The Ten Commandment exterminators are out in full force. All around America, public displays of the Ten Commandments are the object of lawsuits, ACLU threats, city council battles, and civil disobedience. As Slate magazine writes, “It’s starting to be the Summer of Decalogues.”
The most notable case is that of Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore whose 5,300 pound Ten Commandments monument in the State Supreme Court building was ordered to be removed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals last month. On July 22, Moore announced that he will appeal the decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Christian activist groups have rallied to the defense of the Alabama commandments display with calls for non-violent civil resistance to preserve the monument if necessary.
In Kansas City, Kansas, the unified county/city council voted 8-0 on Thursday to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Wyandotte County Courthouse after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened a major lawsuit. The commandments have been located at the courthouse for over forty years when the Fraternal Order of Eagles donated them to the county.
Another ACLU fulmination is in the works at Wesley Bolin Plaza east of the Arizona state capitol in Phoenix. A monument of the Ten Commandments, donated in 1964, sits on state park land. The administrator of the park says she will advise the governor to keep the historical marker in place. And if they do, the ACLU will sue.
In Miles City, Montana, a group of citizens continues to protest a three-year old ACLU consent decree to remove a Ten Commandments plaque at the Custer County Courthouse. The ACLU wrote a letter to the county attorney last week threatening a second lawsuit if the commandments remain.
In Everett, Washington, a resident named Jesse Card called on Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) when he became