Ten Commandments should be displayed, not hidden
Instead of clearing the water, the Supreme Court only created more questions about the permissibility of Ten Commandment displays.
By a 5-4 ruling handed down Monday, the Supreme Court said some Ten Commandment displays are OK, while others needed to be removed. The distinction between legal and illegal is whether the Commandments are shown in a historical context (allowed) or a religious context (not allowed).
With all due respect to the Supreme Court, its interpretations are doing nothing but providing more unwanted government interference into our lives. Instead of freedom, we are experiencing an onslaught of more government restrictions telling us what we can and cannot do.
This is America where we are supposedly “one nation under God.” Yet that belief is difficult to uncover when children can’t pray in school and there’s talk of taking the words “In God we trust” off our currency.
We don’t have to shove religious values down anyone’s throat, but what’s the harm of a Ten Commandment display? And why is it allowed, as the Supreme Court has determined, as a six-foot granite monument in Texas but not allowed as a framed copy in Kentucky? It doesn’t make sense.
The United States is the greatest nation in the world, and a nation founded on freedom of religion. We are all free to worship as we please. Posting the Ten Commandments in our government buildings and in our courthouses in no way infringes on that privilege.
You can worship whatever god you like, or no god at all. The Ten Commandments, if displayed on every sign in McMinnville, is not going to infringe on that ability.
When we evaluate what’s right and what’s wrong in this country, and in our individual communities, we can’t ignore public sentiment. After all, our government and our laws should reflect the people they represent.
That said, the overwhelming belief, especially here in Warren County, is that the Ten Commandments should be displayed. That unified voice should not be muffled. We should let the Ten Commandments hang with pride.
This can be done without trampling the rights of the minority. Posting the Ten Commandments by no means prevents them from worshipping as they please, or not worshipping at all.
For the Supreme Court to rule the Ten Commandments can’t be posted in some situations is a step in the wrong direction. If we, as concerned parents and citizens, intend to leave this country in better shape for our children and our grandchildren, documents such as the Ten Commandments should be emphasized, not hidden from sight.