ACLU Seeking Offended People For Plaintiffs In New Ten Commandments Controversy
Posted on November 30, 2006
Update: Here is the video.
An all new controversy on the Ten Commandments being displayed in Court Houses:
Dozens of county residents took a few extra minutes on the way home from church Sunday or on the way to work Monday morning to drive past the Dixie County courthouse to see for themselves if what they had heard was true.
It was.
A six-ton block of granite bearing the Ten Commandments had been installed atop the courthouse steps. Inscribed at the base was the admonition to “Love God and keep his commandments.”“There are no negatives there to live by,” said Skipper Jones, former owner and publisher of the county’s weekly newspaper. Jones served as spokesman Monday for Joe Anderson Jr., one of the leaders of the effort to have the monument constructed and situated at no cost to the county.
“Mr. Anderson was involved with others and took a very active role in seeing this was accomplished because he feels this is something the country needs to get back to,” Jones said.
The concept of a Ten Commandments monument was endorsed by county commissioners, according to the minutes of the Jan. 19 regular board meeting.
Former Commissioner John Driggers broached the subject on behalf of an unnamed county resident, asking whether the board was “bold enough” to allow the monument to be placed at the courthouse. After then-county attorney Joey Lander told the board he would defend any lawsuits stemming from the decision for free, commissioners voted in favor of allowing the project to proceed.
Although Lander has resigned as county attorney, he told The Sun on Monday afternoon that he would uphold his offer.
“I will gladly represent them for free but I wouldn’t want to challenge someone to file a lawsuit,” Lander said. “If the commissioners were willing to make the bold statement, I am willing to do my part to represent the county in their bid to keep them (the commandments) there.”
Even though no one has complained yet, the ACLU are on the look out. And shouldn’t they be? These people have obviously set out to create a theocracy in Dixie. A granite monument depicting Judeo-Christian values that much of our laws are based off may seem harmless to some, but if you haven’t heard of it before there is a such thing a slippery slope. It starts out with urging people to love God and all that, the next thing you know its a
Brandon Hensler, director of communications for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said, “There are certainly values in the Ten Commandments that are enshrined in the law and should be upheld, like ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ ”
But he continued, “If there are residents of Dixie County who understand our country’s constitutional values and that it is the role of churches – not of government – to urge people to love God and keep his commandments, we would be interested in speaking with them.”
If the ACLU can’t find someone withing Dixie that is offended then they would have no standing for a lawsuit. If this is allowed to go unchallenged, the next thing you know they will be passing out free Bibles or something!
Seriously though, while my sympathies are with these people, they are either brave, stupid or both. They are practically asking for a lawsuit! Putting the ten commandments at a court house in honor of their influence upon our laws is one thing. Putting a bold statement at its base to “love God and honor them” will most likely be the reason they will lose if the ACLU finds a plaintiff to represent. They might as well have gone and thrown rocks at the local ACLU’s windows screaming “sue us”!
Check it out! This blogger was debating this on Hannity and Colmes last night.
» Filed Under ACLU, Church And State, News
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8 Responses to “ACLU Seeking Offended People For Plaintiffs In New Ten Commandments Controversy”
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Syndicate Me
It’s about time…..this will be interesting.
It was unfortunate that we got cut off early, and that people kept resorting to rhetoric about “in god we trust” and “under god” insteading of addressing the (il)legality of the issue at hand.
But, some coverage is better than none.
PS: Yes, they are asking for a lawsuit, and they know it. Read the minutes of their Jan 19th board meeting, where they voted to go ahead, calling it “bold” and procuring a promise from Joey Lander to represent them.
http://grove.ufl.edu/%7Edmorgan/Articles/religion-sci/20060119meeting.doc
Scroll all the way to the bottom for the mention of the monument.
Indeed, that is probably exactly what will tip the balance against them.
It’s undeniable that the ten commandments have significant place in legal history, but I doubt that place is “front and center with a blatantly irrelevant religious message tacked on the bottom.”
Jeff,
I’m glad some people are reasonable enough to admit that. I am too. The TX case didn’t bother me one bit, as the monument was in proper context.
“front and center with a blatantly irrelevant religious message tacked on the bottom.”
What? The phrase “Love your God and keep His commandments” is a summary of the what the 10 Commandments are about. How is that irrelevant on a statue of the 10 Commandments?
Clay,
The point is, they added *more* than “just” the 10 Commandments — almost like a taunt.
PS: I have the YouTube available now:
http://danielmorgan.blogspot.com/2006/11/my-interview-on-hannity-colmes.html
sdanielmorgan,
Almost like a taunt? Aren’t being just a tad bit overboard on this. Where do you get taunt out of a summation of the 10 commandments?