Bush Administration wants 10 Commandments in Courthouses

Slavery played a defining role in our history, too. Perhaps we can make blacks clean the courthouses for free to commemorate it.
 
I wonder which version the administration is pushing? I favor the proposal, if they're suggesting the Monkey version:

1. Thou Shalt Not Follow Commandments.
2. Including This One.
3. Whoops. That's a Paradox.
4. Good Thing You Don't Have to Take Commandments Seriously.
5. Try Thinking For Yourself.
6. And If You Can't, Shut Up And Leave Me Alone.
7. Also, Monkeys Are Nice.
8. You Should Appreciate Monkeys.
9. Space For Lease.
10. Goto 1.
 
It will be funny if this case goes all the way to the U.S Supreme Court where the Ten Commandments are engraved on the wall behind the bench where the Justices sit. :D
 
Luke T. said:
It will be funny if this case goes all the way to the U.S Supreme Court where the Ten Commandments are engraved on the wall behind the bench where the Justices sit. :D
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The case is in the Supreme Court, of course, but has not yet been scheduled for argument.

It is widely believed that the Ten Commandments are are engraved on the wall behind the bench where the Justices sit. But this widely held belief is false. Nevertheless, we can expect it to circulated on the Internet and via e-mail as the time for argument draws closer.

The east wall frieze (the bench is on the east side of the courtroom) shows a tablet with Roman numerals I through X, but this tablet refers to the Bill of Rights, not the Ten Commandments. Moses is not depicted in this frieze.

By contrast, Moses and the Ten Commandments ARE depicted in the south frieze, but the English text of the Commandments is not a part of the display, nor is Moses given any special prominence. (The eastern exterior face of the Supreme Court also shows Moses with tablets, but the tablets have no text at all.) There is no Supreme Court display of commandments pertaining to religious duties.

As a practical matter, it is highly unlikely that the Supreme Court is going to issue a decision that will require a workman with a jackhammer to remove Moses from the south frieze and the eastern exterior face. It is very likely that SOME sort of commandment representations on public property will be permitted.

If the Court were to use its own building as an example, it might say that Commandment displays: (1) should not give prominence to Commandments in preference to other sources of law; (2) should not include the text of the Commandments (which has the enormous practical benefit of avoiding having the Court determine which version of the Commandments is the "correct" one); and (3) which include no references to religious duties.
 
If the Court were to use its own building as an example, it might say that Commandment displays: (1) should not give prominence to Commandments in preference to other sources of law; (2) should not include the text of the Commandments (which has the enormous practical benefit of avoiding having the Court determine which version of the Commandments is the "correct" one); and (3) which include no references to religious duties.
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- ... which is nowhere near enough for the people who actually desire 10C's tablets in all the government buildings. You know what they'll say. "Egads, the ten commandments without the commandments? Stupid liberals!"

- I'm much more cynical than you I suppose. I don't feel there's going to be much argument at all... I'll be surprised if we don't have the equivalent of Roy's Rock rubber-stamped into law.
 
OK, Bush apologists: spin this one away.

BTW, is the Bush administration supporting the Reader's Digest version, e.g. "Thou shalt not covet" or the full text: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant (ahem, slave), nor his maidservant (yep, slave again), nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's"

I'm guessing the former.
 
HarryKeogh said:
BTW, is the Bush administration supporting the Reader's Digest version ... or the full text ...?

I'm guessing the former.
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I don't know. I haven't yet found the brief on line. Findlaw will post all of the briefs eventually, and it's a good bet that other sites will have them, too. I expect I will be commenting in some detail after reading the briefs.

The Sixth Circuit's McCreary opinon referred to multiple versions of the Commandments, including a version from Exodus 20 and a "Reader's Digest version."

When I was undergoing religious training as a teenager, I was specifically instructed that the abbreviated version of the Commandments was NOT the correct version of the Commandments, even though other denominations taught otherwise.
Originally posted by AtheistArchon
- ... which is nowhere near enough for the people who actually desire 10C's tablets in all the government buildings. You know what they'll say. "Egads, the ten commandments without the commandments? Stupid liberals!"
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This is speculation, of course, but not unfounded. Most of the Commandments commentaries treat the Commandments as a whole, implying that the government can't choose to display the secular and ignore the sacred.
 
HarryKeogh said:
OK, Bush apologists: spin this one away.

BTW, is the Bush administration supporting the Reader's Digest version, e.g. "Thou shalt not covet" or the full text: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant (ahem, slave), nor his maidservant (yep, slave again), nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's"

I'm guessing the former.
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My guess: Thou shalt not covet the courthouse's manservant, at least until he's done emptying the wastebaskets on the second floor.
 
I can't imagine how the Bush administration can lose with a cynical move like this.

Whatever the High Court decides, Bush is once again God's Champion.
 
How about an updated PC version of the Ten Commandments?

1. You shall not worship any other god / being / mother soul / earth spirit than the one of your choosing.

2. You shall not make a graven image of anything copyrighted.

3. You shall not take the name of any protected minority in vain.

4. You shall not break the Sabbath CD.

5. You shall not dis your legal guardians.

6. You shall not murder, except fetuses.

7. You shall not commit adultery in public.

8. You shall not steal, except from your company or the government.

9. You shall not commit perjury without due compensation.

10. You shall covet the wealthy and pity the poor.
 
peptoabysmal said:
How about an updated PC version of the Ten Commandments?

1. You shall not worship any other god / being / mother soul / earth spirit than the one of your choosing.
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FASCIST, RIGHT WING NUT CASE, INTOLERANT MONOTEISTIC BIGOT (it shoould read "than the one(s) of your chosing")


peptoabysmal said:
7. You shall not commit adultery in public.
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Unless she's really hot.
 
peptoabysmal said:
How about an updated PC version of the Ten Commandments?
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Some time ago, I think there was a thread about what rules should have been included in the Commandments. If we assume that three of the Commandments prohibit unjustified killing, stealing and lying, what others should be on the list? Perhaps these...

4) Be thou courteous and kind, unless there be cause to be otherwise; but under no circumstances shall thou be cruel.
5) Thou shalt be true to thy word, which includes but is not limited to keeping promises thou hast made.
6) Thou shalt not be a hypocrite.
7) Thou shalt play by the rules.
8) Thou shalt give thy neighbor a fair shake, discriminating only upon a showing of cause.
9) Thou shalt by thy words and deeds show the respect that is due to thy family, thy friends, thy neighbors, thy associates and those in authority.
10) Thou shalt not ridicule or persecute those that hold religious views that differ from thine own.
 
What do the 10 commandments have to do with our courts? Our courts basically allow you to break alll the commandments.

You can

1) Freedom of religion, worship all the gods you want.
2) Free Speech. You can take the lords name in vain all you want.
3) Honor mom n pop. Children can emancipate from their parents
4) Lie. Legal for police to go undercover and use the info agianst you.
5) Steal. Eminient domanine, taxes, lawsuits.
6) Kill. Courts hand out the death penalty.
7) Holy the Sabbath day. Freedom of religion, stores and everything are open on the Sabath.
8) Covet nieghbors wife. Divorce and remarriage
9) Covet his things. Civil suits, you can take the shirt off your neighbors back!

10) Im forgeting one???
 
Congrats, dear Americans: One step closer to a religious tyranny...

Brown said:
The east wall frieze (the bench is on the east side of the courtroom) shows a tablet with Roman numerals I through X, but this tablet refers to the Bill of Rights, not the Ten Commandments.
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Not so. The numbers are there to help the Supreme Justices count their fingers...
 
CFLarsen said:

Not so. The numbers are there to help the Supreme Justices count their fingers...
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And on that note, I'd like everyone to enjoy the mental image of Chief Justice Renquist counting to 21.

(If you don't get it...It's probably better that way.)
 
Tmy said:
What do the 10 commandments have to do with our courts? Our courts basically allow you to break alll the commandments.
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The Ten Commandments (in one or more versions) have had a degree of influence on United States law. Whether the Commandments have had a predominant effect or not is far less clear, as it is easy to cite many other influences that have had a far greater effect upon the law and jurisprudence of the United States.

It is very clear that the nation was founded upon a rejection of the notion that government exercised authority by divine right. The Declaration of Independence was not based upon the Ten Commandments, and neither was the Constitution. The Bill of Rights expressly forbade Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion.

And you are correct, very few Commandments form the basis for current state or federal laws. There are laws against killing and stealing and lying under oath. But the commandments pertaining to religious duties are not law. There is no law pertaining to honoring parents. Most adultery laws have been repealed or are not enforced. There never have been any state or federal laws that have been based upon the prohibition(s) of coveting.

In addition, there are many laws that find no basis whatsover in the Ten Commandments, and there are even laws that are antithetical to the Ten Commandments.
 
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