Supreme Court lets city refuse religious monument

Reuters ^ | February 25, 2009 | By James Vicini

[Oldeconomybuyer]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a Utah city can refuse to put a religious group's monument in a public park near a similar Ten Commandments display.

The justices unanimously sided with the city of Pleasant Grove, which had said a ruling for the religious group would mean public parks across the country would have to allow privately donated monuments that express different views from those already on display.

The Summun religious group, founded in Salt Lake City in 1975, sought in 2003 to erect a monument to the tenets of its faith, called the "Seven Aphorisms," in a park where there are other monuments, including a Ten Commandments display.

Pleasant Grove rejected the request, citing its requirement that park displays be related to its history or be donated by groups with longtime community ties, like the Fraternal Order of Eagles that gave the Ten Commandments monument in 1971.

The religious group sued and argued that it violated the constitutional right to free speech for the city to allow one message on public property while excluding another message. A U.S. appeals court agreed.

Attorneys for the city argued that the appeals court's ruling would require cities and states to remove long-standing monuments or result in public parks nationwide becoming cluttered junkyards of monuments.

The Supreme Court agreed in overturning the appeal court's ruling.

[LearsFool]

The “Seven Aphorisms”?? ROFL!

Sheesh, what’s next? A monument to “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”? “The Four Rules of Safely Operating a Table Saw”? “The Three Elements of Real Estate Value”?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Five Forces of Industry by Michael Porter.

[a fool in paradise]

The religious group sued and argued that it violated the constitutional right to free speech for the city to allow one message on public property while excluding another message. A U.S. appeals court agreed.

I was looking forward to seeing a park in Utah look like this:

[a fool in paradise]

45 Declared Goals Of Communism

[utherdoul]

Ah the old Seven Aphorisms ... I’ve never heard of it and it probably ranks between Seventh Day Adventism and Scientology in its validity.

[tet68]

I could see a monument to the “Three Rules of Gun Safety”.

[TKDietz]

“Ah the old Seven Aphorisms ... I’ve never heard of it and it probably ranks between Seventh Day Adventism and Scientology in its validity.”

I suppose it's all relative though. A lot of people would rank Mormonism somewhere between Seventh Day Adventism and Scientology. Seventh Day Adventists and Scientologists would disagree, as would Mormons. Whatever your religion, yours is the valid one in your mind and all the others are either way off base or at least somewhat wrong.

[Hoffer Rand]

You can see that at the capitol building right now. The legislature is in session...

[a fool in paradise]

I hope the courts remember this ban on religious monuments (at least for new religions) when people start to demand publicly funded statues of OBAMA.

[zeugma]

Don't let the media tell you what the Nasgul are doing. Read it for yourself.

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