Ten Commandments lawn signs flying off the shelves in La Crosse

Minneapolis Star Tribune ^ | 6/20/02 | AP Staff Writer

[Caleb1411]

Ten Commandments lawn signs are flying off the shelves in a show of support for keeping a Ten Commandments monument in a city park, a religious leader said.

David Twite, executive director of Crossfire Ministries, a non-denominational youth ministry, has been handing out the signs for nearly two weeks. He said Wednesday he can't keep up with demand.

[Caleb1411]

BUMP

[ICE-FLYER]

Excellent. Is there any information on how to donate to this person? I am sure that they could use the funds.

[DreamWeaver]

Hmmm, this is a great idea, in fact, I wouldn't mind displaying one of these signs on my property also.

Mega BUMP
For a great idea that who knows, it could go nation wide.

[Bigg Red]

BTT

[Bigg Red]

BTT

[Equality 7-2521]

...monument violates separation of church and state because it sits on city property

Even if there is a provision of separating church and state, what does a city have to do with the state? La Crosse is not Wisconsin and Wisconsin is not the USA. If the group were La Crosse based, I could understand their beef with their local government, but as they are Madison based what goes on in La Crosse shouldn't concern them.

And I'm an atheist-leaning agnostic.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I have a big copy of the ten commandments hanging in my cubicle at work, and I'm not really very actively religious... but thus far, in over a year, no one has complained... ;0)

Of course, they know better ;0)

[3catsanadog]

This is a great idea; what worries me is some pinhead from the localities will complain that a permit needs to be obtained before posting a sign in one's own yard.

[Quix]

Sounds like a God thing to me.

The enemy's effort results in more publicity for the very thing the enemy was upset about. Cute.

[freeeee]

Huh. Kind of funny. These people are proving it doesn't take the government's help to get the 10 Commandments posted.

Amazing what people can accomplish on their own.

[A2J]

Mayor John Medinger said Monday he supports a plan to sell the piece of the park where the monument sits to the Eagles Club.

Great idea. Sell it for $1.00.

[Equality 7-2521]

Ad hominem noted.

www.dictionary.com is not exactly a legal dictionary.

The 1st Amendment, which is the source of the 'penumbra' separating church and state says: "congress shall make no law..." I'm curious how a religiously zealous atheist such as yourself will twist this to say that a city has no authority to place a religious icon in a public park if the residents of that city are so inclined. Does dictionary.com also define 'congress' in a similar way?

The bottom line is: what do a group of knuckleheads in Madison care what a different group of knuckleheads in La Crosse are doing anyway? With them having no interest in the activities of La Crosse, how can this be thought of as anything other than a frivolous lawsuit?

[stainlessbanner]

And I thought they only wanted to take our Southern monuments!

[antidisestablishment]

Federalism is not generally one of the touchstones of groups promoting the eradication of religion. These people are absolute statists.

[Caleb1411]

More hypocrites who want graven images in public!

Not quite, todd. The biblical proscription applies to anthropomorphized likenesses of God Himself. His Word, on the other hand, is to be read, copied, memorized, quoted, and disseminated. If it weren't, then Moses would have been in a heap of trouble for carrying the (plainly visible) Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai to the people.

[Caleb1411]

This is a great idea; what worries me is some pinhead from the localities will complain that a permit needs to be obtained before posting a sign in one's own yard.

Yeah, but then the politicians will think ahead to the upcoming elections, when they'll want their yard signs on every lawn possible. Sic transit pinhead's pipe dream.

[dpa5923]

The 14th admendment to the US Constitution says in part No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

In a nutshell this means a state or city or township or locale cannot make a law that violates rights protected under the US Constitution.

By using your train of thought it should be no ones concern if in the city of LaCross the freedoms of speech and the press were abridged. After all what goes on in La Crosse shouldn't concern them.