Federal Court to the ACLU: "Shove it"

Not quite a direct quote, but close enough.

Today I was alerted to yet another ACLU suit against a public display of the Ten Commandments. Nothing to see here, right? Almost. The case was decided in late December, and the court sided with the defendant, Mercer County, KY. The judge who wrote the opinion had some great words for the ACLU:

The ACLU's argument contains three fundamental flaws. First, the ACLU makes repeated reference to "the separation of church and state." This extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.
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Second, the ACLU focuses on the religiousness of the Ten Commandments. No reasonable person would dispute their sectarian nature, but they also have a secular nature that the ACLU does not address. That they are religious merely begs the question whether this display is religious; it does not answer it.
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We will not presume endorsement from the mere display of the Ten Commandments. If the reasonable observer perceived all government references to the Deity as endorsements, then many of our Nation's cherished traditions would be unconstitutional, including the Declaration of Independence and the national motto. Fortunately, the reasonable person is not a hyper-sensitive plaintiff.

Translation: ACLU, lighten up and go home.

Ha! I love it.

[cross-posted at Right of Way Show]

Tags: ACLU, separation of church and state, Establishment Clause, Ten Commandments, 10 Commandments