The Ten Commandments: Legal, if they’re not religious

Why the courts said ‘no’ to religious symbols

When the word came down, said Charles Lane in The Washington Post, evangelicals wept and bowed in prayer. Civil libertarians celebrated and waved placards. Both sides claimed victories, yet both were disappointed. In conflicting rulings, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court this week weighed in on one of the hottest flash points in the nation's culture wars: the Ten Commandments. By a 5–4 vote, the court allowed a 6-foot granite monument of the Commandments to remain standing on the grounds of the Texas Capitol. But by the same margin, the justices said that gold-framed copies of Moses' laws inside two Kentucky courthouses amounted to 'œa state endorsement of religion'—and thus violated the First Amendment.

In the end, said Joan Biskupic in USA Today, the court found that context and intent are critical. The Texas tablets were donated in 1961 by a private civic group. Since then, they've been joined by 37 other symbols representing the history of Western civilization, including two Stars of David, an eagle grasping an American flag, and an eye inside a pyramid. The net effect of this tableau, the justices found, 'œwas not religious.' By contrast, the Kentucky legislators who hung the Commandments in McCreary County courthouses in 1999 had openly announced their desire to promote respect for Judeo-Christian values. That, said the justices, crossed the line into endorsement of a specific faith.

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