Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Toto · 10-14-2002, 09:27 AM

From the newswire:

<a href="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021013&Category=APN&ArtNo=210130664 &Ref=AR" target="_blank">Trial begins of lawsuit challenging Ten Commandments monument</a>

Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Southern Poverty Law Center are suing over the 5,300-pound granite Ten Commandments monument that Judge Roy Moore snuck into the from the lobby of the Alabama Judicial Building one dark night.

Quote:

"I believe this is a key case," said Chriss Doss, director of the Center for the Study of the Law and the Church at Samford University in Birmingham. . . .

The question could come down to whether Thompson and later appeals court judges find that the monument passes the "and a plastic reindeer too" test, said Hiram Sasser, an attorney for the Texas-based Liberty Legal Institute, which often represents churches and religious groups in cases involving religious freedoms.

Sasser said this test comes from court rulings in cases involving nativity scenes in front of courthouses or schools. A display celebrating Christ's birth is constitutional if you include a nonreligious symbol, like a Santa Claus, he said.

"When you have other historical documents mixed in on a monument, you have the 'and a plastic reindeer too,'" Sasser said.

Bryan Fair, a University of Alabama law professor who specializes in constitutional law. . . said he doesn't believe the courts will buy the argument that the monument is historical.

"It clearly isn't a comprehensive historical display," Fair said. "It insults the intelligence of Alabamians to say this was a historical display."

. . .

Shadowy Man · 10-14-2002, 10:35 AM

I don't understand how religious people would not be bothered by the idea that the Ten Commandments are not religious in nature, and are only historical. You'd think they'd be as much against that argument as the atheists.

beejay · 10-14-2002, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadowy Man:
<strong>I don't understand how religious people would not be bothered by the idea that the Ten Commandments are not religious in nature, and are only historical.</strong>

I think that they know they are religious but if they have to say they are only historical to have them displayed at government buildings, they are willing to do so.

Let's see, which commandment are they breaking...?

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10-14-2002, 10:35 AM	#2
Shadowy Man Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: A Shadowy Planet Posts: 7,585	I don't understand how religious people would not be bothered by the idea that the Ten Commandments are not religious in nature, and are only historical. You'd think they'd be as much against that argument as the atheists.

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