A Win For The 10 Commandments, A Loss For ACLU

[Annie]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060419...YBvzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

Judge Says Ten Commandments Can Stay

Wed Apr 19, 10:22 AM ET

A Ten Commandments monument that has stood on the courthouse lawn for almost 50 years does not promote religion and can remain in place, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge James Carr said Tuesday that the monument can stay because the motives for placing it outside the Lucas County courthouse were secular and not an endorsement of a specific belief.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued Lucas County in 2002 to have the display removed, saying it was unconstitutional and promoted religion.

Carr's decision followed a ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court that addressed displays of the Ten Commandments.

The Supreme Court in June allowed a 6-foot granite monument to remain at the Texas Capitol. Justices said Ten Commandments exhibits would be upheld if their main purpose was to honor the nation's legal, rather than religious, traditions, and if they didn't promote one religious sect over another.

The Lucas County marker was given to the county by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles as part of an effort to combat juvenile delinquency.

Jeffrey Gamso, a legal director for the ACLU in Ohio, said the group had not decided whether to appeal.

 

[CrimsonWhite]

The Ten Commandments were the first laws brought onto this world. I hope this becomes more common.

 

[MissileMan]

The Ten Commandments were the first laws brought onto this world. I hope this becomes more common.

Them's sum fine histry teechers ya got in Abalama!

 

[CrimsonWhite]

Them's sum fine histry teechers ya got in Abalama!

University of Alabama actually is in the top 50 of public universities. As for high school, I don't know. I went to high school in Illinois(a blue state). And yes, I had great history teachers.


http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/natudoc_pub_brief.php

 

[SpidermanTuba]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060419...YBvzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

What do the 10 commandments have to do with our "legal" traditions? THe majority of them are not in our law.

 

[GotZoom]

What do the 10 commandments have to do with our "legal" traditions? THe majority of them are not in our law.

From: http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/tenco32.htm

The three-judge panel emphasized intent as the crucial difference between the Mercer County Commandments case and the displays struck down by the Supreme Court in nearby Pulaski and McCreary. In other words, the Ten Commandments were not supposedly included in the Mercer County courthouse in order to promote religion. Indeed, a "commentary" was added to the display stating that the Commandments "have profoundly influenced the formation of Western legal thought and the formation of our country" and "provide the moral background of the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of our legal tradition."

Legal and historic scholars disagree over these claims, noting that the American legal system is not based on any Mosaic code as much as it is rooted in English common law. Courts have ruled, however, that there is a "secular" component in the commandments and, as plaintiffs in the cases acknowledge, the Decalogue "did have an influence upon the development of United States law and it can be constitutional to display the Ten Commandments in an appropriate context." Studying the Commandments as part of a history curriculum, for instance, may be permissible.

 

[MissileMan]

Indeed, a "commentary" was added to the display stating that the Commandments "have profoundly influenced the formation of Western legal thought and the formation of our country" and "provide the moral background of the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of our legal tradition."

Exactly! Anyone can see that the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other God but me" translates so easily into our greatest constitutional freedom to worship whichever god we choose, or even no god. The similarity is uncanny.

 

[Kagom]

The Ten Commandments were the first laws brought onto this world. I hope this becomes more common.

The Code of Hammurabi, if I recall correctly, were the first laws to be fully incorporated and brough into this world.

 

[Nuc]

Them's sum fine histry teechers ya got in Abalama!

Shssssh! They think the world started 6000 years ago. Don't tell them otherwise. And don't tell them Santa doesn't exist either.

 

[LOki]

The Ten Commandments were the first laws brought onto this world. I hope this becomes more common.

In consideration for those in this country who do not believe in the Judeao/Christian God, I hope not.

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. (Particularly if you're in Texas or Ohio)

Constitutional?

 

[CrimsonWhite]

Shssssh! They think the world started 6000 years ago. Don't tell them otherwise. And don't tell them Santa doesn't exist either.

OK, show me a written law that pre-dates the Ten Commandments.

 

[CrimsonWhite]

Them's sum fine histry teechers ya got in Abalama!

Can you show me a law that pre dates the Ten Commandments.

You spelled Alabama wrong. Even we can spell that right. Hell its on al the license plates.

 

[MissileMan]

Can you show me a law that pre dates the Ten Commandments.

You spelled Alabama wrong. Even we can spell that right. Hell its on al the license plates.

www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM

The complete text of Hammurabi's law code, the first written code of laws in human history.

BTW, should I make any assumptions based on the fact that you only found Alabama misspelled (intentionally) in that line?