Sunday, December 4, 2011
Another Ten Commandments Display...Is This One Different?
On Sunday, November 27, 2011, the residents of Dixie County, Florida, rallied in front of the county courthouse in support of a granite monument engraved with the 10 Commandments seated in front of this government building. The monument was funded by a local businessman named Joe Anderson, Jr. No government money was used for the construction or installation of the monument, but the positing of this structure was approved by the Dixie County Commissioners.
However, this monument contains not only the Decalogue, but also an admonition which reads “Love God and keep his commandments.” One woman involved in the rally carried a sign reading “If you don’t like what our USA was built on, GET OUT.”
The Florida ACLU filed suit against the county in federal district court and won; the county then appealed. Americans United subsequently filed an amicus brief in support of the strict separation of church and state. They “argued that Commandments displays have become weapons of choice in the Religious Right’s crusade to make America an officially Christian nation.” Joseph L. Conn, for Americans United, adds that America was not built on the Ten Commandments, but on “the constitutional separation of church and state.”
This case is important for us to consider so that we may gain some clarity over where the court stands on these issues. As we have seen, the rulings of the court in Ten Commandments cases are seemingly contradictory. However, I disagree with the ACLU and Americans United for several reasons, and I believe that the court’s rulings in this area are not as contradictory as one might think.
First, Americans United argues that America was founded on the constitutional separation of church and state, but this separation is nowhere mentioned in the constitution. The Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Therefore, if the constitution merely asserts that no federal religion shall be established, then certainly no private funding of religious monuments can possibly be considered establishment even if the structure is on government property. However, this is not the only basis on which I disagree with Cobb’s position.
I accept the court’s reasoning that the Ten Commandments are an important part of America’s history as a state. Therefore, the Decalogue’s importance is not only religious, but historical as well, a significant part of the decision in both Pleasant Grove v. United States and Van Orden v. Perry. This means that, if we accept the Lemon Test, there is a secular purpose to display such a historical monument.
Finally, as Scalia notes in his concurring opinion in the Van Orden Case, the government cannot exhibit any hostility toward religion. Instead, it must exercise benevolent neutrality so as not to directly benefit or inhibit any one religion (again, according to the Lemon Test).
In McCreary v. ACLU, the Supreme Court ruled that a government sponsored display of the Decalogue in a Kentucky Courthouse violated the Establishment Clause, and rightly so in regard to precedent since it appealed to the Lemon Test to show that there was no secular purpose for the government’s sponsorship of this display. On the same day, in Van Orden v. Perry, the court ruled that a privately funded display of the Ten Commandments outside of a Kentucky Courthouse did not violate the Establishment Clause on the basis of the criteria I have already mentioned. The difference in the sources of funding and status of sponsorship in these cases was pivotal in the court’s rulings. I therefore believe that these decisions were not as contradictory as we might believe at first glance.
Into which of these two categories, then, does our current case fit? The Decalogue was privately funded by a local businessman, and therefore it would seem the correct precedent to consider is Van Orden. I do not believe that this case constitutes a violation of the Establishment Clause for the reasons mentioned above. However, there is one thing left to consider.
In Pleasant Grove v. United States, the court appealed to a reasonable observer to argue that the Ten Commandments would not be understood as a form of proselytizing. As I mentioned, however, this monument contains the admonition “Love God and keep his Commandments.” An important question therefore arises: does this constitute a form of proselytizing that goes beyond the scope of the Decalogue itself?
Although I have many concerns over the practice of invoking a reasonable observer in these cases from the beginning, it is largely irrelevant in this instance since I believe that this statement is no more than a summary of the Commandments, which themselves profess what they say. If the Decalogue itself is not seen as a form of proselytizing, then I do not feel that this admonition can be seen in this way either.
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However, this monument contains not only the Decalogue, but also an admonition which reads “Love God and keep his commandments.” One woman involved in the rally carried a sign reading “If you don’t like what our USA was built on, GET OUT.”
The Florida ACLU filed suit against the county in federal district court and won; the county then appealed. Americans United subsequently filed an amicus brief in support of the strict separation of church and state. They “argued that Commandments displays have become weapons of choice in the Religious Right’s crusade to make America an officially Christian nation.” Joseph L. Conn, for Americans United, adds that America was not built on the Ten Commandments, but on “the constitutional separation of church and state.”
This case is important for us to consider so that we may gain some clarity over where the court stands on these issues. As we have seen, the rulings of the court in Ten Commandments cases are seemingly contradictory. However, I disagree with the ACLU and Americans United for several reasons, and I believe that the court’s rulings in this area are not as contradictory as one might think.
First, Americans United argues that America was founded on the constitutional separation of church and state, but this separation is nowhere mentioned in the constitution. The Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Therefore, if the constitution merely asserts that no federal religion shall be established, then certainly no private funding of religious monuments can possibly be considered establishment even if the structure is on government property. However, this is not the only basis on which I disagree with Cobb’s position.
I accept the court’s reasoning that the Ten Commandments are an important part of America’s history as a state. Therefore, the Decalogue’s importance is not only religious, but historical as well, a significant part of the decision in both Pleasant Grove v. United States and Van Orden v. Perry. This means that, if we accept the Lemon Test, there is a secular purpose to display such a historical monument.
Finally, as Scalia notes in his concurring opinion in the Van Orden Case, the government cannot exhibit any hostility toward religion. Instead, it must exercise benevolent neutrality so as not to directly benefit or inhibit any one religion (again, according to the Lemon Test).
In McCreary v. ACLU, the Supreme Court ruled that a government sponsored display of the Decalogue in a Kentucky Courthouse violated the Establishment Clause, and rightly so in regard to precedent since it appealed to the Lemon Test to show that there was no secular purpose for the government’s sponsorship of this display. On the same day, in Van Orden v. Perry, the court ruled that a privately funded display of the Ten Commandments outside of a Kentucky Courthouse did not violate the Establishment Clause on the basis of the criteria I have already mentioned. The difference in the sources of funding and status of sponsorship in these cases was pivotal in the court’s rulings. I therefore believe that these decisions were not as contradictory as we might believe at first glance.
Into which of these two categories, then, does our current case fit? The Decalogue was privately funded by a local businessman, and therefore it would seem the correct precedent to consider is Van Orden. I do not believe that this case constitutes a violation of the Establishment Clause for the reasons mentioned above. However, there is one thing left to consider.
In Pleasant Grove v. United States, the court appealed to a reasonable observer to argue that the Ten Commandments would not be understood as a form of proselytizing. As I mentioned, however, this monument contains the admonition “Love God and keep his Commandments.” An important question therefore arises: does this constitute a form of proselytizing that goes beyond the scope of the Decalogue itself?
Although I have many concerns over the practice of invoking a reasonable observer in these cases from the beginning, it is largely irrelevant in this instance since I believe that this statement is no more than a summary of the Commandments, which themselves profess what they say. If the Decalogue itself is not seen as a form of proselytizing, then I do not feel that this admonition can be seen in this way either.
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