The Decalogue stands!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

THE DECALOGUE STANDS!

by Steve Fair

     On Friday, Judge Thomas Prince, an Oklahoma County District judge, ruled against the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and allowed the state of Oklahoma to continue to display the Ten Commandments monument at the State Capitol.  The monument stands 7’ tall, is made of granite, and is displayed in a 51 acre area near the Capitol with other monuments.  It was paid for by State Representative Mike Ritze and his family.
     The ACLU argued the Decalogue monument's location violated the state constitution's ban against using public property to support "any sect, church, denomination or system of religion." Prince disagreed, saying the monument serves a secular — not religious — purpose and therefore doesn’t violate the state constitution.  The ACLU has vowed to appeal to the State Supreme Court.  They have 30 days to do so.
     Attorney General Scott Pruitt said this about Friday’s ruling: “Today’s ruling is a clear message that the Ten Commandments can be displayed on public grounds like the Oklahoma Capitol because of the historical role the text has played in the founding of our nation. The Ten Commandments monument on the Oklahoma Capitol grounds is constitutional because of its historical value. The U.S. Supreme Court found constitutional a nearly identical monument in Texas. We were confident in the state’s case from the start and appreciate the court’s thoughtful consideration and ruling in the state’s favor,”
     The Ten Commandments have long stood as a symbol of the ideals embodied in America’s judicial system. In 1980, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist said, "It is equally undeniable ...that the Ten Commandments have had a significant impact on the development of secular legal codes of the Western World." President Harry Truman told the nation’s Attorney Generals in 1950:  "The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days."
     Three comments concerning the Ten Commandments:
     First, Judge Prince made the right decision.  As Truman, Rehnquist and others stated, out nation’s law are rooted in the Mosaic Law. Moses is prominently displayed throughout the halls of Washington- from the Capitol to the Supreme Court.   The Law of God (the Ten Commandments) had an undeniable influence on America.  That is why Prince could rightly rule it influenced America in a ‘secular’ sense.
     Second, no one can keep the Ten Commandments.  Jesus addressed some of those who thought they did keep the Mosaic Law in the Sermon on the Mount.  He told the Pharisees if they violated just one tenet of the law, they were guilty of breaking all of it.  Only one person ever fulfilled the law and that was Jesus Christ.
     Third, the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to reveal to us what we are.  The apostle Paul wrote in Gal 3:24 the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  The Ten Commandments are like a mirror, showing us how far we fall short of what God requires. The Decalogue is still relevant today.  It reveals what God demands from man- perfection.  But what God demanded from man on Mount Sinai, he gave to man on Mount Calvary. 
     Sir William Blackstone who wrote Commentaries on the Law was the recognized authority on the law for well over a century.  Blackstone said, "Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being....And, consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker's will...this will of his Maker is called the law of nature. These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil...This law of nature dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other.”
     There is a movement across America to purge our country of its true heritage.  Secularists hate that America’s founders were spiritual people.  They despise that our founding documents recognize the Creator as the giver of our rights.  Fact is, the basis of our laws was the Ten Commandments.  To deny that is revisionist history.