Leave your religion out of my courtrooms

1. You shall have no other gods but me.

2. You shall not take the name of your Lord in vain.

3. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath holy day.

4. Honor your mother and father.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

Pretty simple rules, if you ask me. Nobody really follows all of them. The question, though, is do they belong displayed in a courtroom? The only answer is an emphatic NO.

But that is exactly the problem. Currently, a circuit judge in Alabama, Roy S. Moore, has a display of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. When a lawsuit was filed against Moore, he was ordered to take down his copy, but the Alabama Supreme Court issue d a stay, allowing the Ten Commandments to stay up. Alabama Governor Fob James has stated that he will do whatever it takes to keep the Ten Commandments up in the courtroom, including "calling in the National Guard."

I guess in Alabama, they forgot about this little thing called the separation of church and state. Oh well; it looks like Congress doesn't have that great of a grasp on the concept, either.

The House of Representatives, with apparently nothing better to do during the week of March 3, 1997, voted in favor of House Resolution 31, which states that it is "lawful to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in a public building." The good people of Ar izona can be proud: Representatives Hayworth, Kolbe, Salmon, Shadegg, and Stump all voted to pass the resolution. Apparently, the only Arizona representative who understands the meaning of "separation of church and state" is Ed Pastor... interesting that he is also the only Democrat from the state. But I digress.

The thing is, do I even really need to present an argument against the display of the Ten Commandments in a public building? Let's think about it: the Ten Commandments come from the Torah and are supposed to be the word of God. They are being displayed in a national courtroom. See the logical progression?

Okay, let's go with freedom of expression. Does Moore have the right to display the Ten Commandments as an expression of his beliefs? Is there an inherent right to freedom of expression? There is never an inherent right to anything, because of the potenti al harms to others. Moore may be fervently religious, but does that give him the right to project his beliefs onto others who come into his courtroom, or to even hold those other people to the same religious views that he might have? Of course not. The wo nderful thing about being a judge is that not only do you get a courtroom, but there are also judge's quarters. If Moore wants to feel the 'power' emanate from his display, how about hanging it up in his own office? Sorry, stupid question.

The display of the Ten Commandments in a court of law is going to be offensive to some people. Moore does have a right to display the Ten Commandments, but that right does not appear to extend into the courtroom. In a courtroom, all people are supposed to be treated equally. It seems, though, that in Moore's courtroom, the religious would have an upper hand if they just posited their undying belief and alliance to the Supreme Being.

If Governor James wants to call out the National Guard to protect the rights of one judge, there can only one assumption made: it's time for re-election.

If Moore is so hep on having Ten Commandments in his courtroom, how about displaying them in their original text? I'm sure the good citizens of Alabama would love that.

Jeremy Pepper is a philosophy senior, whose success rate with the Ten Commandments is hovering at 50 percent. His column, 'Dash of Pepper,' appears every other Thursday.

By Jeremy Pepper (columnist)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 13, 1997