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Arkansas Legislature Votes To Erect 10 Commandments Monument On State Grounds
Governor Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., signed legislation last week allowing for a Ten Commandments monument to be displayed on Arkansas’ state house grounds. The monument will be paid for with private funds.
The bill passed the Arkansas legislature by large majorities– House 72-7 and Senate 27-7–and comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act’s passage in the state.
Language in the bill notes the significant role the Ten Commandment played in the nation’s legal history, providing the “moral foundation of the laws and the legal system of the United States.” According to the legislation:
The Ten Commandments represent a philosophy of government held by many of the founders of this nation and by many Arkansans and other Americans today, that God has ordained civil government and has delegated limited authority to civil government, that God has limited the authority of civil government, and that God has endowed people with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Some of the rights corresponding to the Ten Commandments include: “Thou shalt not kill” creates the right to life; “Thou shalt not bear false witness” creates the right to not be falsely accused of a crime (which, of course, could result in the loss of one’s life, liberty, or property); “Thou shalt not steal” creates the right to own property; and “Honor thy father and thy mother” creates the right to have a family. (This right to a family is also delineated in the book of Genesis: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife: and they shall become one flesh.”)
State Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, when introducing the legislation in the Arkansas state house, said, “The 10 Commandments monument is a visible reminder intended to keep us focused outside of ourselves, just as the founders looked outside of themselves for guidance.”
State Rep. John Walker, R-Little Rock, spoke in opposition to the legislation, “[W]e’ll be, as we are now in some respects, the laughingstock of the United States, along with Indiana.”
He also warned that the state would be sued and lose, and have to pay the litigation fees; however, the legislation specifies that the state can choose to defend the Ten Commandment monument or allow Liberty Legal Institute–a religious liberty advocacy group–to mount the defense.
The bill cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Van Orden v. Perry (2005), in which it ruled that the display of the Ten Commandments on the Texas state house grounds is permissible under the Constitution. In reaching its decision, the Court noted:
It is true that religion has been closely identified with our history and government… . The fact that the Founding Fathers believed devotedly that there was a God and that the unalienable rights of man were rooted in Him is clearly evidenced in their writings, from the Mayflower Compact to the Constitution itself… . It can be truly said, therefore, that today, as in the beginning, our national life reflects a religious people who, in the words of Madison, are ‘earnestly praying, as … in duty bound, that the Supreme Lawgiver of the Universe … guide them into every measure which may be worthy of his [blessing … .]
The Court held it is not the “establishment of religion” to acknowledge the undeniable historic role the belief in God and His eternal laws has had in the United States’ history.
h/t: Wall Street Journal
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Informing And Equipping Americans Who Love Freedom
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/arkansas-legislature-votes-erect-ten-commandments-monument-state-grounds/
Wait till the real Christians stand not those watered down type, I mean the crusader type they are the shizzzzzzzz!