Conservative Student News

As you walk up the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building, you will see near the top a row of the world’s lawmakers. Each one is facing the man in the middle: Moses holding the Ten Commandments!

The American legal system is the work of the great founding fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and … Moses?

Those who support the public display of the Ten Commandments in government buildings think so.

A raging constitutional battle is being fought over the right to display the Ten Commandments in public, and the issue will come to a head late this winter in the Supreme Court.

The primary issue at hand is whether the Ten Commandments are a historical display of the basis for American law or a governmental endorsement of a religious viewpoint.

The Supreme Court’s choice seems easy—putting a religious document in a government building does not appear to maintain a proper separation of church and state. For this very reason, many dissent to the Ten Commandment displays.

The opposition is right about one thing: The Ten Commandments are religious. The Decalogue was the law of a religious state, and it continues to serve as a guide of moral conduct for Christians and Jews to this day.

But, consider this: What if this religious document has a secular purpose much like the secular purpose of a display of the Declaration of Independence or the Star Spangled Banner?

Though they are religious, the Ten Commandments molded American law. The founding fathers drew upon this code as a guide to ethical behavior in society. As a result, a document that was once solely religious took on historical meaning as a source of American law.

George Washington said in his Farewell Address to the nation that religion is not just a part of the foundation of our law and government by happenstance. Rather, religion is a necessity to form such a law and a government.

Religion, specifically the Ten Commandments, was formative in our nation for better or for worse. So, why should the Ten Commandments be any less acceptable than a display of the Mayflower Compact?

Still, some argue that documents like the Ten Commandments are not as purely historical as the Declaration of Independence, for example. Offended by the Decalogue displays, they argue that some of the commandments do not have any bearing on the legal code of the United States, and only have religious value.

For example, the First Commandment, “I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange gods before me,” is of no political value, they say. It is a rule for mono-theistic religions like Christianity and Judaism, not a rule for American citizens.

Many argue that this commandment and several others are not only irrelevant, but actually thwart the ideals of our religiously and culturally diverse society.

In order to modernize these controversial commandments, many seek religiously neutral commandments. The Religious Tolerance Organization, for instance, has suggested some replacement commandments for the particularly controversial first few decrees:

1. “Respect and worship any deity within your faith tradition, if you follow one. Value and support the right of others to do the same.” (“I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.”)

2. “Do not use obscene speech in the name of the deities of any religion.” (“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”)

3. “Follow the guidance of your faith or secular tradition every day of the week, because every day is important.” (“Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.”)

These amendments are modern and culturally acceptable to be sure, but there lies a problem in this. Modified Ten Commandments are no longer historical—in which case, they have no authority to be in any government facility whatsoever.

Though a state-mandated religion was not in the founding fathers’ plan, they did not attempt to modify a religious law that had already been written. Instead, the founders recognized the value of the rules as foundational law and drew wisdom from them.

We must remember that the Ten Commandments are not displayed as a corrective for American law. Nor are the displays meant to suggest that the Ten Commandments are a model of American law. They serve as a visible reminder of the source of the law and government of our modern nation.

Their purpose is not to represent what this nation is today, but to remind us from whence our nation came.