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Wednesday, November 12, 2003

10 Commandments 

Alabama's Chief Justice, who refuses to remove a 2.6 ton granite edifice of the 10 Commandments monument from the rotunda of their state courthouse, is setting one hell of an example, let me tell you.

First of all, the separation of Church (10 C's) and State (courthouse) is a stipulation in the Constitution. This guy has decided that he can ignore that. Additionally, he is in a position of power! He and his supports have decided that he DOESN'T NEED to abide by the higher court's order for him to remove it. This gives hope to all those who have been judicially ordered to pay child support, taxes, refrain from murder. Now they can just say, "By the precedent set in the State of Alabama, I am justified in not abiding by the so-called 'laws' put forth by these supposed courts". Wow. I am flabbergasted.

If we wanted, we could even break into Christianity (only my lunch hour is not long enough). The first 2 COMMANDMENTS:
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth

The second commandment prohibits, essentially, idolatry. Since idolatry is not allowed, by God's decree, then how can this guy justify his need for this monument? Is it not essentially an image? The only message he is helping to spread is the hypocrisy in the Church (what other idols are there? Based on my Catholic upbringing, let's see: Mary, Joseph, Jesus, all the Saints, the Pope. None of these are the Lord God, yet there are prayers to them, statues, shrines, etc. A bit hypocritical?)

But I digress. We (I) were discussing this Alabama fiasco. Let me continue my original rant.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Religious advocates (zealots?) contend that belief in a God is a premise this country was founded on. Many try to argue that it was a Judeo-Christian God. Supporters of this edifice contend that to deny its placement in the courthouse violates the First Amendment. What do I think of that? Hypocrisy. Are we a country sans non-Christian beliefs systems? A Buddhist doesn't believe that God gave these "10 Commandments" to some crazy old man on top of a mountain. What about their rights? These groups proclaiming Christianity as this country's religion, doesn't that violate the rights of these other religions? What about atheists? Why are they discarded? Though not a religion in the traditional sense of the word, they have a belief structure. Why must their rights and beliefs be ignored? Hypocrisy is one of my biggest pet peeves in life, and these groups that supposedly stand for so many good things, lose sight of the bigger picture in their efforts to force their beliefs on the rest of us. If a Muslim group were to demand that a statue of Mohammad be placed in this same courthouse, what do you suppose the reaction would be? Complete disbelief and outrage. I am amazed at how closed and single minded these groups can be. Do they not see the hypocrisy? Can they not put themselves in non-Christian shoes and see why some people may not agree with them? If they can force their beliefs (boy, I'm starting to sound overly repetitive) on others, because they are "right", why can't other religions, who are likewise "right", do the same? If this country decides to identify one belief as "correct", that alienates ALL THE REST!! I get heartburn over this stuff. Maybe I lack some perspective as well, but I feel like so many people have none!

I am glad we have civil rights groups who try and maintain some semblance of partiality in these matters. Not that they do in all cases, but in a case like this where they are truly attempting to defend the rights of all (not one group, large as it may be).

This is why I have a hard time reading the news. I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!




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ABOUT ME
Name: Corey
Location: Portland, Oregon, United States

I'm on a journey with no destination. The path is constantly changing direction but there are always adventures to be had. "Never" and "always" have left my lexicon.

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