Week 8 Readings

8/14/2019 Week 8 Readings

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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS A SEQUEL.by Rob BostonHow A Publicity Stunt By Hollywood Producer Cecil B. DeMille WoundUp At The Supreme Court --And What Happened When I t DidAccording to the Book of Exodus, God handed down the TenCommandments to Moses in a most dramatic fashion.In the biblical account, lightning flashed in the sky and thunderboomed around Mt. Sinai. The entire mountain shook, and a hornblared out. The people trembled as Moses approached and ascendedthe cloud-covered summit. He emerged, after a personal encounterwith God, carrying two stone tablets on which were engraved the TenCommandments.In light of this story, the religious nature of the Decalogue would seemto be beyond quest ion. The list of commands itself bears this out: Atleast four of the decrees deai with specific matters of faith,admonishing believers to spurn false gods, reject graven images, avoidblasphemous speech and keep the Sabbath holy.But to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the Ten Commandmentsdon't necessarily have to be religious. According to Rehnquist, they arealso a document that has played a "foundational role ... in secular,legal matters" that can be featured in a city's "celebration of itsculturai and historical roots" without becoming "a promotion ofreligious faith."Rehnquist's comments were made public May 29, when the SupremeCourt issued an order stating that it wouid not hear an appeal of alower court ruling striking down the government's display of a graniteTen Commandments monument in Elkhart, Ind. Rehnquist dissentedfrom that action, and jo ined by Justices Clarence Thomas and AntoninScalia, made it clear that he believes the court should have overturnedthe ruling, clearing the way for government at all levels to display theTen Commandments.Justice John Paul Stevens, an advocate for church-state separation,found the trio's reasoning convoluted. He noted that the monument inElkhart contains two lines in large type that read, "THE TENCOMMANDMENTS -- I AM the LORD thy GOD." Observed Stevens, "Thegraphic emphasis placed on those first lines is rather hard to square


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with the proposition that the monument expresses no particularreligious preference." After all, he continued, "the monument alsodepicts two Stars of David and a symbol composed of the Greek lettersChi and Rho super imposed on each other that represent Christ."A few years ago , a handful of Religious Right organizations announcedcampaigns t o get the Ten Commandments posted in governmentbuildings and public schools all over the United States. The SupremeCourt's decision not to hear the City of Elkhart v. Books case shouldhelp bring those efforts to a halt.But it won't happen without a fight. Religious Right organizations wereinfuriated when the high court took a pass on the Indiana case andhave vowed to find other ways to bring the matter before the justices.And they may have the chance -- at least 12 cases dealing with TenCommandments displays are pending in seven states. (See"Commandments Controversies," page 13.) Meanwhile, in Elkhart, 6ftofficials are toying with open defiance.

4 - .,Ironically, the pwnument that has sparked so much fuss was until afew.years ago covered with weeds and vines. Many town residentsdidn't even know it was there unt il a groundskeeper cleaned it of f one, day i n 1998.The monument had found a home in front of the Elkhart City Hall fourdecades earlier as a t i ~ o r a Plll11otional campaign fo r a movie -Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille's biblical extravaganza "The TenCommandments." ..... ' - - _ . ~,--.-..-,c - '"=uDeMille's involvemen of a nalliJnwide campaign firstlaunched in 1943 b EJ. Rue eme a Minnesota juvenile court judgean ead of a Fraternal' !":""o a ~ (FOE) committee dealing withthe problems of youth. Ruegemer claimed that many of the youngpeople who ended up in h is courtroom lacked a moral foundation, andhe proposed posting paper copies of the Ten Commandments injuvenile courts to rectify that.DeMille got wind of Ruegemer's project as he was working on h is epicfilm, which starred Charlton Heston as Moses. DeMille, eager to drumup publicity fo r the 1956 mUl(ie, proposed displaying bronze tabletsinstead of paper copies, but Ruegemer felt that granite markers wouldbe more appropriate, arguing that the original Ten Commandmentswere probably made of stone. DeMille agreed and authorizedRuegemer to contract with a Minnesota granite f irm to begin

production. Eagles units soon began donating them to cities aroundthe country.DeMille carefully exploited the situation to ensure maximum publicityfor his movie, and some of the monument dedications were eventimed to tie in with the release of the film. In one town, Dunseith,N.D., actor Heston appeared personally for the ceremony. InMilwaukee, a Ten Commandments monument was unveiled the sameweek the film debuted, with actor Yul Brynner n Pharaoh in the movie-- on hand for the festivities.Ruegemer, 98 and sti ll l iv ing in Minnesota, told the South BendTribune in May that the Eagles were at first wary of taking on theproject, fearing that it might be perceived as sectarian. To get aroundthat, organizational ieaders asked Catholic, Protestant and Jewishrepresentatives to come together and dec ide on how to word and listthe commandments in a way that was agreeable to all. (RomanCatholics, Protestants and Jews use different versions of the TenCommandments. For example, in the Catholic version, the fourthcommandment is "Honor your mother and father." In the Protestantand Jewish versions, it is "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. ")Thanks to the DeMille-Eagles partnership, more than 2,000 TenCommandments monuments were donated to communities around thecountry. The FOE kept the project going long after the film opened,and some monuments did not get erected until 10 years later.Elkhart's monument was dedicated on Memor ia l Day of 1958, whenlocal Protestant, Jewish and Catholic clergy in Elkhart, joined by FOEofficers and city officials, unveiled it at a public ceremony.Four decades passed. In 1998, when the monument was rediscovered,it immediately became a focus of controversy and the target of alawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. A federal district courtruled against the ACLU, but the U.S. 7th Circui t Court of Appeals tookthe opposite tack.In i ts Dec. 13, 2000, decision, the appellate panel insisted thatgovernment display of the religious text violates the constitutionalseparation of church and state, suggesting that some fai th traditionsare officially favored.Court precedents "simply prevent government at any level fromintruding into the religious life of our people by sponsoring orendorsing a particular perspective on religious matters," observed the


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2-1 majority. "I t prevents, as Justice O'Connor has pointed out,government from creating among our people' ins' and' outs' on thebasis of religion."Monument defenders, disappointed with the appeals court's decision,urged the Supreme Court to take the case. But the court said no nover the strong objections of Scalia, Thomas and Rehnquist. (Fourmembers of the high court must agree to take a case in order to getthe dispute on the docket.)Why ali the sudden interest in the Ten Commandments? Much of theactivity stems f rom the Religious Right. At ieast four organizationshave been active in this area recently n Liberty Counsei, lV preacherPat Robertson's American Center For Law and Justice (ACU), theNational Clergy Council and the Family Research Council (FRC).Many of these organizations are stil l smarting from the Supreme Court 's 1980 Stone v. Graham ruling. In Stone, the high court struckdown a Kentucky law req);!iriLlgcthe posting of the Ten Commandmentsin a ll public sc.hOj?ls. Religious Right groups may see the currentcrusade'as a w'i,y" to spark a new challenge t o tha t holding and buildpu6lic support for thei r o ther politicai objectives ..(.The groups are also angry over more recent decisions by lower courtsstriking down government display of the Ten Commandments. In 1994the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered officials in Cobb County,Ga., to remove a Ten Commandments display from the courthouse. Inaddition, Americans United has won legal cases against governmentdisplay of the Ten Commandments in Charleston, S.c., and Manhattan,Kan.Undaunted by the string of legal defeats, FRC, a group looselyaffi l iated with radio counselor James C. Dobson's Focus on the Family,launched a special Ten Commandments project In November of 1999.Called "Hang Ten," the effort was designed to encourage state andlocal governments to post the Decalogue at government buildings andpublic schools as wel l as win passage of the "Ten CommandmentsDefense Act," legislation sponsored by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.)that would have stripped the federal courts of thei r abil i ty to even hearlegal cases challenging government-sponsored Ten Commandmentsdisplays.FRC announced the "Hang Ten" campaign with much fanfare, bu t theproject hasn't achieved much so far . Aderhol t's b il l has never come to

a vote in the House, and the crusade is going nowhere in the courts.Nevertheless, Religious Right leaders have vowed to keep fighting. Onthe day the Supreme Court refused the Elkhart case, several releasedstatements blasting the court action.Falwell, in his Falwell Confidential bulletin, asserted that "people offaith across the nat ion were disheartened" by the action. TheLynchburg televangelist went on to claim that "activist judges aredeliberately ignoring the actuality of America's founding -- an actualityof dependence on the Bible and Judeo-Christian values."The day after the high court rejected the case, ACU founder Robertsonranted about the justices' act ion on his "700 Club" program. TheVirginia Beach teievangelist called the action "the craziest thing" andwasted no time launching an attack on church-state separation.Asserted Robertson, "There's nothing in the Constitution that everintended this, nor n and this is very important n the phrase'separation of church and state' does no t appear in the United StatesConstitution. It was in the Constitution of the former Soviet Union, butnot in the U.S. Constitution."Robertson insisted that Congress should s tand up to "the power of theblack-robed justices." Congress, he said, "can take away their money.They can also take away their appellate jurisdiction if they so choose,because the Constitution gives that power."The ACU, which heiped defend the city of Elkhart and has worked onother Ten Commandments cases, issued a bland statement expressingdisappointment. Earlier, however, the organization had bitterlycriticized groups l ike Americans United for opposing such displays. In ashrill fund-raising letter mailed in March, ACU Chief Counsel JaySekulow asserted that court action against government display of theTen Commandments could put the country on a ". slippery slope'toward moral ruin."Religious Right legal groups have prodded local officials to continuefighting for the commandments, despite the prevail ing legal trend.Even in Elkhart, resistance remains. Local officials have pledged to finda way to keep the Ten Commandments monument in p iace. MayorDavid Miller, a 44-year-old graphic ar tis t who has led the campaign todefend the marker, told reporters, "I will fight to keep the monumentstanding r ight where it is."


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During the legal battle, Miller went so far as to design promonumentbumper st ickers and led a pet i tion drive to keep the commandmentsup. With his f inal legal appeal exhausted, Mil ler has proposed addingother types of historical documents and markers around themonument, which he argues wil l make the display constitutional.Attorneys at the Indiana branch of the ACLU disagree and haveproposed moving the monument to private property. U.S. Distr ictJudge Allen Sharp has been given the task of f inding a solution. Sharphas been directed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to ensure that"although the condition that offends the Constitution is eliminated,Elkhart retains the authority to make decisions regarding theplacement of the monument." (One suggestion involves selling themonument and the land around it to a private group.) -n Internet poll sponsored by the Elkhart Truth newspaper found that71 percent of respondents favored leaving the Ten Commandmentswhere it is. Although such:polls..are no t scientifically valid, city leadersinsist that the ~ r w h e ming majority of residents oppose moving themarker. .

"Like the residents of Elkhart, most Americans, polls show, favor theidea of government promotion of the Ten Commandments. Onesurvey, conducted in July of 1999, found 74 percent endorsing theidea of Ten Commandments displays in public schools. But those pollsalso show Widespread ignorance about what the commandments say.A few years ago , a Gal lup poll found t hat onl y 42 percent of Americansare able to name even f ive of the Ten Commandments.Since most Americans don't know w hat t he commandments say, it'snot surprising t hat m any of them persist in bel ieving that theDecalogue is the basis for U.S. law. In Elkhart, for example, oneofficial asserted that the monument should stay because thecommandments, aside from their religious significance, haveinfluenced secular law."This has tons of historical significance," said John Mann, a spokesmanfor Mayor Miller. "Let's say that hypothetically, Moses go t the TenCommandments from aliens or just made them up or something. Still,they are the basis for every modern legal system."This claim, while frequently spouted by Religious Right activists, doesnot stand up to historical scrutiny, say church-state experts.

Steven K. Green, legal director for Americans United, researched thisquestion in 1999-2000 for a scholarly article that appeared in theJournal of Law & Religion (Vol. XIV, No.2). Green, who holds a Ph.D.in religious and constitutional history, concluded that the claim thatU.s. l aw is based on the Ten Commandments is usually asserted andaccepted as a given without historical evidence. For example, ChiefJustice Rehnquist in his recent Elkhart dissent, referred t o " th efoundational role of the Ten Commandments in secular, legal matters."But he cited no precedent or scholarly authori ty for that view.Green notes that American law is an outgrowth of British common lawand "more generally, the Western legal tradition." Claims that thecommon law was based on the Bible, he says, were first pu t forth byscholar monks in the Dark Ages, who were trying to defend thesupremacy of the Roman Catholic Church over temporal governments.The c la im is shaky at best, Green writes, pointing out that thecommon law "relied primarily on custom."Green also discovered that America's Founding Fathers adopted onlythat portion of Brit ish common law that "was consistent withrepublican ideals." He writes of the Founding period, "[ I ] t is no tsurprising that express references to the Decalogue or scripture as asource of law were nonexistent."Even a cursory reading of the Constitution debunks the claim that U.S.law is based on the Ten Commandments. The Constitution contains noreligious directives whatsoever and makes no mention of the TenCommandments or even God. The Constitution, a secular document,instead establishes religious freedom fo r all by separat ing church andstate in the First Amendment. In addition, both Thomas Jefferson andJohn Adams explicit ly denied that Christianity is the basis fo r Americancommon law.(And, despite frequent repetition b y t he Religious Right, there is noevidence that James Madison ever stated, "We have staked the wholefuture of American civil ization ... upon the capacity of each of us togovern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." Thisquotation pops up repeatedly in Religious Right circles, bu t it is almostcertainly bogus.)AU's Green concluded that arguments that U.S. law is based on theTen Commandments or any religious code are specious. "A t best, themost that could be said about the relationship of the Ten


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Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said Green'sresearch proving that the Ten Commandments are not the foundationof the American legal system will be extremely useful. Green'sschoiarshlp, said Lynn, shows that there is no "secular purpose" forgovernment display of the Ten Commandments.

Questia Media America, Inc. www.queslia.com--:.-.... "P U b l i ~ a t i ? n Information: Article Title: T.he T ~ Commandments a Sequel.C o n t ~ u t o : s : Rob Boston - author. Magazine Title: Church & State. Volume: 54. Issue:7. PublIcationDate: July 2001. Page Number: 9. COPYRIGHT 2001 Americans Unitedfor Separation of Church and State; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group

Moore first became associated with the Decalogue in the mid-1990swhen, as an Etowah County judge, he pos ted a paper copy of theCommandments i n h is courtroom. He successfully fought for three years,w it h t he help of Rev. D. James Kennedy and the Alabama ChristianCoalition, to keep the modest display posted.

"Behold, I se nd you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves," Jesus Christte lls his followers in Mat thew 10:16 . "Be ye therefore wise as serpents,and harmless as doves." Two millenia after the fact, Alabama ChiefJustice Roy Moore took these words to hear t, at least in regard t o th eserpent, and slipped into the state Supreme Court bUilding one late nightshortly after his 2000 elect ion. As Coral Ridge Ministr ies cameras rolled,Moore and supporters installed a 5,300-pound granite monument in therotunda of the state courthouse displaying the Ten Commandments withother historical documents inscr ibed on the sides.

Moore gained a great deal of attention andsupport with the same sort of radicalstubbornness Alabama governor George Wallacedefiantly displayed a few decades earlier. In2000, the brash West Point grad was elected thetop judicial of ficer in Alabama, in part forpledging to bring the Ten Commandments withhim. As Moore has fought his much-publicizedbat tle over the last few years (and continues tofight), Ten Commandments displays around thecountry have fal len in to the spotlight in theirrespective regions. Ove r t he las t f ew years, theACLU and s imi lar bu t smal le r groups have f iledlawsuits in small towns and cities throughout

America to remove Commandments monuments from public property.

'The Rutherford Institute! "4(('\ di)f'T J it'c ''''';......" ...j ~ 3/31/2004The Fraternal Order of Eagles and theWar over the TenCommandments

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Commandments to the law is that the former has influenced legalnotions of right and wrong ... ," Green concluded. "[T]hat has alwaysbeen a noncontroversial fact. But to Insist on a closer relationship or tohold the Ten Commandments up as having a special p lace in thedevelopment of American law lacks historical support."

Concluded Lynn. "There's an easy solution to this controversy: Letreligious groups promote the Ten Commandments. The governmentshould stay out of i t ."-1 -

As Moore awaits a dec is ion i n h is appea l of his removal as Chief Justice,traveling the country accepting awards from the Constitution Party (thereare rumors that he will accept their presidential nomination) and makingappearances at Commandments rallies, Decalogue displays everywhereare being removed either voluntari ly or by court order. Unlike Moore'scarefully crafted Commandments paean, though, most of the monumentscurrently subjected to review involve g if ts f rom the Fraternal Order ofEagles made three to four decades ago to hundreds of cities (a recentReuters article claimed t ha t a t least 26 such monuments in 15 stateshave been moved in recent years under court order or legal threat).In 1943, a Minnesota juvenile court judge named E. J. Ruegemer hatcheda simple plan to save t he you th o f America, whom he saw as "withoutany code of conduct or standards by which to govern their actions."Accordingly, the judge concluded t ha t the nation's juveniles "could benefitf rom exposure to one of mankind's earliest codes of condUct, the TenCommandments." The judge also happened to be the chair of the Youth


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Guidance Committee of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a goodwill group. formed near the end of the 19th century that today claims as one of itschief accomplishments the advent of Mother's Day.The judge's proposal to post paper copies of the Ten Commandments injuvenile court houses throughout the country was init ial ly rejected by theEagles. Despite the judge's stipulation t ha t the Decalogue displays were"not to be a rel igious instruction of any kind" and were intended only as"recognized codes of behavior to guide and help them," the Eaglesleadership expressed concern that supporting the dissemination of theCommandments "might seem coercive or sectarian."However, their concerns were al leviated when a council of Protestant,Jewish, and Catholic laymen endorsed a version of the Decalogue and theEagles agreed to sponsor the youth gUidance program. As the story goes,it was a t thi s poi nt that movie director Cecil B. DeMille, in the midst ofproducing the blockbuster The Ten Commandments, caught wind of theplan, contacted Ruegemer and suggested that instead of paper, theDecalogue should be inscr ibed on bronze plaques. The juvenile courtjudge countered that since the Commandments, according to biblicaltradition, were written on stone, so should these monuments be. With thisdecision, two local granite companies began crafting displays in the shaper ...of two tablets, paid for and distributed by various Eagle chapters or"aeries" to numerous state and local governments across America. Whileit is impossible to deter,rn.ne t h e ~ e x a c t number of monuments producedand installed, .ij:oois__believed that up t o 2 ,000 were eventually distributeda,pd "accepted over the following two decades.

Today, these monuments, which are often grandin s ize and resemble a giant tombstone, are thesubject of most litigation involving TenCommandments displays. A quick survey ofcurrent and recent l it igat ion turned up dozens ofcases around the country , the most recentinvolving a reddish stone instal lat ion in f ront ofCity Hall t ha t the FOE gave to Duluth, Minn. in1957. The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union fi ledsui t in the f i rs t week of March to remove thedisplay for violating the First Amendment bypromoting one religion over another. The MCLUattorney stated that the monument "excludesthose people who don't believe in the Ten

Commandments. They may be atheists ... they may be BUddhist, theymay be Hindu, they may be Mus lim." Only days later , the Duluth CityCouncil voted 5-4 to remove the 7-foot-high monument. Neither thecrowd of Commandments supporters outside the building nor impassionedspeakers inside could dissuade the council from i ts fears of costlylitigation (estimates of $20,000). While there have been a number ofoffers to house it, no concrete plans have been made for the display'sdeparture or where the Eagles' gift will eventually rest. Meanwhile,ci tizens in support of the monument have raised over $17,000 andcollected 2,000 signatures, with 3,000 more needed to p ut the display ona November ballot.So far , most monument l i tigation has met a similar fate. Despite effortsto avoid a legal bat tle, many challenged cit ies are drawn into court. As aresult, judges are cal led upon to decide t he fate of the Ten

Commandments, and near ly all have found that the large monuments. serve as s tate endorsement of religion because of thei r simple place onpublic property. Most o f the disputed stone slabs are often situated inf ront o f City Hall. In one instance, where the monument was a c ~ u a l l Y .allowed to s tay, a Texas court took into account the monument s locationnear a rarely used s ide exit.In that case a homeless man l iving in Austin sued for the monument'sremoval next to the state capitol building. However, the court ruled inDecember 2003 that no reasonable person would consider the display areligious endorsement. Donated to the s tate in 1961 by the FOE, the 5foot-high granite display was found to have the secular p u r p o ~ e ~ encouraging youth moral ity. Contributing factors t o t he U.S. DlstnctCourt's decision included the lack of a state seal or Texas star on themonument. The judge also said that its location-next to a seldom useddoor and facing away from vehicle traffic-weakened the plainti f f's claim.ThiS "victory" illustrates the basic struggle for any Commandments p.U?licdisplay. Absent a defiant magistrate, a c it y must prove i ts lack of religIOUSintent. As i n Austin, an obstructed v iew can be an important factor.Recently, City Council members in Albert Lea, Minn. pledged to keep anearly identical monument to the one in Dul uth in their Central Park. "Idon't see where there's a problem with it being there," one Councilmember told a newspaper . A second added, "We could use a l i tt le morereligion in the world." A third seemed more pragmatic. "It really makes nodifference to me either way," he said. "I can understand both sides." Thepaper noted what may ver y wel l be more important than resolve for. thesurvival of the monument if the ACLU brings sui t. The sizeable slab ISpartially obscured by a few evergreen trees.A few c it ies in the same situation as Albert Lea have tried to avoidremoval by sel ling the patch of land the monument is on to the FraternalOrder of Eagles, thus making the installation private. The FOE donatedone of its monuments to Frederick in 1958. For much of i ts existence, thestone display stood in front of City Hall but was eventually moved to acity park where it was planted among other i tems l ike a GeorgeWashington plaque and various war memorials. In 2002, the ACLU soughtto remove the monument but dropped its suit after the city sold themonument and a parcel of land to the FOE. In 2003, Americans United forSeparation of Church and State filed suit against the c ity and the FOE,challenging the transaction.i-::::;;;:;;:-----iFaced with simi lar litigation, the Casper,Wyoming City Council voted to remove theiren Commandments monument from City Parkin October of 2003 af ter the Freedom fromReligion Foundation asked that it be removed

from government property. After long,involved debates, Council members voted 5-4L --:- - : - ~ t o move the Ten Commandments to a historicplaza, where they can be viewed as an " integral part of h is tory. " Part ofthe city's motivation stemmed from the fea: ~ h a t they ~ ~ s t a ~ s o allowother monuments that espouse differing religiOUS or polttlcal views.Kansas anti-gay extremist Fred Phelps, head of God Hates Fags, hascalled for the installation of his own monument (click here to see a largerimage) in Casper condemning slain gay student Matthew Shepard.


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Rev. Phelps made similar entreaties throughout the West after the Tenth, Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2002 in Summum v. Ogden that publicbodies must accept displays of alternate messages if they continue tokeep Ten Commandments monuments on public property. This past fall ,the Tenth Circuit refused to reconsider its ruling that constitutionalguarantees of free speech require the city to remove the TenCommandments monument or accept one l ist ing the "Seven Aphorisms" ofSummum, a rel ig ion founded in Sal t Lake City 27 years ago. Summumsued t he c it y in 1999 after it refused to accept a donation of a s tonemonument listing Summum's tenets. The Ten Commandments monumentwas donated t o t he c it y i n 1966 by the Ogden Fraternal Order of Eagles.The ruling prompted the state of Utah to move or remove sevenmonuments from public property across the state, not only in Sal t LakeCity but also in Ogden, Murray, Tooele, Roy and Provo.Similar apprehensions caused Boise, Idaho officials in January 2003 tovote to remove a display of the Decalogue f rom the City Park and returnit t o th e Fraternal Order of Eagles, which donated it t o t he c it y i n 1965.The Council made the decision in hopes of heading of f Rev. Phelps, whoserequest to install his monument is set for a hearing before the Councilthis April 6 th . A fter the Council's decision to remove the marker, a Keepthe Commandments Coalition formed and f il ed a l awsuit to obstruc t the -- ...c ity f rom removing the monument . On February 11, 2004, a judge for theU.S. District Court denied the coali t ion's request and gave the county thefreedom t o mo ve t he ,mCSrlUrilent. The City Council, t ry ing to recoup legalexpenses fron1"the Coalition fo r the costs of litigation so far encurred,moved the 3,000-pond monument on Monday, March 29th, by crane to anearby Episcopal Church that faces the state Capitol.Thirteen advocates of the monument, including State Rep. Henry Kulczyk,were arrested before the display's removal. Grandmother and pharmacistGloria Pfost , fac ing a possible $300 f ine and s ix months in jail ifconvicted, remained undeterred. "I would give more than just a f ine andtime In jail for th is / ' she told The Idaho Statesman. "I would give myright arm, and even more than that."

Outside the Tenth Circuit's jurisdiction, though,and absent any more federal rul ings, courts havegenerally followed accepted doctrine prohibitingstate endorsement of religion. Because the FOEmonuments are so conspicuous and typicallyperceived as tied to one religion, Christianity,many courts have found them in violation of theConstitution. Considering the high profile of RoyMoore's attempt to install his monument, as wel las the increased visibility of religion incontemporary culture, these monuments arelikely to come under increased review. The

.- following are additional cur rent or recent casesinvolving Ten Commandments monuments thatwere original ly donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles:Everett, Wash;ngtonIn September of 2003, 20-year-old Jesse Card f il ed a $1 suit against thecity of Everett, demanding tha t the Ten Commandments monument inf ront of the c ity's pol ice s tation be removed (cl ick here to see an image).Arguing that the monument is equal to state endorsement of one religion

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over another, Card suggested t ha t the Commandments should be moved to the nearby Presbyterian Church or given to the Everett Eagles-theorganization that donated t he m onum ent to the c ity in 1959. A dec is ionhas not yet been made in the case, but a resolut ion was recently passedstipulating that t he c it y council "vigorously supports efforts by the city ofEveret t to maintain i ts long-standing monument containing the TenCommandments outside old ci ty hall ."Kansas c;ty, KansasIn June of 2003, a Commandments monument in front of WyandotteCounty Courthouse was moved to a Catholi c Church lawn 150 feet away.The local board of commissioners voted 8-0 t o m ove the m onum ent a fterthe ACLU threatened to sue the city j f t he nearly 40-year-old monumentremained. "At a time when we're t ry ing to save money any way we canand lower taxes, it just seems to be a prudent decision to make," saidCommissioner Kelley Kultala.Plattsmouth, NebraskaIn 2002, the ACLU filed suit to remove a monument of the TenCommandments from City Park. A district court judge ruled against thecity of Plattsmouth and ordered the monument removed. Later that yearan appeal was f il ed and on February 18, 2004, the Eighth Circuit upheldthe rul ing that the monument must be removed.La Crosse, WisconsinThe Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against the city toremove a 35-year-old monument from the City Park. Immediately afterthe sl:lit was filed, t he c it y sold the monument, along with a 440 squarefoot plot, to the same organization, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, thathad initially donated the display. Terms of the sale required theorganization to erect fences and post disclaimers clearly stat ing that thedisplay and area were privately owned. Despi te these measures, a DistrictCourt Judge ruled in February 2004 that the monument must be removedfrom Cameron Park in La Crosse. Following the ruling, the La Crossecommon council voted 13-2 to appeal the case to the Seventh CircuitCourt of Appeals.Habersham County, Georg;aIn 2003, part-time Baptist minister Bo Turner filed suit against the countyof Habersham to remove the display of the Ten Commandments on thecounty courthouse and a publ ic swimming pool. Turner claimed that as areligious symbol the Commandments had no p lace in the courthouse. OnNovember 18, 2 003, a distr ict court judge ruled that the city mustremove the Ten Commandments f rom the courthouse and a publicswimming pool. The Habersham commission voted on February 9, 2004not to appeal the case and agreed to move the monuments.Hanover, PennsylvaniaIn early February 2004, Americans United for Separation of Church andState threatened county officials with a laWSUit if the Ten Commandmentsare not removed from Wir t Park in Hanover, York County. County offic ialsare not sure if they can afford a costly legal batt le over the monumentand have not ye t made a decision as to what they should do. Severalchurches in the area have offered to help pay to have theCommandments moved t o the ir private property. Many townspeople areopposed to the proposed removal f rom the park and over 10,000 peoplehave signed a peti t ion asking t he c ou nt y t o f ig ht t he lawsuit. Council


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members say it could be months before a dec is ion is made.

RELATED LINKS:White Paper: Affirming Religious and Traditional Heritage:Constitut ional Guidelines fo r Displaying the Ten Commandments(PDF)

Journal ofReligion & Society Volume 6 (2004)ISSN 1522-5658

Ten CommandmentsMonuments and the Rivalry oflconicTextsPress Release: Rutherford Ins t i tute Assists Arkansas District Judgein Defending Constitut ional Display of Ten Commandments inCourtroom

James W. Watts, Syracuse UniversityAbstract

The legal and politicalcontroversy overTen Commandments monumentsin the United Statesrevolvesaround iconic texts holdinga discrete symbolic value compared totexts whose functionprimarily is to be read. A comparativeperspective on iconictextsrevealsthat thenation'sfounding documents,the Declaration ofIndependence,the Constitution. andthe Bill of Rights.have also been increasinglyturned intomonumental iconsover thelast half-century.Thecommandmentscontroversy cantherefore be understoodas competition among iconictexts forsymbolic supremacy. At stake in thatstruggleare basic issuesover howthe nation will representthegovernment's relationship to themany religions represented within its popUlation.

Introduction[1] The legal andpolitical controversy overTen Conunandments monuments in the UnitedStates involves iconic texts holding a discrete symbolic value compared to texts whose functionprimarily is to be read. Thenation's founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, theConstitution, and the Bill of Rights, have also increasinglybeen turned into monumental iconsover the last half-century. The Ten Commandments controversy can therefore be understood interms of competition among iconictexts forsymbolic supremacy. Like theplacement of divineimages inancient Near Eastern temples, struggles over thepublic display of iconic national andreligious texts involve claims for their relative prestige in contemporary America.[2] I will defend these claims by describing the nature of iconic texts andthe trend to enshrineAmerican national texts as icons. First, I will review the recentcontroversy over TenConunandments monuments, since events in Alabama in 2003 demonstrated very clearly thattheTen Conunandments is an iconic text in America. Theessential features of the extensive mediacoverage of this event are as follows:[3] In 2001, thenewly elected AlabamaChiefJustice, Roy Moore, installed a two-ton granitemonument of the Ten Conunandments inthe rotundaof the State Judicial Building. After a seriesof lawsuits, in the summer of 2003 a Federal court ordered themonument removed, calling itspresence there an infringement on theconstitutionalseparation between church and state. Thisorder promptedan outpouring of support for the monument andfor Judge Moore. EvangelicalChristians protested and prayed by the commandmentsand infront of the building after theywere evictedfrom the premises. A rabbi promised Moore the support of two Orthodox Jewishorganizations. Delays inimplementingthe court order extended the protests for several weeks,until finally themonument was removed from view (AP, August 1,2001; August 15, 2003;CNN).[4] The media covered these events extensively both inthe United Statesand abroad. Theyprompted considerable debate about religion, law, andthe state, but also much bemusement overthe intense emotions thepresence of this monumentaroused. No one shouldhave been surprised;

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similar eventshad occurred around the country forthe pastseveral years. In 2002, protestershadto bedragged away from a plaqueof the Ten Commandments in ChesterCounty, Pennsylvania.so that it could be coveredwhilea lawsuit overits display wasappealed (Philadelphia Inquirer,April 23, 2002). One judge orderedthe plaqueremoved, butan appeals court overruledthe order,sayingthat theplaquecould be preservedbecause of its eighty.three-year-old historical value(Philadelphia Inquirer, September 13, 2003). Otherlawsuitsagainst Ten Commandmentsmonuments on public land have beenfiled in numerous communities. Sometimes, protests haveoccurred against Ten Commandmentsmonuments(for example, in Austin, Texas; see MetroplexAtheists), and in a few places suchmonuments have evenbeen vandalizedwith graffiti statingthatthey are unconstitutional (as in South Bend, Indiana; seeSouth Bend Tribune).[5] Clearly, a plaque or monument of the Ten Commandments carries powerful symbolism incontemporaryAmerica. But why has this symbolnow become such an object of devotion,derision, andconflict?The newscoverage of the Alabama commandments monumentCOJUlectsto anaspect of my own research that may shed some lighton this phenomenon.Iconic Books and Texts -6] The Iconic BookProject at Syracuse University isassembling a database of images anddescriptions of iconic books. An "iconic" book or text may be defined as one thatis manipulated,displayed, venerated, and/or d e c o r ~ t e d J n ~ d d i t i o n tobeing read. Toa certain extent, all booksare iconic because bool$.. are symbolic representations of culture. Books thatappear inworks ofart aimto e v o k t ; a s s o ~ a t i o n s with education, religious authority, and law, to namea fewexampfes:The possession of bookscharacterizes the owner's learning or piety. However, sacredreligiousbooksand political texts carry more iconicstatus than other books and texts. The ritualdisplay of sacred booksestablishesthe legitimacy of religious rituals and the authorityofreligiousleaders. Politicians in many cultures use sacredtexts or national constitutions inswearing-in ceremonies that legitimize political authority and succession. Religious scripturesoften receive extensive embellislunent of their texts and covers, as well as elaborate cases forpreservationand display. In allthese ways, peopletreat books as icons, thatis, the symbolicmanifestation of divine authority and/or state sovereignty.[7] The IconicBook Project subjects the phenomenon of iconic books to cross-culturalcomparison and analysis, lookingfor cultural and historical patterns of usage and development.Although the project has only recently gotten underway, some provisionalconclusions canalready be drawn from this materiaL One of these conclusions is that the iconic useof books inWestern culture hasnot declined in modem times. It has in fact increased overthe nineteenthandtwentiethcenturies, and plays a central role in many contemporary religions as well as in thepolitical discourses of many countries.[8] Onekind of evidence for this conclusion can be found in the depictions of scriptures in art.Prior to thenineteenth century, books or otherkinds of texts wereusually depicted withpeople:they signify the person's scholarship or religious orthodoxy or, in the case of divine figures, thesource of the book's authority. Traditional Jewish art generally did not portray Torah scrolls,preferring to depictthe ark that contains the scrolls. However, in imageryfrom the last onehundred and fifty years, sacred books and scrolls have beenfreed of suchcontexts; they becomeobjects of artistic interest in themselves. Pictures of Bibles or Torah scrolls or Qurans nowappear frequently as the focus of attention in works of art and popular media. They have becomeindependent icons of religious truth and power in contemporary visual culture.

[9] The Alabama Ten Commandmentsclearly fits the description of an iconic text. Of course,proponents of the Ten Commandments movement also promote reading the commandments: onephilanthropistpromised tendollars to every child in American who memorized them (AP, April10,2003).However, it is importantto stateagainthat the Alabamamonument was designed tobe seen as muchas read. Itsmassive bulk symbolized divine authoritybehindhuman law. Itspublicdisplay in a court building laid claimto the representation of religion as a fundamentalsource of American goverrunent (seeTen Commandments Defense Fund).[10] Therefore, the controversy over the monument is one symptom of contemporary culture'sincreasing fascination with iconictexts. Examiningthe debate inthe context of iconicbooks andtexts casts thepolitical and religiousforces inconflict overTen Commandments monuments inadifferent lightthan do the usual legal andpolitical commentaries.TheTen Commandments Movement[11] A "Ten Commandmentsmovement" hasbeen gatheringsteam for several years. In 2000,theAssociated Press reported that "With its message on yard signs, book covers and on the wallsof courthouses and public classrooms, a Ten Commandments movement ispushing forward inKentucky and nationwide" (January 7, 2000). The article mentionedefforts to post TenCommandmentsin courts and schools in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and California, andspoke ofTen Commandments rallies acrossthe country. Frank Flinnwrote: "This controversy is quicklyreplacingabortion as the litmus test for Christianvalues in the public forum. A complicatedconstitutional lawsuitover abortion is difficult to pay for and argue. Hanging the Decalogue in apublichallway is both cheap and easy." The escalating battles since then oversuch monumentsconfIrm his assessment.[12] TheAssociated Press also reported in2000 that "Roy Moore, an Alabamacircuit judge whorefusedto take downthe commandmentspostedin hiscourtroom in 1995, has spokenabouthiscaseat Christianrallies acrossthe country - includingone Nov. 7 in Corbin, Ky., that3,000peopleattended. He encourages schoolboards to post the Ten Commandmentseven if i tmeansacostlylawsuit for the district" (January 7, 2000). Later thatyear, Moore campaigned forChiefJustice of the Alabama Supreme Court on the slogan"The Ten Commandment's Judge" andwonby a wide margin.[13] When Moore installedhis granite monument in therotunda of the Alabama JudicialBuilding,he did so in the middle of the night and without consulting theotherjustices of thecourt. However, he made sure his actionwas noticed: "A Florida TV preacherwho supportsMoore, D. JamesKennedy, had a crewfrom hisCoral Ridge Ministriesfilm the installationandoffered videotapes of it for a donation of$19," the Associated Press reported (October 16,2002).In the lawsuits that followed, Moore testifiedthat he began planning to puta monumentin thejudicial building at his inaugurationin January 2001. Moore acted self-consciously to promote anationalmovement of Christianpolitical action, andto defy opposing socialforces. Hisdefenseattorney calledthe suitsagainstthe monumentpart of a national movement"to censorGod." Itmay befai r to say tha t in the course of thiscontroversy, the Ten Commandments have become asymbol representing Evangelical political goals.[14] However, other courthouse monuments of the Ten Commandmentsare products of muchearlier movements. The Ten Commandmentshave beena common theme in Western religiousand legal art. The tablets on which the commandments are traditionally represented, alone or

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with lions rampant, often decorate the synagogue arks containing theTorahscrolls. The"holyark" [ha 'aron haqodesh] usually occupiesthe most prominentposition facing the congregation.The tablets of the commandments emphasize the centrality of lawin Jewishtradition, and are acommon feature of synagogue architecture. The fact that the tabletsoften contain only themunbersone through tenin Hebrewcharacters (orRomannumerals in Christianiconography) inplace of the actual commandments further illustrates their iconic role in Jewish and Christiancultures.[15] During the Protestant Refonnation of the sixteenth century, some European churchesreplaced theirpictorial altar pieces with biblical texts, often the Ten Commandments, as part ofan iconoclastic reaction against images in churches (Koerner). In England, "Decalogue boards"appeared afterthe Refonnation, not only to demonstrate essentialsof Christian behavior but alsothelegalpower of the stateover the church. Few have survived the changing tides of Englishreligious politics: manywere painted over by seventeenth-century Puritanswho opposed allvisual displays, eventextual ones; others were reinstalled by eighteenth-century Evangelicals,but were dismantled again by the nineteenth-century Anglo-Catholic OxfordMovement (seeSuffolk CountyChurches). Their fate shows that theTen Commandmentshave long been apotentsymbol when religion and state clashover issues oflaw. It also demonstrates that their"symbolismmay be wielded by thestate against religiousdissidentsas much as by religiousgroups against state authority. ."C;; -",[16] Art in other c o n t e ~ . . s . . u s u a 1 1 Y p o r t r a y s thecommandments in the hands ofMoses, ina sceneoften reproduced.inmonUiilental sculpture decorating graveyards and memorials, American lawschools:ana courthouses. The current U.S. Supreme Court building, opened in 1935, portraysMoses holding the tablets of the commandmentsas the centraland largest figure on its eastpediment. Court rulings allowsuch displays if they are motivated by historical, rather thanreligious, intent. In this case,Confucius and Solon flank Moses so that the three representhistorical antecedentsofU.S. lawin Chinese, Hebrew, and Greek cultures. ButMoses' centralposition and larger sizenevertheless lends support to the Ten Commandments movement:proponents often cite itand otherartwork depicting Moses andthe commandments inWashington government buildings as examples of the Federal Judiciary's hypocrisy in outlawingTen Commandments displays on public land (for example, PatRobertson on CBNNews and thephoto essays by CarrieDevorah in the National Conservative Weekly).[17] Religious groups set up Ten Commandments monuments on publicsites in some Americancities as early as the 1920s. During WorldWarII, MinnesotaJudge E. J. Ruegemer, with thesupport of the Fraternal Orderof Eagles (FOE), a nation-wide serviceclub, pushed to have theTen Commandments posted on the walls of juvenile court rooms (Mittlebeeler). Ruegemerdefended this action as non-sectarian because ''the Commandments arenot just a religious rule,but a good code of conduct which can be followed by everyone, regardless of creed" (ACLJ).Thetrend gathered steam inthe 1950s, when the FOE begandonating granite monuments of theTen Commandmentsto courthousesacross thecountry. This effortwas bankrolled by Cecil B.De-Mille, whose movie "TheTen Commandments"was released in 1956 (FOE). The FOE claimto have setup over four thousand monuments to date (Minneapolis Star Tribune). In the 1990s,Evangelical Christians reenergized suchefforts by mobilizing to defend existing monuments andinstall new ones.[18] Proponents have often repeatedthe claimthat thecommandments distill a moral andspiritual code commonto Judaism, Christianity, Islam,and other religions. The FOEworked to

synthesize the different wording and enumeration of the commandments in Jewish, Catholic, andProtestant traditions to produce a version acceptable to all. The commandments monuments weretherefore onemore expressionof the mid-twentieth century effort to promote an American civilreligion that also produced the phrase"underGod" in its Pledge of Allegiance. This effort builton a traditiondating back to the 1864, when thephrase "In GodWe Trust" first appearedon U.S.coins. These efforts duringthe Civil Warand Cold Wartapped religious sentimentto fuelAmerican nationalism. The Ten Commandments monuments, by virtue of their monumentalcharacter, gave Goda visible place in publicspace, which iswhat their sponsors intended.Robert S.Nelson and Margaret Olin observe that this is thefunction of any public monument:"TheMonument expresses the power and senseof the society that gives it meaning, and at thesame timeobscurescompeting claims for authority and meaning" (7).[19] Claims for the universalism of the commandments encounter more resistance at thebeginning of the twenty-first century, however, when immigration has diversified the Americanreligious landscape and Christianand Jewish communities find themselves split internally overmany issues, including state display of the commandments. For example, several groupsrepresenting Christianand Jewish denominations as well as interfaith organizations filed amicicuriae briefs opposing the Alabama Ten Commandmentsmonument (see Alabama SupremeCourt), in contrastto the Christian andJewishsupport for itcited above. Thecommandmentshave now becomea symbol of conservative political and religious agendas in an erawhen sharpideological differences divide both political and religious institutions.[20] Some advocates are using the decades-old tolerance for monuments to theTenCommandments for openly divisive purposes. Reverend Fred Phelps proposed erectingmonuments on public landsin cities in Wyoming, Idaho, andKansas to commemorate MatthewShephard, murdered in 1998 because he was gay. But he intendedto commemorate Shephard notas a victim of murder, but as an object lesson of someone who "entered hell" because of hishomosexual behavior. In Pennsylvania, Phelps announced a similar effort to focus on a gay manwho committedsuicidein 1997. Phelpscited a ruling of the 10thCircuit Court of Appeals that"anycitythat displays a Ten Commandments monument on publicproperty must also allowmonuments espousing the views of other religions or political groups on that same property"(AP, February 1,2004). Thecity council ofeasper, Wyoming, where Shephard was murdered,considered removing their Ten Commandmentsmonument, donated by the FOE in 1965, tofrustrate Phelps' legal challenge. These developments illustrate not only the complicated legalproblems posed by religious monuments,but also the iconic tendency of monuments to generatemore monuments. When society enshrines some texts, opposing social groups tend to interpretthe symbolicrelationship between such texts differently, some seeing them as mutuallysupportive while others view them as contradictory. Since the relationships between iconic textsis symbolic, such disputescannot be resolved by simply interpreting the contents of the texts.[21] The net effect of this history isthatthe TenCommandments have becomea commonsymbol forthe claim that U.S. lawand government developed from religious roots andthat itshouldremain true to them. However, the; Ten Commandments are notalonein being displayedon publicproperty as iconictexts. In fact, the Ten Commandments movement is playing catchup with another movement in American society, the oneto elevate the country's foundationaldocuments to the status of iconictexts. This movement has developed inways thatparallel boththe Ten Commandmentsmovementand other ways inwhichreligious groups revereandpopularize their sacred texts.

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Iconic National Texts[22] Since the late 19405, another American service organization, the ExchangeClub,has beenplacing "Freedom Shrines" in public schools, government buildings, and courthouses throughoutthe United States. The shrines contain twenty or thirty documents, including the DeclarationofIndependence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, as well as materials ranging indate fromthe Mayflower Compact to Martin Luther King, Jt.'s "I Have a Dream" speech (seeNEe,"Freedom Shrine"). TheNational Exchange Club developedFreedom Shrines as part of its"Americanism"project, which promotes "pride incountry, respectfor the flag, and appreciationof our freedoms" (NEC, "Americanism"). Theclub claims to have placed morethan twelvethousand shrines nationwide. It distributesthe shrines to itslocal clubs together with suggestedrituals and speeches for dedication ceremonies (NEC, "ExchangeMarketplace").[23] Around themiddle of the twentiethcentury, the original founding documents of the UnitedStateswere installedin the Rotunda of theNational Archives in Washington, D.C. In theinstallation ceremony, held on December 13, 1952, President Harry S. Truman said:

The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rightsare nowassembled in one place for display and safekeeping . .. We are engaged here ...rtoday in a symbolic act. We are enshrining these documents forfuture ages . . .This magnificent hall has been ~ o n s t r u c t e c l to exhibit them, and thevault beneath,that we have b ~ i l t to p r o t e c f ' t h e t 1 , ~ i S as safefrom destruction as anything that thewit of m 9 d e ~ candevise. All this is an honorable effort, based upon4'everence for the greatpast, and ourgeneration can take just pride in it (NARA,(. emphasis m ine).After undergoing extensive renovations, the rotunda of the National Archives was reopened onSeptember 18, 2003. The National Archives publicizedthe event with rhetoric of a promisedrenewal of not only national but worldwideimport: "The Charters of Freedom: A New World isat Hand," The following description captures a sense of the rotunda's architectural effect:

Placed inthe center of the grand 75-foot high domed semi-circular Rotunda, theCharters arecurrently displayedin a raised marble case, flanked by two 35-footmurals depicting the presentation of the Declaration of Independence to JohnHancock, president of the Continental Congress, on the left; and James Madisonpresenting George Washington with the final draft of the U.S. Constitution, on theright. The Declaration is mounted vertically on the wall above the Constitutionandthe Bil l of Rights. Eachnight the Charters are lowered twenty feet into a steeland reinforced concrete vault beneath thedisplay area(NARA).

The architecture of the rotunda andits display cases evokes, consciously or unconsciously, thatof a synagogue ark that holds Torah scrolls. Truman rightly describedthe foundationaldocuments as "enshrined."[24] Thetendency to characterizethe Constitutionas incomparable was taken even further by thepublicity forthe new National Constitution Center that opened in Philadelphia on July 4, 2003. Itis promoted as a constitutional theme park:

Just as the Constitutionaffects every facet of Americans' daily lives, so will theNational ConstitutionCenter(NCC) use a widevariety of media - interactive andmulti-media exhibits, live actorsand interpreters, film, music, artifacts, television,

text panels andlabels, sculpture, and theInternet- to bring the document to life(National ConstitutionCenter).This textual theme parkinvitescomparison with ChristianBibletheme parks thathave beenpopular in recentdecades (Jim Bakker's well-known"Heritage USA" went bankrupt in the late1980s, butthereare others:Holy Land Experienceopened in2000 in Orlando, Florida; an oldexample is Field of the Woods inMurphy, North Carolina, which among other thingsadvertises''the world's largest Ten Commandments"). In Philadelphia's Constitution Center, the text of theConstitution is etchedin 450feet of illuminated glassencircling the main exhibit hall. At itsopening, boosters proclaimedthe universal importance of the Constitution in language thatmakes the rhetoric of the Ten Commandments' movement lookmodest by comparison."Through these elements, NCC visitors will discover the history behindthe world's mostimportant document as wellas the depth and breadth towhich it affects every single Americantoday" (emphasismine; forthe current, somewhat less hyperbolic publicity, seeNCC).[25] Thus, since the mid-twentieth century, the U.S. government andvarious private groups havebeen raising the iconic status of the Constitution and its associateddocuments by treating themas visual symbols of thenation's government andideals. Of course, proponentsalso hope toencourage greaterfamiliarity with them by havingthe publicread them. The focus on theirphysical form, however, whether original (in the National Archives rotunda) or in reproduction(inthe Constitution Centerand in Freedom Shrines), encourages a symbolismand universalisticrhetoric otherwise associatedwith the sacredtexts of various religious traditions.The Rivalry of Iconic Texts[26] It is doubtful thatthe protestors at the Alabama courthouse would have likedthese claimsaboutthe incomparability of the U.S. Constitution.Not that theTen Commandmentsmovementis inherently anti-constitutional; farfrom it. Some Evangelical leaders hold a very high view ofthe Constitutionas "the greatest document everpenned by human hands," an oft.repeated catchphrase that exemptscomparisonswith divinely-inspired scripture (used in this way, for example,by the conservative commentators CalThomasand David Black;Reverend Jerry Falwellprefersto restrict this accolade to the Declaration of Independence). However, they do wanttheConstitution and the Federalcourts that interpret it to acknowledge the higherauthority of Godand scripture. Someprotestorsin the Alabama monumentincidentwore t-shirts that juxtaposed across over the Americanflagand waved their bibles as they burnedcopiesof the federal courtorder to remove the monument from therotunda (AP photo, August 31, 2003). This ritualconcisely representedthe conflict as one betweeniconic texts, elevatingone while destroying theother. It also illustrated the fact that thetextseach side defended represent, andto some degreecamouflage, other realities: Evangelicals use the Ten Commandments as a cipherfor the entireChristian Bible, an iconictext considered in itsentirety to be the literal utterance of God, andwhich represents for themthe sumof Evangelicalbeliefs aboutreligionand politics. The FederalCourts usethe Constitutionas a cipherfor their own authority over American law, and overevery aspect of government and society that law touches. Thissets thetwo texts , as icons, onacollision course for symbolic supremacy.[27] Some communitieshave compromised bycombiningthe two movements. Theyhaveincorporated the Ten Commandmentsinto a display of significant"historical" documents, sincecourt rulings allow historical, but not religious, displays. An imitator of Roy Mooreerected ashort-livedmonument in North Carolina in front of the Winston-Salem City Hall withthe Ten

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Commandments on one side and the Bil l of Rights on the other(AP, January 20,2004). Moresuccessful examples canbe found in CharlesCounty, North Carolina, the Georgia State Capitol,and the Garrard CountyCourthouse in Lancaster, Kentucky. The Christian Coalition sponsoredthe installation of such a display in the Alabama State Judicial Building after failing to save RoyMoore's monument (CNSNews). But Roy Moore rejected this compromise: "Toput thingsaround the Ten Commandments and secularize it isto deny the greatness of God," he said (AP,September 10,2003). "First, they hidthe word of God ina closet; and now they triedto hide i tamong otherhistorical documents. Neither is an acknowledgment of God" (CNSNews).[28] Moore's careerexemplifies the fact that we live in a period of iconic struggle in whichmany of the mostcontested icons are books or texts. Analysis of this newsfrom the perspectiveof comparative iconography allows oneto seepatterns of cultural development that the legalarguments obscure. For example, some Evangelical observers have commented on the irony ofadvocating stone monuments of commandments that forbid "carved images of anything inheaven, on earth, or under the earth" (see Christianity Today). Christianopponents of RoyMoore have bluntly labeled hisefforts "idolatrous" (New York Times; ABP). From thisperspective,the Federalcourts can be viewed as iconoclasts tryingto keep their"temples" purefrom "foreign" influences. But the iconoclastic controversies between the supporters andopponents of imagesthat have periodically erupted inJewish, Christian, and Muslim historyhavegenerally resulted in r e p l a c i ~ g o set of iIpages with another, and this case is no exception.

'>t"[29] 1 ? public . d i s ~ ~ ~ r ? f icoiftc t ~ x t s per s is notseriously in q u ~ s t i o n in the currentdebate;what IS In q u e ~ t I O n IS tHeIr appropnate locatIOn. Debates overlocatIOnhave been characteristic oficonoClastic controversies, but an even betteranalogy to thecurrent conflict can be found inancient struggles for the supremacy of one image overothers. Ancient gods were patrons ofparticular temples and states, and theplacement and relativepositions of their images in ancientNear Eastern temples reflectedthe political status of kings andcities. Victorious kings wouldplace the gods of conquered cities in subordinatepositions before their own patrondeity. (Abiblical story about such iconicrivalries canbe found in 1 Samuel 5.) The iconic struggle overthe Ten Commandments incontemporary Americais less about whether to pennit iconic texts,and even less so about whetherto enshrine the Ten Commandments or the Constitution. It israther about where to enshrine them and howto symbolize theirrelative position and status.[30] Not often reported inthe mediafrenzy over the Alabama case is the fact that the AlabamaState Judicial Building already contained an iconictext, a bronzecopy of the Bill of Rights(ReligionNews Service). Moore and his supporters seemto want the Constitutionto bow beforethe Commandments andthe Bible; in their words, they want the courts "to acknowledge God."The Federal Courtsrefuse to compromise the Constitution'ssymbolic supremacy overU.S.government and society. Their rulings defend the sanctity of a national icon (the Constitution)and its temples (the courts). Boththe courtsand religiousgroups areengagedin a battle forthesymbolic supremacy of their iconic texts. In Alabama, thegranite commandmentshave comeand gone, but thebronze Bill of Rights remains.[31] Because Westernculture has for so long privileged texts over images, many readers'immediate reaction to this accountmay be to dismiss the entire conflict as superficial, asmaskingthe "real" battles about howto interpretthe importanttexts, specificallythe Bible andthe Constitution. This perspective claimsthat interpretiveissues inlaw and theology are more~ d a m e n t a l than symbolism, which functions simplyas inexact shorthand for these underlyingIssues.

[32] From the perspective of the comparative study of iconictexts, however, suchappealstobasic textual reality look like one more invocation of the iconicnature of these books andtextsas metaphors forpolitical and religiousauthority. To claim greater reality or significance for thewords of texts thanfor their physical forms and images paradoxically enhances the uniquecharacteristics of texts that makethem such potenticons in the first place. Books and textshavebeeninvestedwith iconic statusby long and widespread usage. The fact thatsome becomeparticularly prominentin certain times andplaces does notmitigatethe iconic function of alltexts.[33] Therefore, we cannot avoid the symbolic importof texts,nor the fact that some texts havegreatericonic appealthan others. A societycan choosewhichtexts to p r o ~ o t e and "enshrine:"andthis is exactly whatthe conflict overTen Commandments monuments IS about. At stake Initsoutcome is the fundamental issue of howthe United Statesgovernmentwill representitsrelationshipto various religious ideasand the many differentreligious groupswithin theAmerican population.BibliographyAcademicAnalysesFlinn, Frank

2000 "WhoseCommandments? Which Version?" Scripps-HowardNewservice.Koerner, Joseph

2002 "The Icon as Iconoclasm." Pp. 204-9 in lconoclash: Beyondthe Image Wars inScience, Religion, and Art. Editedby Bruno Latourand Peter Weibel. Karlsruhe:ZKM.Mittlebeeler, Emmet V.

2003 "Ten Commandments." P. 434 in The Encyclopedia ofAmerican Religion andPolitics. Edited by P. A. Djupe andL. R. Olson. New York: Facts on File.Nelson, Robert S. and Margaret Olin,

2003 "Introduction." I n Monuments andMemory, Made and Unmade. Edited by R. S.Nelson and M. Olin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.News ArticlesAssociated Baptist Press (ABP)

August 26, 2003 "Moore: Defender of faith or dangerousdemagogue?" by RobertMarus andGreg Warner. http://www.abpnews.comlabpnewslstory.cfm?newsId=3786.Associated Press (AP)

January 7, 2000 "Ten Commandments replacingabortionas key Christian issue, scholarsays."h t l p : / / w w w . f r e e d o m f o r u m . o r g / t e m p l a t e s / d o c u m e n t . a s p ? d o c u m e n t I D ~ 8 8 3 6 .

August 1,2001 "Alabama ChiefJustice Unveils Ten Commandments in State SupremeCourt," from FoxNews. htlp://www.foxnews.com/story/0.2933.3l137.00.html.Journal ofReligion & Society 8 6 (2004) Journal ofReligion & Society 9 6 (2004)


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October 16, 2002 "Alabama chiefjustice defends controversial monument," by Bob J o h n s o ~in the AthensBanner Herald.http://www.onlineathens.comlstoriesll01702/new 20021017071.shnnl.August IS, 2003 "Commandments fight turns to high court," in the Athens Banner Herald.http://www.onlineathens.comlstoriesl081603/new_ 20030816083 .shtrnl.August 31, 2003 photo in the Syracuse Post-Standard.September 10, 2003 "Alabama governor unveils Capitol display including TenConnnandments," by Kyle Wingfield.

http://www.ardmoreite.comlstoriesl091003/new_alabama.shtrnl#.January 20,2004 "City Hall Ten Commandments monument surfaces in North Carolina,"from CNN. hnp:llwww.cnn.coml2004/US/SouthlOI/20/ten.connnandments.ap/.February 1, 2004 "Group seeksmonument condemning gay victim," in Philadelphia

Inquirer.http://www.philly.comlmldlinquirer/newsllocallstateslpennsylvanialcountieslbucks_countyI7848198.btrn. _

CBNNewsMarch 9, 2004 "Sekulow \Y.eighs in on Ten Commandments Battles."

h t t p . : l I ~ . c b n . c o m l C B N N e w s l N e w s l 0 3 0 8 2 7 b . a s p ., .ChristianIty TO'day

October 2003 "Editorial: God Reigns-Even in Alabama; Let's not make the Commandmentsinto a graven image." 47, 10: 35.http://www.christianitytoday.comlctl2003/0 I 0/34.35.btrnl.CableNews Nerwork (CNN)

November 14,2003 "'Ten Commandments monument moved."http://www.cnn.coml2003ILAW/08127/ten.connnandmentsi.

CNSNews.comFebruary 06, 2004 "Ten Connnandments Return to AlabamaJudicial Building," by SusanJones.hrrpilwww.cnsnews.comlViewNation.asp?Page=%5CNation%5Carchive%5C200402%5CNATZ0040206a.htrnl.

The Minneapolis Star-TribuneAugust 30, 2003 "Ten Commandments: Different state, differentjudge, different time," byWarren Wolfe. http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/973176/posts.

The National Conservative WeeklyNovember24, 2003 "Exclusive Photo Essay: God in the Temples of Govemment," by CarrieDevorah. http://www.humaneventsonline.comlarticle.php?id=2441.December 19, 2003 "Exclusive Photo Essay: God in theTemples ofGovernment: Part II," byCarrie Devorah. h t t p : / / w w w . h u m a n e v e n t s o n l i n e . c o m l a r t i c l e . p h p ? i d ~ 2 6 6 4 .

The New York TimesAugust24, 2003 "Ten Connnandments Supporters Rally On,"by Jeffrey Gettleman.

h t t p : / / q u e r y . n y t i m e s . c o m l g s t ! a b s t r a c t . h t r n l ? r e s ~ F B O C IOFC3E5DOC778EDDA10894DB404482.

The Philadelphia InqUirerApril 23, 2002 "Hundreds protest shrouding of Connnandments," by Jonathan Gelb.

http://www.pbilly.comlmJdlinquirer/3l20463.hnn.September 13,2003 "Commandments plaquewill stay put in Cheseo," by Kathleen Brady

Shea.ReligionNews Service

January 10, 2004 "'Alabama Ten Conunandments monument is gone, not forgotten," by RoyHoffman, at Seattle Times.http://seattletirnes.nwsource.comlhtrnlllocalnewsl2001833718_tenIOm.htrnl.

South Bend TribuneAugust 7, 2001 "Commandments monument vandalized," by Margaret Fosmoe.http://www.restoringamerica.orglarchivelreligionllO-conunandments

vandalized.btrnl.Other Web sourcesAlabama Supreme Court

James v. ACLU. http://www.pcusa.orglogalarnicuslarnI7.pdf.American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)

"What's the Problem With PublicDisplays of the Ten Connnandments?" by JaySekulow. http://www.aclj .org!resourceslequaVtencomm/020412_whats_the ....Problem.asp.David Black Online

"Why do Conservative CluistiansUphold the Scriptures Yet Compr?mise o.n ~ Constitution?" http://www.daveblackonline.com/why_do_conservatIve_chnstlans_u.hun.The Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE)

"Commanding Presence: Judge E. 1. Ruegemer."http://www.foe.comlmagazinelrnarch2002lmar_07.pdf.The Holy LandExperiencehttp://www.theholylandexperience.comfindex.html.

McBible.com"FoundingFathers- Libetty Alliance Article," by Jetty Falwell (August 10,2000).hnp:llwww.mcbible.comIMiscO/020DatalFounding%20Fathers.htm.

Metroplex Atheists"Respect Our Constitution Rally 2000." http://www.metroplexatheists.org!roc0300.htm.

Journal of Religion & Society 10 6 (2004) Journal of Religion & Society 11 6 (2004)


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The National Constitution Centerhttp;lIwww.constitutioncenter.org/index.shtml.

The National Exchange Club (NEC)"Americanism," http://www.nationalexchangeclub.comlProgramsServicela.htm."Exchange Marketplace."http://exchangemarketplace.safeshopper.com/23/cat23.htm?580."Freedom Shrine." http://www.freedomshrine.com/defaull.htm.

Roadside AmericaField of the Woods in Mwphy, North Carolina, described with pictures.http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attractJNCMURcommand.html.

Suffolk Country Churches"Decalogue, Royal Arms." http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/zdecalogue.htm.

The Ten Commandments Defense Fundhttp://tencommandmentsdefense.org.

Townhall.com ..- 6-"The Battle fOrThe Constitution," by Cal Thomas (June 4, 2(03).

l l t t p : ! / ~ . t o w n h a l l . c o m / c o l u m n i s t s l c a l t h o m a s / c t 2 0 0 3 0 6 2 4 . s h t m l .U:S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

http://www.archives.gov.U.S. Supreme Coun "The East Pediment"

http://www.supremecounus.gov/ahout/eastpediment.pdf.World History.com

"Heritage USA." http://www.worldhistory.com/wikilHlHeritage-USA.htm.

Journal ofReligion & Society 12 6 (2004)

Documents

Week 8 Readings