Tuesday, October 12, 2004

The Ten Commandments and the Supremes



The Supreme Court has announced that it's going to review the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government property. If you read between the lines this seems to be a possible victory for the conservative bloc of the court:

In the past decade, justices have refused to get involved in Ten Commandments disputes from around the country. Three conservative justices complained in 2001, when the court declined to rule on the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments display in front of the Elkhart, Ind., Municipal Building.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, said the city sought to reflect the cultural, historical and legal significance of the commandments. Rehnquist noted that justices' own chambers includes a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments.


This suggests that we are going to find the Ten Commandments completely constitutional in various parts of our courtrooms. But I might be wrong: maybe Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas want to slam the door closed on this attempt to bring one very specific kind of religion into the public realm. And snakes might fly.

If putting religious monuments on government premises becomes an ok thing to do, I'm going to travel around the country erecting my statues everywhere. So that my dear Skin Shedders won't feel ignored.