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Friend,
For years, Kentucky schools posted the Ten Commandments.
At the bottom of each display, the state legislature required the notation that "[t]he secular application of the Ten Commandments is clearly seen in its adoption as the fundamental legal code of Western Civilization and the Common Law of the United States."
The Kentucky state legislature was absolutely right.
But in 1980, an activist court struck down the displays and ordered all schools to remove any of the Ten Commandments from their halls, campus grounds, and walls.
How awful, five Justices feared, that the students might read the Commandments and obey them!
Oh, for the time before the 1980 ruling in Stone v. Graham when the worst infractions in schools were chewing gum and making spitballs.
Don't let activist judges eradicate public faith!
The Justices wrote: "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments.
However desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion, it is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause" (emphasis added).
In a highly unusual move, the High Court issued its order without receiving legal briefs and without oral arguments.
Claiming that the Ten Commandments served "no constitutional educational function," and citing the Lemon test, the Court ordered the Commandments removed.
The fact of the matter is the Ten Commandments are the indisputable basis of our law and government.
America's legal system is based upon English common law. English common law, in turn, was based upon "Dōmbōc," aka the Legal Code of Ælfred the Great.
It is commonly called the "Book of Dooms."
In 839 A.D., King Ælfred compiled all known common laws into one book.
The book's prefix began with the Ten Commandments and included Mosaic law and Christian ethics throughout the known common laws of the time.
Throughout the book, King Ælfred paraphrased biblical passages as illustration and instruction.
Defend the Faith & double your impact with the Challenge Grant!
For example, in one section, King Ælfred admonished judges to "Doom (Old Sussex word for judge) very evenly!
Do not doom (judge) one doom (judgment) to the rich; another to the poor!
Nor doom one doom to your friend; another to your foe!"
This is a direct reference to Leviticus 19:16, which states,
"You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly."
The "Code of Ælfred" became the basis for English common law, which, in turn, became the basis for the Magna Carta, both of which became the basis of American law and the underpinning of our U.S. Constitution.
As a result, the Ten Commandments and biblical law are referenced in colonial charters and later in state constitutions. Twelve of the 13 original colonies adopted the entire Decalogue into their civil and criminal laws.
For instance, in 1610, Virginia codified the first commandment into law when it required its leaders to give "allegiance" to God, "from whom all power and authority is derived," and who is the "King of kings, the Commander of commanders, and Lord of hosts."
The 1780 Constitution of Massachusetts codified the second commandment into its constitution, stating in Part I, Article II, "It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great creator and preserver of the universe."
The Third Commandment, to not take the Lord's name in vain, was adopted by Virginia in 1610 ("That no man blaspheme God's holy name upon the pain of death") and by Connecticut in 1639.
The Fourth Commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," was adopted by Virginia in 1610, New Haven in 1653, New Hampshire in 1680, Pennsylvania in 1682 and 1705, South Carolina in 1712, North Carolina in 1741, and Connecticut in 1751.
The list goes on and on.
But the historical reality is that our nation and our laws were predicated upon the Ten Commandments.
Help Liberty Counsel restore the Judeo-Christian values that made us great.
The Lemon Test ignored this history and attempted to divorce America's history and law from the law of God.
But with Liberty Counsel's historic 9-0 win in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, and our amicus brief in the Coach Kennedy case, the Lemon test has been relegated to the dustbins of bad jurisprudence.
As a result, our schools may now post the Ten Commandments, as both history and constitutional education, as well as for the moral development of our youth.
Again, as a result of Liberty Counsel's destruction of Lemon, governments may display nativity scenes, public parks may now display crosses and stars of David, and public officials and people alike may pray once again!
Lemon is dead. Liberty lives!
It has taken decades to destroy Lemon.
But now we must fight to restore all that has been stolen by the courts. We have mountains of casework ahead defending this win, and to resurrect the monuments, statues, practices, prayers, and even Good News Clubs for children that meet on school property.
Please help us restore the faith of this nation with your generous gift today. Every donation made today will be DOUBLED IN IMPACT, thanks to a special Challenge Grant established to help fund our crucial legal work!
Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
Liberty Counsel is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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