Atheist Groups Ask Federal Judge to Rule Against Arkansas’ Ten Commandments Monument

Atheists groups are again asking a federal judge in Little Rock to rule against Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments. The renewed request for a ruling is part of a lawsuit that has languished in court for more than six years.

In 2015 the Arkansas Legislature passed a measure authorizing a privately-funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas Capitol Building grounds.

The monument — which is identical to one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional at the capitol building in Texas — was unveiled in 2018.

However, atheist groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Satanic Temple promptly filed a lawsuit to have it removed from the capitol grounds.

The case originally was set to go to trial in July of 2020, but the trial was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has been asked multiple times to resolve the case, but so far it has remained in limbo.

In November, attorneys representing the groups who oppose the monument asked Judge Baker to issue a decision against the monument, citing a federal judge’s recent decision to block a Louisiana law that requires public school and college classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. Obviously, there are differences between Louisiana’s law placing the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms and Arkansas’ law authorizing a privately funded monument on the capitol grounds.

As we have said many times, there shouldn’t be anything controversial about a monument honoring the Ten Commandments.

Historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have helped shape philosophy and laws in countries around the world — including the United States.

Arkansas’ monument simply commemorates that legacy.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Lawsuit Over Ten Commandments Monument Still Languishing in Federal Court

Above: Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments authorized in 2015 and installed in 2018.

After more than six years, the lawsuit over Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments is still languishing in federal court.

In 2015 the Arkansas Legislature passed a measure authorizing a privately-funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the State Capitol Building grounds.

The monument is identical to one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional at the capitol building in Texas.

The monument was unveiled in 2018, but atheist groups and the Satanic Temple promptly filed a lawsuit to have it removed from the state capitol grounds.

The case originally was set to go to trial in July of 2020, but the trial was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has been asked multiple times to resolve the case, but so far it has remained in limbo.

As we have said many times, there shouldn’t be anything controversial about a monument honoring the significance of the Ten Commandments.

Historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have helped shape philosophy and laws in countries around the world.

Arkansas’ monument simply commemorates that legacy.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

The Ten Commandments Provide a Moral Code: Guest Column

Recently, the governor of Louisiana signed a bill that requires every public classroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments. Headlines quickly reported panic and filed lawsuits, but is the idea that far-fetched? 

No. Historically, the Mosaic Law was one of the first recorded legal codes, dating only a few hundred years after Hammurabi’s Code of Babylon. As State Representative Dodie Horton explained, this is reason enough for the bill. “It doesn’t preach a certain religion,” she said, “but it definitely shows what a moral code we all should live by is.” And, America cannot be understood separate from the idea of a moral law, this one in particular. In fact, both the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence appeal to it.  

It would be ironic if a legal challenge goes to the U.S. Supreme Court. After all, on the east side of the building is Moses holding the Ten Commandments.

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.