A Stitch in Haste

…than one unconstitutional monument come down:

This morning, the city of Casper [Wyoming] will dedicate a new historic monument plaza made up of six large, granite monuments that include the Ten Commandments.

In 2003, the Ten Commandments were put into storage after an out-of-state group threatened to sue the city for displaying a religious monument on public property.

The five other monuments are: The Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the Mayflower Compact, the Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta — which, unlike the Ten Commandments, are all documents of secular law and governance. So the idea that a Decalogue belongs among them is an insolent farce.

It remains to be seen whether a post hoc amalgam of secular displays to “rescue” an unconstitutional religious display meets the standard of Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (2005). Under this Supreme Court, it almost certainly would.

And that’s an abomination.

(Via Religion Clause by way of Wall of Separation.)

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POST SCRIPT: Strictly secular?

Adding to the controversy, the Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., offered to place a monument anywhere on city property declaring that slain gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard is in hell.

Lord, what ghouls these theocrats be!

Similar Posts:

• What Part of “Establishment” is Unclear?
• Naked Bigotry Update: Kansas Church to Protest Other Churches
• We Had to Destroy the Ten Commandments in Order to Save It?
• B.A.T. Archives: On the Dixie County Decalogue
• On the Dixie County Decalogue

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