Are Arkansas Christians bad at math and history?

I don't get it: Are Christians in Arkansas bad at math and history? Or is it just their legislators?

Here's the deal. I was reading a blog post today at Religion Clause in which Howard Friedman informed us that the Arkansas legislature had passed S.B. 939. The bill, called The  Ten Commandments Monument Display Act (full text), directs the secretary of state to arrange for private groups to erect a 10C monument on the State Capitol grounds.The text of its commandments would read (I've added numbers for clarity):

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
3. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
11. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his 34 maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

As you can clearly see, there are eleven commandments not ten. I feel sad for Arkansas students who are taught this kind of crazy math.

But, you know, it's not just Arkansas. The Fraternal Order of Eagles had a similar problem on some of its Ten (or Eleven) Commandments monuments that it erected in public parks, state capital grounds, courthouses, libraries and public schools.

Even more troubling is the Arkansas legislature's revisionist American history. Our founders did not believe that "God" ordained our government. Our founding document--the Constitution of the United States of America--explicitly says in the Preamble: "We the People of the United States ... do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America."

While I'm quibbling, the bill also states: "The Ten Commandments ... are an important component of the moral foundation of the laws and legal system of the United States ..." What? Commandments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 and 11 (above) are not part of our legal system. Moreover, commandments 6 (not kill), 8 (not steal) and 9 (not bear false witness) are secular in nature and are common in non-Judeo-Christian societies.

And did you know that the words "Ten (or Eleven) Commandments)", "Creator", "God", "Supreme Being", "Jesus" and "Christianity" are not mentioned in the Constitution?  Not once.

The conclusion is unmistakeable, neither the Biblical Ten Commandments nor Arkansas' Eleven Commandments had little or no influence in the founding of our system of governance in the United States.

Robert V. Ritter

Supreme Scandal – The Supreme Court Blesses the Ten Commandments

[Chapter 9, post #15]
[Updated 10/21/2013]

The Blessing

Despite a constitutional prohibition against government establishment of religion, Van Orden v. Perry exemplifies the weakness of the American system – minority rights exist only at the whim of the majority. 

This chapter discussed in detail the majority’s use of 12 mythical, disingenuous or misleading arguments to justify the presence of a Judeo-Christian monument on public property.

As a lifelong student of the Constitution, I know, and you know as well, that the text of the First Amendment prohibits government from preferring one religion over another, or religion over nonreligion.  In spite of this mandate, the Supreme Court egregiously erred when it gave the state of Texas the green light to continue its preference (indeed, its endorsement) of Christianity over other religions and nonreligion.  

And so it came to pass that on June 26, 2005 – Black Monday – the Supreme Court blessed the Fraternal Order of Eagles donated tombstone to Jesus Christ on the Texas State Capitol grounds. 

This infidelity to the Constitution can only be explained by the stranglehold that Christianity has upon the majority of the Court.

Epilog

Predictably, the Supreme Court’s the Black Monday decision had an immediate impact. Federal courts held for the cities of Plattsmouth, Nebraska,[1]  Fargo, North Dakota[2] and  Everett, Washington[3] – essentially finding no constitutionally significant difference between the Eagles-donated Ten Commandments monument being litigated and the monument that was the subject of Van Orden v. Perry.

Thomas Van Orden passed away on November 11, 2010.  Others, including myself, continue to carry the torch of eternal vigilance.  It is my dream that someday the courts will truly respect the First Amendment and order the remaining Eagles-donated Ten Commandments tombstones to Jesus Christ off public property.

Separationists, far from giving up, have file lawsuits seeking removal of Eagles-donated monuments in Fargo, North Dakota,[4] and New Kensington, Pennsylvania[5] Connellsville, Pennsylvania[6] – all currently pending.

As if the Eagles-donated monuments haven’t created enough calamity, Dr. Mike Ritze, a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and his family donated a Ten Commandments monument to the state of Oklahoma.  It was erected on the Oklahoma State Capitol grounds in November 2012.  The Ritze-donated monument was intentionally designed to look like the Eagles-donated Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds in an attempt to fall under the coattails of Van Orden v. Perry.  Not fooled, the ACLU of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit in August 2013 seeking its removal.[7]  “The monument’s placement at the Capitol has created a more divisive and hostile state for many Oklahomans,” said Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma’s Executive Director. “When the government literally puts one faith on a pedestal, it sends a strong message to Oklahomans of other faiths that they are less than equal.”[8]

The Christian Right’s War of Dominion rages on.

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[1]  ACLU of Nebraska Found. v. City of Plattsmouth, 419 F.3d 772 (8th Cir., Aug. 19, 2005): “Like the Ten Commandments monument at issue in Van Orden, the Plattsmouth monument makes passive—and permissible—use of the text of the Ten Commandments to acknowledge the role of religion in our Nation's heritage.”

[2]  Twombly v. City of Fargo, 388 F. Supp. 2d 983, (D. N.D., Sept. 29, 2005).

[3]  Card v. City of Everett, 520 F.3d 1009 (9th Cir., March 26, 2008).

[4]  Red River Freethinkers v. City of Fargo, Docket No. 3:2008cv00032 (D. N.D., complaint filed April 18, 2008), (8th Cir., pending).

[5]  Freedom From Religion Foundation v. New Kensington-Arnold School District, Docket No. 2:2012cv01319  (W.D. Pa., complaint filed Sept. 14, 2012).

[6]  Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Connellsville Area School District, Docket No. 2:2012cv01406 (W.D. Pa., complaint filed Sept. 27, 2012).

[7]  Prescott v. Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission, Docket No. CV-2013-1768 (Ok. Cnty. D. Ct., complaint filed Aug. 19, 2013).  

[8]  ACLU of Oklahoma’s 8/20/2013 announcent of the lawsuit is available at http://acluok.org/2013/08/aclu-of-oklahoma-challenges-state-capitol-ten-commandments-monument/.