What if an atheist or an agnostic wanted the 10 Commandments on the wall of a state courthouse?

Question

What if all the other whiney bee otch agnostics and atheists shut up for 10 god darned seconds and reasoned who the heck cares if I walk into a Courthouse that has a 10 Commandments, the judge will judge me based on the merits of the case and apply US Law, and if (s)he did not thats what the appeal is for.

Who really cares, we have God on our money and God in our pledge.

We got men dying in Iraq, people who don't have health insurance and have to cut their pills in half, schools that don't have text books with all the pages,

this to me is as stupid a debate as when the Fundamentalist Christians take up the Senate floor to debate gay marriage and flag burning,

Can we all just shut up with all these wedge issues,

This country isn't a Theocracy its a Democracy, and I see all sorts of people tearing it down, Fundamentalist Christian, and Atheist, and Agnostic, and Liberal Christian, why are you argueing over 10 Commandments when my military brothers are dieing in Iraq?

Answer 1

Good point.

Answer 2

The position of the atheist and agnostic is that the 10 Commandments in a statte courthouse is the same as the government sponsering that erligion, namely Christianity, and it offends them and violates the 1st Ammendment to the Constitution.

Firstly, how do people get offended at something they do not believe exists, namely God? It is sort of like me saying I am offended by unicorns.

Second, the Establishment Clause in the 1st Amendment does not really exiast in the manner it is being ruled to. It reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Many believe that this means there cannot be any show of religious expression allowed and sponsered by the government. Others, like me, hold that it is a prohibition against the establishment of a state religion. If teh debate could be framed in that context, I would be a lot happier with it.

Finally, please do not take offense at this since it is a common misunderstanding, we do not live in a democracy here in the US. We live in a representative republic. We elect representatives to serve as leaders for us, entrusting them with certain powers but also constraining them under the rule of law and the rights of the individual. A democracy is three wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. A republic is is three wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner, there is a law against eating sheep, and the sheep has a shotgun.

Answer 3

The issue I have with the minority crybabies is they demand their rights and could care less of the other 98%.
In Duluth MN, the Ten Commandments were taken down because 10 people were offended over the other 100,000 people in the city.
This country was based on a republic, not a democracy. If it was, then the very minute majority would pout like a baby when something offends them is taken away. Get a life.
I have watched the last thirty plus years where agnostics and atheists (including that crazy Michael Landow) push anything against Christian symbols. Get a life and get a job. Don't take away my right just because some are offended.
America is going down the crapper because people like this demand their way over everyone else.

Stupid.

I was in the military. I understand the need for them being over there. I am not crazy on anyone dieing but take a guess how many more people would die if the terrorists ran the shop?

Answer 4

I personally don't care that God is on money or in the pledge.. money never stays around long enough for me to get that good a look at it and if the word God bothers you so much in the pledge when saying it just don't say the one word.

There are a lot of issues in this country and overseas that are not being focused on and perhaps it would be a better world if we just turned an eye to them; no matter what belief system a person holds.

Just because someone says something we don't have to agree with it. I don't agree with George Bush's statement that Atheists shouldn't be citizens.... and if Mr. Bush was an Atheist and said that about Christians I'd feel the same way.

Division hurts and in the long run can be lethal.

Answer 5

I could not agree more so why not just toss all the junk 10 commandments out of the building and replace them with something useful. And the debate is stupid. It is an exercise in political power for Christians to ram their superstitions down every ones throat at every opportunity. The 10 Commandments is like the Coke sign everywhere..to remind you of the product. So why should the state be advertising some wanker rules written by some bronze age nutcase? For my Bronze Age guy give me Hammurabi any day.

Answer 6

You are dismissing one of the most fundamental concepts to affect our freedom. The influence of religion on government has the chance to corrupt any and all freedoms any of those men fight for.

So, no I will not be okay with your religion seeping into my government. I care because I have been told that this nation neither supports nor denounces any religion. It is simply a non-issue that does not have a place in government. So I would like to see it that way. The Constitution of my country which thousands of men fought and died for clearly states that government will not endorse any religion. Having the Ten Commandments in a government building clearly violates that. Does the blood of all those soldiers just not matter now that we have "bigger issues to deal with"?

You spit upon the very essence of this country and then tell me it's no big deal? That is why your religion needs to stay out of my government.

Answer 7

Seriously, if people don't like the way things are here then they should leave!! Why should everyone have to nullify their beliefs just because people want t make a big stink about things that don't matter! The thing I hate about people who constantly make an issue out of stupid things is that in their effort to get respect for what they believe their disrespecting the beliefs of others... it's annoying! You believe what you want, I'll believe what I want and who the hell cares about the 10 commandments on the wall? If they really bother you don't have a reason to go to court!

Answer 8

As spamandham pointed out, it sends a message. When you put religious documents on courthouse walls, it sends the false message that U.S. law is somehow based on religious doctrine. When you put "In God We Trust" on money, or when your pledge of allegiance to the flag of your country contains the words "Under God," it sends a message that might lead people to believe that believers are more patriotic than nontheists or somehow more American.

These might not be the most urgent matters, but they are important, too. Our freedoms are among the things our soldiers are fighting to protect.

Answer 9

Don't taint your questions with ad homonym and appeal to emotion it's bad form...

Anyway, the problem with the 10 commandments on Gov't property is two fold. First it's a clear endorsement of religion, namely Judeo-Christian religions. Commandment #1:

"I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"

This is obviously unconstitutional.

Secondly, Only a handful of the commandments have any bearing on our legal system. Furthermore the only reason they do is merely coincidental. They are shared values because of their universal moral implications.

As far as god on the money and god in the pledge... This country should remain indifferent to religion as it is home to all kinds of religions and the non-religious alike. I do not belive there is a god, and i sure as hell don't trust one... so why am i forced to do business with documents that carry slogans that don't apply to me. It's that simple... what if the bills said "we don't believe in god?" I wouldn't want this on our money either, and i'm sure Christians in particular would have something to say about that one!

In closing... enjoy your right to believe what you want, and don't step on other peoples toes in the process.

Answer 10

My Brother,
Let me answer your question with a question. Have you kept the 10 commandments in word, deed, and thought? All of them? For if you have transgressed any of them at any time in your life you are guilty before God and should tremble of what He can do to both your body and soul. God's mercy is this: that you may come to an understanding that you have violated God's Holy Commands and will be found guilty on Judgment Day. I shudder at the thought. If you finally put away your self-righteousness and plead to God to forgive you, repent of your sins and trust in the Lord Jesus to save you on that horrible day of judgment, then He promises that He will. God cannot tell a lie. If He says He is going to save you through Jesus Christ then He will. Have assurance of this. But you must keep living by repentance and faith. Repentance not only means apologizing for when you realize you sin but that you will turn away from that sin and attempt to do it no more. Again, God's mercy is that you still have time in your life to do this. Don't wait any longer because you do not know the day nor hour of your death. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

Answer 11

I don't care if there are artist renditions of things that are of a Christian nature in our historical courthouses. But my Mother, who is devoutly Christian, squealed at me over the phone one day, 'Do you think the 10 commandments should be on the wall in courthouses?!!' So apparently it is important to the Christians as well. I told her I don't care about it too.