Greg Easterbrook has proposed that posting only six commandments on the courthouse walls would avoid the constitutional prohibition against establishment of religion. He argues for leaving out the four commandments:
"You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourselves an idol.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.
Remember the Sabbath Day, and keep it holy."
He would place the following in the courthouse"
"You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness.
Honor your father and mother.
Also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Since the courthouse inscriptions would omit mention of God and focus on human behavior, they would not establish religion and would, therfore, pass constitutional muster.
Amy Welborn finds it odd for reasons she “can't put her finger on yet.”
Here is an answer from the first reading for Ash Wednesday.
"Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment." Joel 2:12-13
Joel offers a clue. Without the omitted commandments, we don't have much of a chance of keeping the rest. The temptation to violate one of the six commandments Easterbrook would post arises because our heart is divided. It is focused on something else. (In the old days we called this state an “inordinate attachment. Today we are more likely to call it a compulsion, or addiction.) Reflect on what might lead one to violate the commandments Easterbrook would post on the courthouse wall.
The urge, for example, to “bear false witness” arises because our hearts are divided. A heart attached on something else will lead one to lie, rather than lose it. (There is the additional, partly joking objection that a prohibition against false witness would create a hostile working environment for lawyers.) A similar argument can be made for each of the other commandments.
Posting these commandments would be a commendable public teaching on good behavior.
It won’t help anyone with a compulsion so strong that they have ended up in court. To escape this compulsion, they will have to admit that it is more powerful than they are and “return to (God) with your whole heart”.
Like Amy, I’m bothered by Esterbrook’s suggestion. It is a good idea, but without the commandment against “putting other gods (i.e. attachments, compulsions) before me” it won’t help. Rending one's heart, i.e. turning it over to the care of God, will.
Just as Scripture says faith without works is dead, what about works without faith? That is essentially what Esterbrook is proposing. And in my opinion, works without faith is lacking purpose and meaning. Why continue doing something that has no meanign and purpose? Good behavior without any faith or spirituality attached would lead to the decline of that good behavior.
Posted by: Philothea Rose | February 08, 2005 at 12:30 PM