Ten Commandments already in The Supreme Court buidling

[Gdzine]

The supreme court of the United States already has the ten commandments. Read my comments to find out more

[Gdzine]

In the supreme court of the United States on the east pediment you will find moses holding the ten commandments.

Along with moses there is Confucius (a chinese philosopher and religous leader) and Solon, ( an athens law giver)

To say just having the ten commandments is "promoting religion," then having Confucius on that building is also promoting ancestral worship.

All of this is on the supreme court buidling of the United States, the highest court in the land. My point being, these men were put on the building to serve as reminders of strong influence for large majorities of the country, as are the ten commandments. Instead of looking at them in religious perspective, look at them in historical and influential perspective. They provide part of the backbone of beliefs held by our founding fathers and are obviously accepted enough to be on the Supreme Court building, why not in the courtroom itself?

[afraidfortherepublic]

The monument in dispute in Judge Moore's Alabama courtroom has other inscriptions on it as well, but none of the news stories I have read or seen on TV has told me what they say. I think they are also words of wisdom from ancient philosophers of many cultures. Does anybody know what the other inscriptions are?

It really frosts me that all of the pundits having a fit about this talk as if the Commandments are something from the Christiian Right. Last I heard, there were Mosaic Law and come from the Old Testament that was written by Hebrew scholars.

[VOYAGER]

The supreme court of the United States already has the ten commandments.

As is also true with most organizations that are seemingly unAmerican, those people on the courts and in the Congress are idiots foaming against the truth because of unreasoned and uncontrolable fear of the unknown!

[MaryFromMichigan]

Really?
In the buidling? :)

[unibrowshift9b20]

hm, Confucius huh?

well, this puts a different spin on things to be sure.

The first amendment says that Congress shall make no law regarding religion, which has led me to say that the court should not be religously biased. However, if the point is that its a historical allusion to the foundations of law in our country, then there's no excuse for taking it down.

Also, I suppose the first amendment doesn't apply to laws that the Judicial branch makes (lol). And posting monuments are not the same as passing laws.

[VRWC_minion]

Yes but the people that commissioned the SC art were not intending to forward their religion. According to the federal court we have to look to the artist or the person who commissioned the work to determine what their intentions were.

Probably the most stupid ruling I have ever heard of.

[Congressman Billybob]

I included the Ten Commandments representations in the Supreme Court in my latest column (click below). I also twice e-mailed the Net links to the statue of Moses on the East pediment, and the bas relief in the courtroom itself to Tony Snow at Fox News.

The total lack of a response, and the absolute failure of Fox News to mention this proof of the Supreme Court's hypocrisy makes me think that they are incompetent in having people read through the e-mail that they encourage and receive. I expect behavior like that from other news outlets. But it's a shame when Fox does the same.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, "In the Justices We Trust?" posted on FR, other publication to come.

[GovernmentShrinker]

The difference is that when multiple representations of conflicting religious belief systems are present, it is clear that the the government isn't endorsing a single system as the true one. Very different from the 10 Commandments in a courthouse where no other religious teachings are given similar billing. And also the "10 Commandments" on the Supreme Court building aren't legible, eliminating much of the potential offense or concern to people who disagree with certain of those commandments.

[Gdzine]

I'm really glad that someone is trying to point this out besides me. ive been emailing some of the talk radio hosts so that there can be broader discussion of this hypocrisy.

[Congressman Billybob]

The Ten Commandments appear twice in the SC's courtroom itself. One is a bas relief of a bearded man in a robe holding two tablets with Hebrew writing on them. That one's obvious. The other is a carving of two tablets that are inscribed with the Roman numerals I through X. (The anti-God group claims this refers to the Bill of Rights rather than the Ten Commandments -- a tenuous argument since the Bill of Rights contains eleven articles -- but let that one go.)

Billybob

[Congressman Billybob]

The Ten Commandments appear twice in the SC's courtroom itself. One is a bas relief of a bearded man in a robe holding two tablets with Hebrew writing on them. That one's obvious. The other is a carving of two tablets that are inscribed with the Roman numerals I through X. (The anti-God group claims this refers to the Bill of Rights rather than the Ten Commandments -- a tenuous argument since the Bill of Rights contains eleven articles -- but let that one go.)

Billybob

[GovernmentShrinker]

As someone who firmly rejects some of the 10 Commandments, I find the Alabama display to be a problem, but not the Supreme Court display (see my previous post for details).

[Gdzine]

alright, so we can put the crucifix on there along with a statue of buddah. this will just be a reminder of historical fact. its a cultural issue, too. the country has clearly been impacted by those beliefs. either way people would disagree with having multiple things up there.

[MaryFromMichigan]

"buidling" :)

[Congressman Billybob]

In the chambers of the Supreme Court itself, the Ten Commandments are represented in Hebrew. Anyone who didn't just fall off the turnip truck would understand what that sculpture represents. As a practitioner in the Supreme Court, I posit that there's no LEGAL difference between what Chief Judge Moore commissioned for the Alabama Supreme Court and what the then Chief Justice of the United States commissioned for the US Supreme Court itself.

It's like the US Supreme Court's approval for "In God we trust" and chaplains in the military, and chaplains in Congress and in the state legislatures. None of those decisions can be squared with the US SC's other decisions. There is zero intellectual honesty here.

As a member of the Court's bar, I condemn their hypocrisy in strongest terms. As a member of Congress, I would introduce a bill to strip all the federal courts of their jurisdiction to act in this area. (See website in my tagline.)

And, by the way, I come to this issue not as a fire-breathing member of any religion (my religious beliefs are irrelevant to this), but as a fire-breathing defender of the Constitution of the United States.

Billybob

[GovernmentShrinker]

The "In GOd We Trust" doesn't bother me -- either personally, or on behalf of other people. "God" can be and is defined so differently by people with divergent belief systems (including pure science) that I think one has to be awfully think-skinned to get worked up about it. But inscriptions purportedly authored by a self-proclaimed "jealous God" demanding that people "have no other God before me", accompanied only by more inscriptions purportedly authored by the same God, are definitely an infringement on the rights of Americans who do not believe in such a God (and who may believe in a very different God, i.e. in violation of the above mentioned commandment).

[GovernmentShrinker]

Oops: think-skinned = thin-skinned

[takenoprisoner]

"Anyone who didn't just fall off the turnip truck would understand what that sculpture represents"

We'll never know for sure (if they know or not) unless Moore presses to the fullest extent of the law.

[GOPrincess]

Tony Snow discussed the 10 Commandments issue today in his closing monologue, and if I remember correctly he mentioned that the 10 Commandments are in the U.S. Supreme Court building...Just FYI :).

[Congressman Billybob]

You are missing the point. The first of the Ten Commandments is essentially the same, whether in Hebrew, English or any other language, and whether in the Torah, the King James Bible, or any other source. If the text of the First Commandment is your objection, than you must object to what is in and on the US Supreme Court building.

Interestingly, the precise language from the First Commandment that you object to, does not appear in the abbreviation on the Alabama monument.

Any competent and honest student of American law knows and would acknowledge that the Judeo-Christian tradition in general and the Ten Commandments in particular, are at the root of both British and American law. British law is important because much of it was carried over into American law.

The real issue is not religion. I doubt that anyone was ever converted to any religion as a result of looking at any statue of any type. The real issue is judicial integrity. Judges (and Justices) who think it is their right to rewrite the Constitution, rather than leave that to the people through the provisions of Article V, in my judgment are fundamentally dishonest, and therefore dangerous to the nation.

Billybob