Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the legality of
maintaining displays of the Ten Commandments on government property
-- courtrooms, in particular. Among the arguments bandied about in
the media for keeping the displays has been the assertion that the
Ten Commandments reflect the historical makeup of the country, but
not the spiritual -- that they are an artifact and nothing more. Does
the display of the Ten Commandments in public settings -- meaning
government and school buildings -- necessarily imply an endorsement
of Christianity over other religions? Or do they simply reflect the
historical heritage of the United States without any religious
implication?
The Founding Framers of our freedom expressed a greater debt for
their inspiration to English political philosopher John Locke than to
God. Their discipleship was evident in their intellectual views and
political values. They owed more to Locke's "2nd Treatise of Civil
Government" than to the Bible; they paid homage to nature's God more
than to the God of providence; they were more persuaded by the God of
the philosophers than the God of the theologians. The Founder's
worldview was a scientific rationalism, not a devotional Christian
theism.
In the book "The Godless Constitution," we read: "For Locke, the
state's origin was not shrouded in the impenetrable mystery of divine
gift or dispensation. The source of the 'powers that be,' the
magistrates and monarchs that governed, was the people."
John Adams was united with his colleagues in proclaiming that the
state was a secular enterprise that could claim no divine
participation. The creators of American government "never had
interviews with the gods or were in any degree under the inspiration
of Heaven." The Founders espoused standard enlightenment deism,
positing a God who hardly interfered in the affairs of men. In
matters of statecraft, Locke demonstrated to the Founders'
satisfaction that both church and state were diminished when united
in unholy partnership.
The Ten Commandments is not a founding document of America.
Disobeying the first three of the Commandments, in which the believer
swears fealty to the God of Israel, would have made blasphemy a
crime. Does American jurisprudence distinguish between monotheism,
polytheism or atheism? Did not Jefferson himself say, in his "Notes
on the State of Virginia," that "The legitimate powers of government
extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me
