The federal court should not have ordered Alabama Chief Justice Moore to remove his monument of the Ten Commandments from the state Judicial Building. The monument's existence does not violate the First Amendment, however the removal of it does. The notion of separation between church and state is not established in the Constitution. Aside from being in the Christian Bible, the Ten Commandments can be perceived as moral principles which serve to maintain a civilized society.
The First Amendment States: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech..." First of all, Judge Moore's monument did not create an establishment of religion. It did not pronounce Christianity as the official religion of the United States, nor did it prohibit any freedom to practice religious rituals of any kind. The first amendment guarantees freedom of religion or of no religion; it does not guarantee freedom from religion.
Ten Commandments
The "free speech zone" at the 2004 Democratic Nati...
Judge Roy Moore's Ten Commandments MonumentAnybody is allowed to be Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, or anything. Beside freedom of religion, the first amendment guarantees freedom of speech. It is my opinion that the monument was an act of free speech, and Judge Moore's freedom of speech was squelched.
It is a misconception that there exists a constitutional principle of separation of church and state. The concept originated from President Thomas Jefferson who suggested that there is a "wall of separation between Church and State." However, The Constitution sets out no absolute divide between God and government.
The Ten Commandments contain both religious and secular directives, such as prohibition of stealing, killing, adultery, and lying. If one were to take the concepts contained in the Ten Commandments by themselves, one would have to agree that they stand as good, moral instructions for proper behavior to create...