 "Photo: Chet Overall")
Thou shalt not decorate thy local courthouse with placard replicas of the ten commandments. Or so decreed Rutherford County Court in its ACLU of Tenn., Inc. v. Rutherford County decision this past September.
Last week, the Rutherford County Commission finally complied with the ruling, hocking up $50,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union for the judgment.
In an official ACLU press release, Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN Executive Director, states that "The posting of the Ten Commandments sends the message that only certain believers can receive justice at the courthouse. Rutherford County residents should not be made to feel like second class citizens because they do not hold the prevailing religious beliefs promoted by the county government."
Weinberg adds, "The posting of the Ten Commandments in the Rutherford County Courthouse broadcasts a divisive message to the religiously pluralistic community of Rutherford County."
Commissioner Mike Sparks doesn't give up so easily, though, and he's opened a new front within the community. Sparks has passed out some 500 replicas of the embattled Ten Commandments, each identical to the placard barred from the courthouse.
"There's been an overwhelming response from the public and area businesses. People have donated everything from $20 to $100," reports Sparks. "Businesses have even run out of copies, so we give 'em more."
900 copies of the Ten Commandments have been printed so far, with $400 of the funding donated by area residents. The replicas are neatly framed upon delivery, ready for mounting.
"The ACLU will never defend the rights of Christians, so I will," Sparks claims, adding, "If this effort is going to make a difference, it'll be a positive one, not negative. And that's a chance I'm willing to take.
Owners of participating local businesses, like Ginny Williams of Gil's Ace Hardware in Smyrna, say customers have been very appreciative of the displays.
"I've had the Ten Commandments in my store for some time already, mainly so shoplifters notice the 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,'" jokes Williams. "Never had one complaint, though. A number of people tell me how much they like our having it up."
Management at Smyrna's the Rockin' Chair Café and at Lavergne Tire echoed William's sentiment, claiming customers have been all-too-kind. No negative reactions at all.
Local sentiment is more diverse, however.
"Moral change isn't passed out in Wal-Mart or tacked up in the drug store. It comes from within, along your own path," muses James Murray from Smyrna. "To try and force it any other way is laughable. It's totalitarian."
Others see it differently.
"It doesn't bother me, and I'm not a Christian. If you don't want a copy, then just say 'No thanks.' If the sight of the commandments offends you, then don't look," argues MTSU alumnus Tyler Bell.
In the shroud of the Southern religious majority, though, some have a different perspective.
"But why raise this fuss in the Bible belt? Maybe take all those copies of the Ten Commandments up to Washington," responds Margaret Dickinson of Murfreesboro. "People here have this stuff memorized already."
Some views hinted at a larger issue.
"[Sparks] is making an assumption about Rutherford County as a whole," Ryan Driber says. "Oh, 'y'all' live in the south, so 'y'all' must be Christian. It's untrue, not to mention unfair."
Sparks dismisses such notions, saying, "Our forefathers left England to get away from religious persecution, and we're under a similar threat today. It's our heritage. I don't see that as being intolerant at all."
But do these displays say something about the religious state of our nation? For one, leaders have mated The Ten Commandments with consumer routines, slipping the public biblical lessons, solicited or not.
God and his holy word and here's your sales receipt and have a nice day.
The sky's the limit as to where it ends.
Real quick, Commissioner Mike Sparks wants to make sure and thank his inspiration for all this.
"The ACLU has done us a favor by taking $50,000 of the taxpayers' money. Instead of having one Ten Commandments in the courthouse, you've got hundreds of them up in businesses and homes throughout the area. In a way, I'm grateful," he offers.
ACLU-TN Executive Director Weinberg, however, explains that the "ACLU brought the lawsuit to ensure that individuals have the right to decide for themselves whether to practice a particular religious faith or to post the Ten Commandments in their homes, businesses or places of worship. Were government to prohibit these postings, ACLU-TN would fight to protect citizens' right to promote their religious beliefs and practice their religious faiths. That is what we're here for."
Even in the south, when it comes to The Ten Commandments, nothing's written in stone.
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