The Ten Commandments, display or not? Options

[BeyondElite]

"The US Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of displaying in public spaces the Ten Commandments, in a case on the officially mandated separation of church and state in US society." Do you agree that the Ten Commandments should be displayed in public spaces? Why or why not?

In my opinion, the Ten Commandments should be displayed in government property to pay tribute to America's religious and legal history. There are three fouths (3/4) of people here in America that are in the religions of Christianity and Judaism that believes in the Ten Commandments and practices this commandment. "These Commandments have an undeniable religious significance, but they also have secular significance as a source of the law, a code of law and a well-recognized historical symbol of the law." Amendment one of the U.S. Bill of Rights clearly says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." However, freedom of Religion depends of freedom from religion. Even though one does not believe in God's existence, they simply can ignore the first, second, third and fourth commandment and simply follow the rest of the commandments which are to respect elders, to forbid murder, to forbid committing adultery, to forbid stealing, to forbid false witness against neighbor, and forbid coveting your neighbor's house (which is really similar to the laws of the United States.) What do you think?

[sadolakced acid]

please show me proof that the founding fathers were influenced by the ten commandments.

you can't. because they weren't.

but please, since you insist the ten commandments were influential in the founding of this country, show me the proof .

and here; proof that the US was not a christian nation, was not intended to be a christian nation:

Convinced that religious liberty must, most assuredly, be built into the structural frame of the new [state] government, Jefferson proposed this language [for the new Virginia constitution]: "All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious institution": freedom for religion, but also freedom from religion. (Edwin S. Gaustad, Faith of Our Fathers: Religion and the New Nation, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987, p. 38. Jefferson proposed his language in 1776.)

I am for freedom of religion and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another. (Thomas Jefferson, letter to Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799. From Gorton Carruth and Eugene Ehrlich, eds., The Harper Book of American Quotations, New York: Harper & Row, 1988, p. 499.)

there are more well documented quotes from here:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ed_...quotations.html

Thomas jefferson, the main author of the declaration of independece, did not support christianity, and christianity did not influence him. He campaigned for the separation of church and state, in entirety.

The same reason why we don't display the laws of Cuba, Thailand or Canada in our courts. It's completely irrelevent.

oh, but it is relevant. If we're displaying the laws of christians, why not the laws of the antichrist?

the ten commandments are the laws of christians, muslims, and jews. They are not the laws of any others.




(bleh. i don't know if this will show up as a double post. servers are screwwy right now... i'll delete this if it comes out double. )