WGNNews.org   Posted  10:45 P.M. : November 22, 2002

NOVEMBER 18, 2002

PUBLIC RELIGION
Decision: Ten Commandments must be removed from Alabama courthouse

must be removed within thirty days

Because of Moore’s personality and popularity, this case is the most picturesque of at least a dozen currently in play across the country. Thompson has taken on the big picture, saying the case turns on whether the state can acknowledge God. The ruling comes as the number of lawsuits involving the nation’s 4,000-plus Ten Commandments displays is increasing, as are efforts to post new ones. It’s a movement whose drama and passion strikes a spark with residents of every region of the country and in every walk of life.

Why It Matters
Neither the courts nor Americans is united on whether the Ten Commandments should be displayed on public property. Although the legal tide recently has favored keeping the Commandments off public land, the question is far from settled.

 For some, the issue is the opening wedge in a campaign to establish the United States as a Christian nation.

Civil libertarians and some members of minority religions see themselves as fighting to stop this incursion into the constitutional separation of church and state