Odd ruling in 10 Commandments Case

[Angel4Truth]

If the 10 Commandments are that important to you, why doesn't every Christian in the country put a monument up in their front yard?

Buy me one, ill put it in my yard

 

[Jose Fly]

Buy me one, ill put it in my yard

So it's not even important enough for you to spend your own money on. Point taken. :up:

 

[kmoney]

Why this particular formulation? All of the plausible reasons are religious.

Yes, that particular formulation would be based on Judaism/Christianity.

My original comment was mostly tongue-in-cheek. However, I am a little curious about what would happen if someone attempted to put up something that had various commands/morals that wasn't so blatantly based on the 10 Commandments.

 

[kmoney]

If the 10 Commandments are that important to you, why doesn't every Christian in the country put a monument up in their front yard? Why doesn't every church have one? Why doesn't every Christian-owned business have one at the front door?

On one hand I think that's an interesting question. On the other, I don't think most people want the 10 Commandments in these places simply because they love the 10 Commandments. It's the idea of having them in a public space. I believe we talked about this in one of your other 10 Commandment threads. I imagine it's mostly about subtle influence and preserving what they believe is our nation's heritage (whatever you think of that). Yes, you can do those things on your own private property but it'd have a different effect. Perhaps more should. I wonder, in today's climate it probably would end up having more influence than if the Evangelicals somehow won all of these school/capitol battles.

 

[Jose Fly]

On one hand I think that's an interesting question. On the other, I don't think most people want the 10 Commandments in these places simply because they love the 10 Commandments. It's the idea of having them in a public space.

That sounds to me like an admission that the goal of such displays is to persuade non-believers. If that's the case, then the courts have it right; the government has no business persuading its citizens towards a religion.

I believe we talked about this in one of your other 10 Commandment threads. I imagine it's mostly about subtle influence and preserving what they believe is our nation's heritage (whatever you think of that). Yes, you can do those things on your own private property but it'd have a different effect. Perhaps more should. I wonder, in today's climate it probably would end up having more influence than if the Evangelicals somehow won all of these school/capitol battles.

From the rhetoric I've seen from those defending these displays, it's mostly about privilege and identity. Having 10 Commandments monuments up on government property was a way of letting each other know that "this is a Christian town". As our society becomes increasingly secular and diverse, that privilege is being successfully challenged in courts, and the monuments are being taken down.

All that is a direct threat to the people who put them up in the first place (or who still defend them being up). It's just one more sign that the world around them is rapidly changing in ways they don't like, and they aren't running the show as much as they used to.