After reading the July 31 front page news story about the request to move the Ten Commandments marker from the Fargo City Hall lawn, I pondered attending the Human Relations Commission meeting during which this issue would be discussed. After I read the paper the next morning and found myself being called "ilk" by Jack Zaleski, the Forum's editorial page editor, I felt compelled to attend and voice my concern.
I am not a member of the Red River Freethinkers nor am I associated with the ACLU in any way. I do, however, firmly agree that the Ten Commandments monument would be more appropriately displayed on private property.
The Ten Commandments are an admirable and profound spiritual code of ethics at the heart of Judeo-Christian religion. They are not the only such code in existence, however -- religions and cultures throughout the world are founded on their own spiritual truths and precepts.
Any sane person would not quibble with most of the commandments - of course, that is why most of them are also codified into every civilized country's laws. However, the Ten Commandments are much more than a secular code of lawful behavior - as Christian supporters proclaim and as non-Christians protest.
The very first commandment, "I am the Lord thy God - thou shalt have no other gods before me" is not a spiritually generic, one-religion-fits-all sentiment. It is, literally, a commandment to worship the Judeo-Christian god. That was certainly the intent of Moses in the biblical story which tells of him coming down the mountain delivering the commandments to a people in spiritual chaos. His people were being literally commanded to believe in the god of Abraham and to worship him on the Sabbath.
It seems odd that Christians would be willing to water down or underemphasize the first and fourth commandments in order to advocate the Ten Commandments as mandatory civic reading for all citizens - and students in our public schools. They claim that what they sometimes dismissively refer to as "those other religions" or "atheists, agnostics and their ilk" could all benefit from following the Judeo-Christian religious code.
Non-Christians are not murdering, thieving, amoral heathens. We are simply law-abiding, moral, ethical people who do not happen to be believers in the Christian faith. The placement of a monument on civic property, historic though it may be, that promotes one religion's code above all others, is exclusive by definition and is a spiritual affront to citizens not of that faith.
Monuments are symbols by their nature - and the placement of this particular religious edifice on the lawn of Fargo's City Hall has the symbolic effect of the City of Fargo commanding its citizens to believe in the Judeo-Christian god.
To those Christians who feel that the spirit of the Ten Commandments should be observed by everyone and those of us who are protesting the monument's placement are being "silly" and hypersensitive, please imagine this: One morning you wake up and find that the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path of Buddhism is carved into a granite monument and placed at the center of the Fargo City Hall lawn. As days, weeks, and years go by, imagine how you would feel seeing and reading that monument. Perhaps you would be inspired by its message, perhaps you would feel its content is in dramatic contrast to your own spiritual beliefs. But, certainly, you would wonder what it is doing displayed in solitary splendor at the center of civic property and might even take steps to see if it would be possible to have it moved to a more appropriate location in town - the lawn of a local Buddhist temple, perhaps.
Not everyone who lives in Fargo is a Christian. Even though Christians comprise the majority of Fargo's population - and our country's population - the concept of majority rule applies to politics, not religion. We elect our leaders and make our laws according to democratic process and the majority opinion rules. However, our country was founded by a group of revolutionary visionaries who were acutely aware of the evils of religious tyranny and ensured that religious freedom (freedom FROM as well as freedom OF religion) was the philosophical foundation of our country.
I believe that this beautiful, historic monument should be moved to another location in town, to permanently be displayed on church grounds or other private property. I respectfully suggest that if the Ten Commandments monument remains in its current location, that the city consider installing additional monuments to share that location which would be inscribed with the moral/religious codes of other faiths and ethical systems of people who are also citizens of Fargo (including Hindu, Native American, Muslim, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist, and Freethinker, to name but a few). I would be willing to volunteer my efforts to help raise donated funds for such a display.
Sincerely, Linda Coates
August 5, 2001