Four schools in southern Ohio display the Ten Commandments on their grounds. The 800-pound stone slabs were placed at the Adams County schools in 1997 with the help of a United Methodist minister.
In Alabama, a 5,300-pound monument of the Ten Commandments sits in the rotunda of the state’s judicial building. Chief Justice Roy Moore arranged to have the massive statue in the building.
Appeals courts in both states have ruled the statues should be removed from government grounds. The Associated Press reported that Ohio appeals Judges Damon Keith and Karen Moore said the expense or inconvenience wasn’t enough to overcome the continuing constitutional violation of having the display on public grounds.
The schools and the court building have placed other passages, like the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, around the Ten Commandments claiming the presence of the other documents make the Commandments acceptable because it is representative of a larger display.
The presence of the religious document is a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution and all of the monuments should be removed immediately. People came to this country to escape religious persecution and the Ten Commandments is a direct symbol of Judeo-Christianity.
Ohio public schools have already been scrutinized for only allowing the teaching of the evolution theory until recently. A religious symbol conveys the same type of message — the belief only one idea is right.
This country is at the point where people should know better than to attempt a stunt like this. National religious identity has expanded beyond the realm of Christianity.
U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio said he would support legislation to allow the Commandments to be displayed and believes “the Ten Commandments are not so much a symbol of a specific religion, but rather constitute the moral principles on which many religions are based.”
This statement may have some truth, but that is not what the United States is based on. Religious endorsements have no place at government institutions. The perception of a fair trial is nullified with the representation of an “open Bible resting on a podium.” Public schools educate about how the world works, they don’t endorse a particular religion. At least we know our Ohio judicial system has its head on straight.
