 Removal of Ten Commandments Monument—Symbolic of Rejecting God?
A commentary by Larry Walker
United Church of God pastor, Bend, Oregon
Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court gained widespread
notoriety by his defiant stance against a federal court order to remove
a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama State Judicial Building.
This 2 1/2-ton block of granite has been described as an icon in the
controversy over separation of church and state.
Another significance could also be inferred. The founders of our nation
were religious men who based our legal system on principles of biblical
moral law. John Adams, a member of the Continental Congress and second
president of the United States, said the U.S. Constitution "was
made only for a moral and a religious people."
Justice Moore obviously believes that the laws of God, including the
Ten Commandments, are relevant and appropriate. The United States has
long been considered a Christian nation. However, in our current pluralistic
culture, Christianity has been relegated to only one of several alternative
faith traditions. Humanism, agnosticism, atheism and other godless secular
belief systems are deemed as other viable options. Many consider the
Ten Commandments as a cultural anachronism and inappropriate for any
governmental official.
Governmental officials are sworn in by placing their hand on a Bible.
Why? What significance does that custom have any more? Should we offer
instead a choice of religious writings or no book at all? That would
certainly be more politically correct.
The phrase "one nation under God" from the pledge of allegiance
must also be seen as an anachronism. To be "under God" implies
trust and faith in God and His laws. United States coins and paper currency
still bear the motto, "In God we trust." But how can a nation
both trust God and reject His law? Can we tell God, "Please bless,
protect and provide for us, but don't tell us how to live our lives"?
At the east entrance of the Supreme Court building is a massive sculpture
of Moses bearing the two tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed.
Two tablets with Roman numerals 1 through 10—a clear symbol of
the Ten Commandments—are carved onto the oak doors between the
south courtroom and main hallway of the same building.
To be complete, the purge would have to include tearing down these and
many other symbols with allusions to or quotations from the Bible and
God found throughout federal buildings and monuments in our nation's
capitol.
Thomas Jefferson's reference to "a wall of separation of church
and state" appears nowhere in the nation's founding documents, but
instead was mentioned in a private letter between Mr. Jefferson and a
church congregation. It became famous when it made its debut into American
culture in a 1947 Supreme Court ruling regarding religion in public schools.
Since then it has become a mantra for anti-Christian advocates who want
freedom from religion, rather than the freedom of religion intended
by those who framed the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
In this paranoia regarding "separation of church and state," historical
and legal facts are constantly overlooked or ignored. The First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Has
anyone considered that the strong-arm tactics of this case represent
a violation of Judge Moore's First Amendment rights?
The toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein several months ago was
a poignant metaphor for the destruction of the Iraqi dictator's regime.
Similarly, the carting away of the Ten Commandments is symbolic of the
removal of the laws of God from their foundational position in our governance
and an acknowledgement that they are no longer considered relevant or
appropriate in our culture.
The larger issue here is that human nature is inherently resistant to
the law of God. Paul wrote in Romans 8:7 that "the carnal mind is
enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed
can be."
This is not just a philosophical issue. It has devastating moral consequences
that Paul spells out in Romans 1:18-32. Read for yourself this passage,
a graphic description of the sexual revolution overwhelming the United
States and other Western nations today.
A famous statue outside the United Nations building in New York quotes
Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruninghooks." This prophecy of the coming Kingdom of
God on earth also states that the law of God will be restored to its
rightful role in the governing all human conduct (Isaiah 2:2-4). Then
and only then will mankind reap the benefits of peace and prosperity
that are so lacking in today's world. |
