[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.
[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).
[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/.
