Religious intolerance and religious persecution are generally symptoms of a
society in deep turmoil. The United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom posts “Countries of Particular Concern”. Among the usual
suspects are China, Sudan, and North Korea where the restriction of
religious freedoms is assuredly only one of a whole host of human rights
violations regularly perpetrated.

“Thankfully, America has not fallen to those levels, but the “Rule of Law”
itself will deteriorate without the support of religious ideals. Ben
Franklin, that likeable skeptic, speculated: "If men are so wicked as we now
see them with religion, what would they be if without it?"

The Ten Commandments should be posted - both in schools for students to
follow, and in courtrooms for citizens and the judiciary - as a deterrent to
unethical behavior. The Commandments can be a reminder that gives people of
all ages and backgrounds the strength to act responsibly and morally.
We are living in a time when the world seems to be at war with its Creator
and the battle cry is, “Don’t interfere with my good time.” Genuine
happiness and authentic joy is being abandoned for temporary thrills and
life altering spills. The carnival barkers of societal decay are flooding in
through modern “entertainment”. Our jails and hospitals are filled with
broken promises and shattered dreams.

Many in our society seriously misunderstand what God intended when he gave
us His instruction manual. For instance, theft destroys the basis of trust
needed in a civil society. Adultery destroys families and casts chaos into
future generations. The morality expressed in the Ten Commandments reflects
the nature of the universe. These are words of wisdom from the
manufacturer. They simply say: for best results, do it this way.

Many critics have argued that the sight of the Ten Commandments may offend
people of other religions, but that's an extremely weak argument. (I'm
usually offended whenever I watch TV on the public airwaves!) People who
enter the courthouse do not have to acknowledge or respect the Ten
Commandments. America’s antagonistic courts are, in effect, endorsing
agnosticism, atheism and humanism over a school of thought and a wealth of
beliefs and practices that have brought us through the last several thousand
years! This is not just a matter of changing horses in mid-stream, it is
just jumping off and diving, alone and unguided, into the unforeseeable
rapids.

There are about 4,000 monuments to the Ten Commandments in city and county
courthouses across the United States. Look at the Speaker’s dais in the
House of Representatives and on the wall of the Supreme Court. To be honest
and consistent, we would have to strip every monument from every public
building in America. Then justice will not only be blind, but it will be
naked as well.

Our plaques of the Ten Commandments are not “graven images” that we wish to
see worshipped. They should hold the exact meaning, no more and no less,
for which they were intended - as the simple, visual reminders of the
principles on which all of Western Civilization is founded.

Jill S. Farrell is Director of Communications for the Free Congress
Foundation.