Isn’t she inspiring?
“With this new look at the ‘constitutionality’ of erecting (or keeping) homages to the Ten Commandments on goverment property, American culture is once again embroiled in the the ‘but we are based on God’ argument that brings in our Puritan forefathers, but conveniently forgets other influences (like the Native American contribution to the democratic basis of our government).
The state of Texas, which is defending its monument, of course, has an interesting new twist on the tired old ‘but it’s God and it’s damn important’ argument. Solicitor General Ted Cruz has been arguing with success in the courts that the statue may be religious but its setting and context are not.
‘The Ten Commandments are indisputably a historical document that has an important secular impact on the development of Western legal codes and Western civilisation, and under US law it is sensible to acknowledge that,’ Mr Cruz says.
The problem with this argument is two-fold.
1.) The Ten Commandments are not displayed as part of an historical lesson or a look at the history of the state, the country, or even the religion. Instead, it is a stand-alone ‘monument,’ a tribute. Tributes do not ‘give off’ the concepts of history and context. History is impossible to convey without context. Instead, tributes tend to be items that are, fittingly, ‘put on a pedestal.’ Therefore, the state’s use of the Ten Commandments without historical context, is simply one of reverence, not history. If, however, one wishes to ‘shift’ the focus to history, other cultures who have contributed to our democracy and way of life (like the above-mentioned Native Americans) should also be included. Otherwise, like Jesse Helms describing obscenity as ‘I know it when I see it,’ I’ll have the exact same answer for your Ten Commandments display, ‘I know genuflection when I see it.’
2.) This is not an argument against any American way of life – not Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. We’re not saying, ‘Hey, all those guys can display stuff and you can’t, you Christian crazies. Nyah!’ On the contrary, this is about purity and separation: that no religion should cross that separation between church and state, even if you do believe that God loves you best. Unfortunately, however, most Christians see this defense of American democracy as a personal attack on their religion. Somehow, praying on their own turf on their own time isn’t enough. They want to be plastered coast to coast like a Paris Hilton sex video. Defending the bleedover between religion and government with the childish response that it’s just ‘the right thing to do’ is both demeaning and demented. And, it shows about as much understanding as a five-year-old pissing in a sandbox because he wants it to all belong to him.
No one wants to take religion away from the Christians. So, why are they working so damn hard to take mine away from me? As Rodney King once said, ‘Can’t we all just get along?’
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