TEN

I WONDER IF Americans favor posting the Ten Commandments in government buildings and having school children recite the Pledge of Allegiance because their education in history and "civics" has been limited to secondary school, while the churches constantly preach that God in Lord over all of life ("Moore commandments," Sept. 20; "Judging the judge," Sept. 6). Rarely do churches explore what that means in a country with freedom of religion and from religion.

While a lot of us take for granted the separation of church and state, it is a relatively new idea in human history. It is enormously complex to grasp and to operate, both for individuals and society as a whole. To assume that people mastered it in high school while churches are pounding away that you should "take every thought captive to Christ" is unrealistic.

Patricia Hunt

Staunton, Va.

The other day a friend, referring to the removal of the Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of Alabama's Supreme Court, asked me, "Where do you suppose it is now? I replied, "In the Bible. The Ten Commandments are where they've always been: in the 20th chapter of Exodus and the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy." And that's where they belong--in our" Bibles, in our hearts, in our behavior and perhaps even on our lips, but not on a big rock in a state or federal court. The monument in Alabama's Supreme Court building was not only a violation of the First Amendment, it was also a violation of the Second Commandment: "Thou shall make o graven images."

J. Barry Vaughn

St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa.

The question remains: Can we fully appreciate our own justice system without acknowledging its debt to religion? I don't think so.

Herschel Moore

Bellaire Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Houston, Tex.

It has always seemed curious to me that certain Christians defend the Ten Commandments as vigorously as they do. I would understand better if they were being defended by Jewish zealots. But Christians? Jesus challenged the literal interpretation of the law on several occasions. Mark reports that Jesus said the law was made for man, not man for the law, when referring to the specific law regarding observance of the Sabbath. And all three synoptic Gospels record that the great commandments are simply to love Cod and love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

With all of this evidence that Jesus did not call for the literal enforcement of the law, it seems that there are greater battles for Christians to wage than the battle for Judge Moore's monument. I would hope some of this great energy could be directed toward issues of peace, justice and harmony within the human community, This nation was not founded to be Christian, but it was founded on the principal of religious freedom to all. Let's get our priorities straight.

Joyce T. Martin

Gayton Road Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Richmond, Va.

The September 6 CENTURY editorial refers to Dostoevsk'y's question, "If there is no God, is not everything permissible?" ("Judging the judge"). In the light of what we now know about humanity and its gods, might not the question be, "Is there anything that is not permissible with reference to any God or gods?"

History shows that in spite of a latent and indistinct sense of human worth, misguided people will appeal to some gods or God to justify, anything they decide to do. Any god-centered belief held however piously, has proven morally inferior to a genuine sense of the worthiness of humanity, for its own sake and without appeal to any other source of justification.

Phillip Griffin

Golden Valley, Minn.

COPYRIGHT 2003 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group