustyMoment means is that the Western concept of higher law, of human rights irrespective of government, is something that the Ten Commandments gives us. In a civil sense, it tells us where government may not go.

A wall hanging hurts no one. The government of Goshen is not forcing people to go to church or worship Jehovah. Ergo no religion is "being established."

A Ten Commandments monument only hurts folks like the ACLU, who are desperate to remove all outward symbols of God's covenant, which includes negative sanctions for those that disregard it, and reminds the left that there is an eternal standard that holds them accountable.

[hedgetrimmer]

the Constitution forbids a government to post the Ten Commandments in a government building

He's obviously never read the US Constitution. He is probably referring to the constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic. Judges should be very clear when they are ruling using a socialist set of laws.

[muawiyah]

Well, yeah, up there in Northern Indiana you do run into a lot of left-over fascists and Nazis. Some of them were brought over by the OSS right after WWII to work for us.

I wonder if this guy's dad was among their number?

[conservativegadfly1]

I hope the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners (North Carolina) doesn't let this decision dissuade them from taking Winston-Salem City Councilman Vernon Robinson's Ten Commandments/Bill of Rights monument. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina are much more "conservative" (that term is used only for ease of reference) than this kooky judge.

[orionblamblam]

> the Western concept of higher law, of human rights irrespective of government, is something that the Ten Commandments gives us.

Maybe. However, the pre-Christian pagans of Europe also had that, so I'm still wondering where the reverance for, say, the Havamal is. Are stanzas from that on the same monument that tells us to not have graven images of critters?

> A wall hanging hurts no one.

Then you won't mind quotes from Karl Marx or Mohammad on the wall either.

[Old Professer]

You still homeless??!!

[orionblamblam]

Never have been homeless.

Why the non sequitur?

[Zack Nguyen]

Which pre-Christian European pagans had a respect for human life engrained in our culture? Which of them had a republic based on the concept of eternal human rights? Which of them had a government that allowed religious freedom?

In any case, no one can deny that the Christian faith was a key aspect of our founding, and continues to strongly influence us today.

If a courthouse is foolish enough to put quotes on the wall from Karl Marx or Mohammed, that is their business. I would vote against whomever did it, but I wouldn't sue.

[orionblamblam]

> Which pre-Christian European pagans had a respect for human life engrained in our culture?

Not many. But then look at the long history of Christianity, and see if it holds there, either. Hell, son, read the Bible. The Old Testament *screams* a massive lack of respect for human life. Wiping out whole regions for the mistake of having the wrong beliefs was seen as just one of those things. And if you argue that, "well, that was the *old* testament..." so were the 10 Commandments.

> Which of them had a republic based on the concept of eternal human rights? Which of them had a government that allowed religious freedom?

The Norse, for one. Look at the pre-Christian Icelandic republic. An interesting link:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/long1.html

Even the Romans allowed religious freedom... so long as you added Caesar to your pantheon and didn't try to overthrow the Roman civil order. Not that different from Roy Moore and his ilk, it seems.

[Zack Nguyen]

The Old Testament "screams" a disrespect for human life? I'm sorry, you are terribly mistaken here. The Old Testament forms the basis for respect for human life, which at the time no other culture on earth had. God provided the death penalty for murder, and he makes clear that human beings were created in His image.

The OT allows for a free market and private property that is inviolable.

And God did indeed order the wiping out of one civilization in the OT. And you know what? God can do that if he wants. He is the Creator, and He can make life or take it as he pleases. He is always just. The civilization in question was irretrievably pagan, and would have thoroughly corrupted Israel, His holy people. God also wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah as well. That is His perogative. Not ours.

Even the Romans allowed religious freedom... so long as you added Caesar to your pantheon and didn't try to overthrow the Roman civil order.

That is not religious freedom. That is slavery. You are aware that countless thousands of Christians were tortured and murdered because they would not violate their faith by claiming Caesar as a god?

So do you accuse Roy Moore of murderous intentions towards those that disagree with him? Because that is what Rome's idea of "religious freedom" was.