By Lew Lubka
It was simply a matter of time. After the Supreme Court's decision
in May to not hear an appeal of a casein Elkheart, IN, the display of the Ten
Commandments in front of Fargo's city hall was doomed to be questioned. This
week the Red RiverFreethinkers got [the] support of the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) of the Dakotas in asking for the removal of the Ten Commandments
etched in granite and placed prominently in the mall in front of City Hall.
. . . The monument was give to Fargo by the local
Fraternal Order of the Eagles in 1958. The Supreme Court's decision left standing
a lower court's ruling that such a display of the Ten Commandments on public
property was in fact unconstitutional. No suprise. We all know that the precept
of separation of church and state is a founding principle of the U.S. Constitution.
. . . But we react differently when it is our Ten
Commandments. This is the same country that starts its congressional sessions
with a prayer by a chaplain, is it not?
. . . So what's the big deal about a granite Ten
Commandments posted in front of City Hall in Fargo? Well, it's goverment endorsed
religion, in a nitshell. And this is the same country that has all along said
its government was not in the business of establishing religion, is it not?
. . . And why on earth would we insult community
volunteers who generoudly gave such a beautiful monument to the city decades
ago? Or is anyone actually insulted in this situation? The 50s were not the
same as this era. This is a new century, a new millenium. Many remnants of the
50s are fading away, and for good reason.
. . . Neither the ACLU nor the Red River Freethinkers
are to blame for this issue surfacing in Fargo in this point in time. It was
simply a amtter of time. We can't roll back the clock in the ongoing evolution
of American policy and tradition. We can't any more allow goverment established
or endorsed religion any more than we can tolerate civil rights infringements,
discrimination against people of color, against women, or against those with
capability imitations. We can't any more allow our government to squash constitutional
protections then we can tolerate governemnt-fostered prejudice or favortism.
. . .
The right thing in today's world is to simply cooperate and agree that
our constitution is the basis for such support. In Fargo today that means relocating
the Ten Commandments toa non-public location, very possibly to a religious site,
wereby nobody stands to be offended. [M]ake no bones about it; the Ten Commandments
monument near city hall is beautiful. It's just not appropriateto be where it
is, not in light of elvoving legal constitutional decisions.
. . .
If you're uncertain as to why, just put yourself in the position of thousands
of citizens who over the past decades walked past the Ten Commandments on their
way inside to perhaps a municipal court proceeding. And just say you weren't
Christian? How would you feel? Would you begin to wonder whether or not non-Christians
would get the same even-handed jurisprudence in the courtroom as the Christian?
. . . The alternative to removing the Ten Commandments
would be to invite all other religions to have equal treatment and equal visibility
in the mall in front of city ahll. And then we'd have to invite non-religions
who knows, for sure the pagans and maybe even the KKK to display their artifacts
on the same city property.
. . . Naw, that's no answer. Nor is a big spat called for. Let's simply deal with it, comply witht he court decisions, and relocate the Ten Commandments to a more suitable site.
. . . That's not so hard to do, is it?