Tag: 10 Commandments

August 28, 2017

Lucas County’s 10 Commandments Monument Needs To Go

image of 10 Commandments Moument on grounds of Lucas County Ohio Courthouse
10 Commandments Moument on grounds of Lucas County Ohio Courthouse

A stone marker has sat on the grounds of the Lucas County Courthouse in Toledo, Ohio for the past 60 years. It’s engraved with the 10 Commandments – a set of Christian religious rules. Supporters of the monument claim the commandments are part of our collective legal history so it should remain on the courthouse lawn. In 2006, a federal court agreed. A reasonable person, looking at the full background of how the monument came to be would come to a different conclusion.

The Lucas County Courthouse is located on Adams Street in downtown Toledo. There aren’t many monuments or markers on the grounds but one that caught my eye is a 10 Commandments monument that was donated by a local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1957. The Eagles placed hundreds of markers across the country starting in the late 1940s through the early 1960s. The markers were placed on courthouses, public schools, and public parks.

Read the postLucas County’s 10 Commandments Monument Needs To Go
April 24, 2015

If Right-Wing Christianity Is On The Decline, Why Am I Not Seeing It In My State House?

crowd Protesting Indiana's bad religious freedom bill
Crowd protesting Indiana’s bad religious freedom bill March 2015

We are on the cusp of probably seeing same-sex marriage bans joining school mandated prayer in the dust bin of history. The road from DC is looking like an end to religious privilege. The war has instead moved to the state houses around the country where the right-wing is doing all it can to deny basic human dignity and worth by forcing Christianity on the residents of their states.


In a Salon article, Evan McMurry, from AlterNet, detailed at least four areas the right-wing religious conservatives are flexing what muscles they have left:

Read the postIf Right-Wing Christianity Is On The Decline, Why Am I Not Seeing It In My State House?
January 8, 2014

Classic Freak Out Over Challenge To Christian Privilege In Oklahoma

Rendering of proposed Satanic monument in Oklahoma
Uncle Baphomet, tell us a story?

Christians in Oklahoma are freaking out over a request by members of the Satanist religion to erect a monument to their religion on the grounds of the Oklahoma state capital next to a 10 Commandments monument. The Christians are upset about the attack on their privilege but it shows another good reason why government property should be free of any religious trappings. You either accept all religions or none of them. The Christians only have themselves to blame for the divisiveness.

The ACLU has a lawsuit to remove the 10 Commandments monument on the grounds of the Oklahoma capitol. A New York based group, Satanic Temple, requested a permit to erect their own monument next to the Decalogue. The design released by the group is for a 7 foot tall representation of Baphomet, a bearded, goat-headed, winged hominid with horns seated on a throne beneath a pentagram with two smiling children to either side.

Read the postClassic Freak Out Over Challenge To Christian Privilege In Oklahoma
July 1, 2013

Atheist Monument At Florida Courthouse Just The Beginning

logo celebrating 50 years of American Atheists

On Saturday, American Atheists unveiled a monument to atheism on the lawn of the Bradford County Courthouse in Florida. The monument is a bench and marker inscribed with quotes, concerning the relationship between church and state, by the founders, a quote by American Atheist founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and some Bible quotes showing the punishment for breaking the Ten Commandments. Also at the event American Atheists President David Silverman announced that more monuments will be erected around the country. While the public square should be free from symbols from any particular belief, if such symbols are allowed then ALL such symbols should be allowed.

Here is a quick refresher: American Atheists filed a lawsuit against Bradford County in Florida to have a Ten Commandments monument removed from the court house grounds. The county asked the group, Community Men’s Fellowship, who donated the monument, to remove it but the group refused. The county, not wanting to lose the lawsuit and not wanting to spend its own money to remove it settled the lawsuit by making the grounds officially a public forum, allowing any group to install a display. American Atheists took them up on the offer.

Read the postAtheist Monument At Florida Courthouse Just The Beginning
June 1, 2013

In Twist, American Atheists To Erect Monument On Florida Court House Lawn

screencap of Bradford County, Florida Ten Commandments Monument
Bradford County, Florida Ten Commandments Monument

Usually American Atheists files a lawsuit to have a religious symbol removed from government property. But in a historical first, the resolution of a 1st Amendment lawsuit will include the erection of a monument celebrating atheism on the lawn of a court house in Florida. If a public space is really going to be open to all points of view then the atheist monument should appear along side other monuments and symbols for the religions.

Read the postIn Twist, American Atheists To Erect Monument On Florida Court House Lawn
July 19, 2011

Again a Courthouse Ten Commandments monument is ordered removed

Picture of monument on steps

When will believers get the message. A Ten Commandments monument on or in a court house violates the 1st amendment. On July 15th a Federal judge reminded us all when he ruled against Dixie County Florida.

The monument was donated by a local businessman in 2006. The county claimed that it was private property and the location on the steps of the court house was a public forum, but the county offered to defend any lawsuit against the monument for free.

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