Federal Court Orders Ten Commandments Removed From Florida Courthouse

By Deacon Keith Fournier
7/24/2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The decision out of Gainesville, Florida is an example of growing governmental hostility toward religious faith and religious symbols in the public square

The decision is an example of governmental hostility toward religious faith and religious symbols in the public square. The effort to scrub the public square of such religious expression is a threat to religious freedom, runs contrary to our founding documents, and is unfaithful to our history as a free people. It represents an incorrect application of the Establishment Clause and is a form of religious cleansing. Religious freedom means a freedom for religious expression; not a removal of such expression from public places

The display in front of the Florida Courthouse which the Judge ordered to be removed.

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GAINSVILLE, FL. (Catholic Online) - On July 15, 2011 the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida issued a thirteen page opinion in a case entitled ACLU of Florida Inc. v. Dixie County Florida (ND FL, Case 1:07-cv-00018-MP-GRJ). It can be read in its entirety here . The Court ordered that a large Ten Commandments monument - paid for privately by a local businessman and displayed since 2006 - be removed within thirty days from the front steps of the Courthouse.

The issue in the Court's own words "At issue in this case is whether a five-foot, six-ton granite monument on the front steps of the Dixie County courthouse, displaying the Ten Commandments as well as directing all viewers to "LOVE GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS," violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution." The Court said it did.

The Court awarded one dollar to the ACLU in nominal damages. Howard Simon, the executive director of the ACLU of Florida said to a local paper, "We hope that Dixie County officials will find a permanent place for it at a church or other house of worship, which is the appropriate place for religious monuments."

Mat Staver, the founder and chairman of The Liberty Counsel, Dean and Professor of law at Liberty University School of Law and Director of the Liberty Center for Law and Policy, represented those who defended the commandments at the Courthouse in Florida. I know him. He is a good lawyer and a good and courageous man.

He responded to the loss with these words, "This is only the first step in a march to the United States Supreme Court. Since 2005, we have won every Ten Commandments case except one. We are ready to return to the Supreme Court. The ACLU has shown in three separate losses at the court of appeals that they have lost the High Court on this issue and they are reluctant to return."

On Monday January 4, 2011, a three judge panel of the United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals filed its opinion in the "Mount Soledad Cross Case", Trunk v. City of San Diego. They held that the Mount Soledad cross which had stood since 1913 had somehow now become a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

All who are concerned about religious freedom in the United States should watch these cases with great concern. As a constitutional lawyer I have long questioned the current establishment clause law in our Nation. In 1992 I wrote a law review article entitled "In the Wake of Weisman: The Lemon Test is Still a lemon but the Psycho-coercion Test is more bitter Still".

In that article, after tracing the history of the interpretation of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the developments of the last few decades, I predicted the insanity that would follow from the efforts of the Supreme Court to apply the so called "Lemon Rule" (named after the Courts 1971 opinion in Lemon v Kurtzman) and it's ever expanding "interpretations" and permutations. Insanity is precisely what has occurred.

We are experiencing a judicial ping pong game; incomprehensible opinions requiring a showing that religious symbols have a "secular" purpose - as though religion and the common good are mutually exclusive. Federal Judges make up their own rules by which they decide whether a religious symbol will be allowed to stand on public land or in a public building. There is not even a pretense that the actual words of the Establishment Clause have any effect in this new world of the judicial oligarchy.

The Establishment Clause is best understood as an "anti-establishment" clause. It was intended to prohibit the "establishment" of one particular religion - in the sense of a Federal or State sponsored Church which mandated adherence from unwilling citizens. The American founders fled coercive approaches to religion which compelled adherence to a particular sect. Yet, they were not anti-religious.

They were assuredly not against religious symbols or religious expression. Our history is filled with them. Or, more accurately, it once was. Religious symbols are no longer seen as a wonderful sign of the history of the West and the American founding by the new Judicial Oligarchs. Rather they are seen as a threat to the secularist order. When they are allowed they must be demonstrated to have been eviscerated of any religious meaning and somehow thereby rendered "secular" and acceptable.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down two opinions in "Ten Commandment cases" on June 27, 2005 which sent another convoluted message. The Justices (at least five of them) upheld a display of the Ten Commandments on public land if the display is placed within the context of other displays that ...

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1 - 10 of 40 Comments

robert matzinger
1 year ago
This action by the courts in Florida is just another event leading this country to be known as the "land of everything ad nothing."

Years ago people from other lands might have asked what America stood for, and many people might have answered thta it stood for God and marriage between a man and a woman, the values of the Ten Commandments, and other virtues we used to believe we stood for, and that Americans valued some ideals much more than others, etc.But today, we find that as a nation, we publicly must stand for "everything and nothing."
LaJollaVet
1 year ago
Speaking of Thomas Jefferson he wrote:

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State.
DLL
1 year ago
Gabriella, I am glad to call you a sister in Christ. God bless so many that testify to their faith as writers here and to those who respond with their posts. As the people of Poland chanted on Blessed John Paul 2's first visit to Poland after he became Pope as they were oppressed by an Atheistic Communist Government,"We want God,we want God,we want God"! I was reminded of this by our Priest in his homily today at Mass. John Paul 2 was under close scrutiny and even in danger on his visits back to his home country that was under Communist rule in Poland at that time. In one of his early books,Be Not Afraid,We must not be afraid! He would say and we must all want God and testify to our wonderful Catholic Faith. What is the alternative? Atheism and that folks is the religion in itself that is against ALL RELIGION! I want God,you want God,WE ALL NEED GOD! PRAISE GOD! AMEN
Gabriella
1 year ago
DLL. Your account of your deep Faith is heartwarming, thank you, you make a good witness.
Would you agree with me that the position of our religion in the society today is the result of our lukewarm attitude? Shall we be spat out because of that?
I move among people of the Islamic faith every day and am amazed at the way they defend their stand on it - till death, and they are certainly not afraid to express themselves clearly and loudly. I commend them for that even though I do not agree with them. Living in a democratic system should allow us to express our beliefs clearly but...when it comes to Catholicism, it is a different story. And why is there such unreasonable fear of the True Faith? - because it is the only one that is True! - as you, yourself have said. We will continue to be persecuted, shouted out, bullied.
Nothing will defeat us, not even death.
I am working for a Catholic organization but have been warned not to speak, not to witness to my Faith as it might offend those in my charge (Muslims). However, they may do so freely, without a fear of being thwarted...the political correctness is a great evil destroying that which makes us who we are. I refuse to be silent, and it is only a matter of time when I will be made suffer for it. So be it. We must speak out, we must stand firm when it comes to our Faith. We are cowards, most of the time, following the rules of the world : speaking against homosexual acts, abortion, etc. is forbidden in my country, as it has been legislated to be an act of hate - illegal and carries dire consequences. I am tired of everyone pretending that homosexuality is simply a lifestyle that needs to be accepted and not spoken against. Sodom and Gomorrah never existed, did they? When people ask me why I am so opposed to homosexuality, I answer that what is good for God is good for me and what is not, it is not good for me either.
When are people going to wake up and realize that we are creating our own ruin!?
When are we going to behave like people with real brains, thinking brains? when are we going to see that the child in womb is a human being regardless of our attitude to it? Why do we kill over 100 000 babies yearly and then have to bring in people from other countries to fill the emptiness? What idiots we are!
DLL
1 year ago
Gabriella. I only know that from my own experience that I have searched for the true meaning of the Christian faith al my life. With all do respect to Protestant Christians I had not found it in any of those denominations. When I converted to being a Catholic Christian then I found the true meaning of the Christian Faith. The Jewish Faith made little sense to me as a Protestant but as a Catholic the Old Testament or the old covenant with God made complete sense to me. The Hebrew people were the people that God revealed Himself to. Moses received the 10 Commandments and law was essentially the major component of the Old Testament and obedience to God's Laws. Humankind time after time failed to obey the laws of God. Jesus is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets as the prophets promised that God's people would be the recipients of God's mercy. The life of Jesus as The promised Messiah ensures that the law of God is tempered by mercy and love. The New Testament or new covent is one where the followers of Christ must try to be as Christ was merciful,just and pure of mind and body. Jesus is the true light of the world as He Is the Incarnation of God. We receive his pure love to this day whenever we receive Him in the Eucharist. In the Tabernacle in every Catholic Church Christ is present as host. In the Monstrance we celebrate Christ as body,blood soul and Divinity,the fulfilment of the law and the prophets. Christ is love itself and the perfect and acceptable sacrifice to God so that we can all receive Grace from God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Though we fail as human beings and sin we can through the sacrament of confession find forgiveness than renewal once again in the Eucharist after reconciliation. What a great Faith,what a great Religion. Jesus is the same yesterday,today and forever. The Holy Catholic Church is to me the only true Church as well as the only true faith or religion. Christ is the Messiah,the fulfilment of all of God's promises of old testament and the new testament. He is the new and everlasting covenant that is celebrated everyday at our Holy Catholic Masses all over the world. Christ is the fulfilment of God's most powerful love in time and eternity,as only in Christ are all made one through the power of the Holy Spirit. God is as he said to the Hebrew people's of long ago,His name is the great "I AM"!!!!!! The Holy Cross is the new tree in the Center of the garden of Eden,the Tree of perfect love and obedience to God and the perfect choice for all that is good,as Jesus proved the real and perfect sacrifice is to do the
will of God. Humankind made a choice that would justify every evil deed and call it good? Eating the apple of the old tree in the garden of Eden is sin,original sin. To be forgiven of sin is mercy,Jesus Christ is Mercy. Praise be to Jesus Christ and His most Holy Cross. In Christ is all desire to be obedient to God. Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart,soul,mind and strength and your neighbour as ones self. This is the commandment that makes every other one academic. Christ is often described as the new Adam and Mary his Mother,as the new Eve. The new garden is heaven itself cultivated in the love of God,evil has no part in this new garden as obedience to God is the perfect and everlasting choice,perfection of all in Christ and in love.
Gabriella
1 year ago
Dear DLL, the main reason that the Jews could not accept Jesus as their Savior was that He was an ordinary man, meaning, did not live in a palace, did not wear luxurious clothes, etc. For Jews, at that time, to claim that you were a son of God, involved riches and power. Being poor, to Jews, means that you are not God's chosen - hence, their struggle to become rich, whichever way possible. One does not see Jewish people working manually because those jobs are for the Gentiles, like ourselves and never would make us rich. Jews are, till today, God's chosen people. The very sad thing is that they do not believe in His Son - and that is their downfall, that is why we pray for the Jewish people during the Easter celebrations. They do not like it because they do not understand, they are stubborn people - God's own words. There has been no progress in their growth, as believers, they continue living in the past, waiting for their Messiah - because they are blind.
Have you heard of the Rabbi in New York, I believe, who left a note to be read after his death which read: Jesus is the Messiah - but Rabbi had no courage to witness to his belief while alive, fearing persecution from his own people. I am wondering what that note has done to his congregation. Do you know anything about it?
dennis
1 year ago
Christianity is not an "offshoot". It is the fulfillment. The Templar-Sacrificial Jews of the first century BECAME Catholic Christians. The Jews that remained became something else. There are no Templar-Sacrificial Jews any longer. Modern Judaism is NOT what preceded Christ but was invented later. Modern Jews reject the Septuagint, as do most Protestants. Learn history, learn truth and things make more sense. I love our Modern Jewish brothers but they are not the Jews of history and they not our antecedents.
By the way, every public display of the Ten Commandments that I have ever seen were the Protestant version. When public schools had prayer, they also had mandatory Protestant religion classes, which was the impetus for Catholics building our own schools. Back in those days my mother answered on a test that Jesus was the founder of Christianity, it was marked "wrong". She "corrected" it to St. Peter. That was marked "wrong". That was public High School!
I love the Ten Commandments, in any form. I believe in Freedom of Religion. No where does "Separation of Church and State" appear in the Constitution. Do you realize that many of our Several States have anti-Catholic laws on the books that the 14th Amendment has made unenforceable? Whenever I eat in public or private I make the Sign of the Cross. I almost never see anyone else do it. Don't just hope someone else puts a block of granite where you want it. Learn your faith and history and be a real witness yourself!!!!
DLL
1 year ago
Gabriella At the time of Christ the Jewish element tried to dismiss Christians as a cult. On the Cross it was proclaimed that Jesus Christ was King of the Jews. Even though this was protested to at the time the proclamation remained as posted on the cross never the less. The Jews were God's chosen people. The Messiah is the fulfillment of Jewish prophesy. Christ is that fulfillment. The New Testament proclaims Christ and the new covenant that Catholics accept today at Mass as the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist that is the body,blood,soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Our Baptism is what purifies us and prepares us to grow in our Christian faith to assimilate more of the Character of Christ in our own nature so Mass can renew and re vitalize us as Christians. Today it might be possible that some Jewish people might think of Christians as an offshoot of Judiasm at best,but they might be actually offended because Christians claimed Jesus as Messiah when they simply refuse to believe that God could ever become a man. Their Messiah is not ours and ours is not theirs. The Jewish people are still in waiting.There is a Judeo-Christian element of Judiasm that does accept Christ as Messiah but they remain Jewish and they are not certainly as such,Catholic or Protestant Christians.
kris wertz
1 year ago
I have long believed that the hatred of Christianity and Judism stems from the subconcious horror that so called atheist and agnostics feel when they think for even a split second that we are right.That there will be a final judgement.and that all that the bible teaches is true. The bible cleary says that the time will come when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is GOD.I wonder ,then, will these people shake their fist at GOD in defiance. Because I believe I also am fully aware that Lucifer is also alive and doing well in his endeavors. He will continue to use these poor fearful people to achieve his own ends.So keep speaking out against government officials who go against GOD's will. But keep in mind that it will get worse as time moves on.
kris wertz
1 year ago
I have long believed that the hatred of Christianity and Judism stems from the subconcious horror that so called atheist and agnostics feel when they think for even a split second that we are right.That there will be a final judgement.and that all that the bible teaches is true. The bible cleary says that the time will come when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is GOD.I wonder ,then, will these people shake their fist at GOD in defiance. Because I believe I also am fully aware that Lucifer is also alive and doing well in his endeavors. He will continue to use these poor fearful people to achieve his own ends.So keep speaking out against government officials who go against GOD's will. But keep in mind that it will get worse as time moves on.

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