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Ten Commandments

North Carolina School Board Considers Displaying The Ten Commandments

by Rhoda Gayle January 21, 2021

written by Rhoda Gayle

A North Carolina school board is considering displaying the Ten Commandments on school entrances.

North Carolina School Board

On December 14, the Cleveland County School Board held a board meeting where they discussed the consideration of putting up the Ten Commandments on the entrance of their building. Board member Ron Humphries “made a motion to prepare, or have prepared, a policy requiring the display of the Ten Commandments … in a prominent place at or near the main entrance of all of our campuses.”

Cleveland County School Board Chair Robert Queen reported that the motion to “display of the Ten Commandments has been referred to our policy committee for study”.

There is no definite time where the committee would report back about the matter.

“Right now, we are more focused on educating our students during a pandemic,” Robert explained.

Ten Commandments

Board member Dena Green expressed that the move would lead to backlash and legal issues. However, its supporters contend that the display of the Ten Commandments is permitted by North Carolina law. Given that they are displayed alongside other historical displays.

Humphries expressed that the school district “can’t be sued for following the law of the state of North Carolina.”

On January 7, the Freedom From Religion Foundation expressed their opposition regarding the matter. They sent a letter to Cleveland County School District attorney Colin Shive. In the letter, the secular group threatens them with legal action if the Ten Commandments would be displayed in schools.

North Carolina Law

First Liberty Special Counsel for Litigation and Communications Jeremy Dys emphasized that the North Carolina Law approves of the Ten Commandments.

“North Carolina law recognizes that The Ten Commandments, like the Magna Carta and Mayflower Compact, have much to instruct students about the development of the rule of law in this country.”

Reference: The Christian Post

January 21, 2021 0 comments

News

A Major Blow to the Ten Commandments From The Supreme Court

by GOD TV October 26, 2017

written by GOD TV

A Major Blow to the Ten Commandments

Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case regarding the ten commandments in Bloomfield, New Mexico. The case was regarding a Ten Commandments display that was located on the lawn of the city hall building. The case was seen at the lower level courts in New Mexico, before advancing to the Supreme Court. In the City of Bloomfield v. Felix case, the lower courts ruled in favor of Felix.

The case was originally brought forth by a Wiccan group in Bloomfield, who stated that the presence of the statue was offensive, and played favorites amongst religions. After the ACLU got wind of the complaints, they stepped, by filing the lawsuit against the city of Bloomfield.

Shortly after this, in 2014, it was brought to a U.S District Court where Judge James Parker ruled that the statute did, in fact, violate the First Amendment, more specifically, the Establishment Clause.

Judge Parker argued that, “In view of the circumstances surrounding the context, history, and purpose of the Ten Commandments monument, it is clear that the city of Bloomfield has violated the Establishment Clause because its conduct in authorizing the continued display of the monument on city property has had the primary or principal effect of endorsing religion.”

Following his decision in 2014, it was then brought to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, in 2016. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals also sided with Judge Parker, sighting the same reasons as the District Court. The Supreme Court then decided not to hear the case, this past week, which ultimately leads to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision as law.

This consequently means the Ten Commandments must be removed. Many groups reacted positively, citing a First Amendment win, while other groups were up-in-arms over the Supreme Court decision.

The ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, rejoiced at the win, while others also cheered it on. Meanwhile, other conservative critics were very vocal over the ruling.

One group, the Alliance Defending Freedom, had David Cortman speak out against the ruling. The Associated Press reported that Cortman stated that it is hard for the lower courts to make these decisions, as there is confusion with how these cases should be dealt with. Cortman said that he hopes the high courts will eventually come to a consensus, that would solve things for the lower courts throughout the United States.

“Americans shouldn’t be forced to censor religion’s role in history simply to appease someone who is offended by it or who has a political agenda to remove all traces of religion from the public square,” Cortman stated. “In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court had the opportunity to affirm, as it recently did, that ‘an Establishment Clause violation is not made out any time a person experiences a sense of affront from the expression of contrary religious views.’”

This is not the first time that people have gotten angry over religious monuments. It is also not the first time that people have gotten mad over a Ten Commandment statue. It is important to note that Judge Gorsuch was not sitting on the Supreme Court when this decision to pass it by was made. Hopefully, having Gorsuch on SCOTUS will allow for religious protection, as in this case.

October 26, 2017 0 comments

Someone Is Destroying Monuments of the Ten Commandments

by GOD TV July 7, 2017

written by GOD TV

Destroying Monuments of the Ten Commandments

Caught on tape: A man yells “freedom” while simultaneously accelerating up a hill and crashing his Dodge Dart into the Ten Commandments Monument outside the Arkansas State Capitol. The newly-installed three-ton granite monument had been in this location for less than 24 hours before being utterly destroyed.

Reed’s Facebook Live video post shows the Arkansas crime in action – the radio blaring in the background while the car accelerates and crashes into the monument at 21 mph. The monument is seen falling to the ground in pieces.

As a result of this seemingly premeditated crime, 32-year-old Michael Tate Reed has been charged with defacing objects of public interest, criminal trespassing, and first-degree criminal mischief. Nearly three years ago, he was arrested for defacing the 10 Commandments Monument outside the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Reed did not face charges in Oklahoma after his family members revealed that he struggled with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Reed himself admitted to having delusions and hearing voices and apologized for that crime, saying that he wished he could take it all back.

A Quick Response

Although the Arkansas demolition occurred in the pre-dawn hours on June 28, a crew of concerned citizens had cleaned up the crash site by late morning, taking the broken pieces to storage. Undeterred by the crime, Arizona State Senator Jason Rapert, who led the movement to erect the monument, told the local Little Rock newspaper that a replacement had already been ordered.

“This law will be fulfilled, and we will raise the funds to make sure it’s put back where it should be,” Rapert told the newspaper. A 2015 law requires Arkansas to allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed near the state capitol. In 2005, the Supreme Court upheld the Constitutionality of a Ten Commandments Monument outside the state capitol in Austin, Texas.

Separation Of Church And State?

Although the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) believes that such religious displays are an unconstitutional breach of the principle of separation between church and state, it explicitly condemned the destruction of public property. ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Rita Sklar remarked, “The ACLU remains committed to seeing this unconstitutional monument struck down by the courts and safely removed through legal means.”

But does such a display really violate Constitutional principles? You might be surprised to learn that the phrase “separation of church and state” is found nowhere in the Constitution. Instead it is found in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut. The only religious statement in the Constitution can be found in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

The Supreme Court has held that 10 Commandment Monuments do not violate the First Amendment.

Essentially, freedom of religion does not equal freedom from religion. That is, nobody is guaranteed the right to be insulated from religious principles. No, America is not a theocracy. But according to a special report by the Heritage Foundation, America’s founding “was deeply shaped by Christian moral truths.”

It’s time to stand up for these moral truths, just as the hard-working citizens of Arkansas are doing by quickly resurrecting their Ten Commandments Monument. A peaceful Christian display is what this world so desperately needs. Apathy? Not so much.

July 7, 2017 0 comments