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The gist of the issue is that a Christian group, Christian Men's Fellowship, sponsored the erection of a monument outside a Florida courthouse. The monument displayed the biblical Ten Commandments (well, the First Ten we should rightly say, since there are actually 631 total mitzvah in the Hebrew Testament - but Christians don't care much about that ever since their Messiah came around the first time). American Atheists, Florida chapter, protested such a blatant disregard for the separation of church and state, citing that a religious edifice on government property constitutes establishment. Well, they lost the fight to remove the monument, instead being granted an 'equal recognition' decision permitting them to erect their own monument. So soon they will.





What do we think of all this? What's it really all about?





At first glance it's an issue of free speech, since the latest statements released by the parties involve say it is. After the lawyers sorted out the mediation, a spokesman for CMF said, " they [CMF] do believe in their [AA's] right to freely express their beliefs." This statement is a bit backhanded, as its shows how the CMF is now - after the fact - taking the high road of not protesting AA's monument. CMF can go back and say, 'hey, remember when we put our thing up and you all complained, and then when you put your thing up we didn't whine about it?' By no means is such a statement fair or balanced, though, since AA contested the CMF erection on different grounds.





Behind the free speech consideration, there's something to it about the separation of church and state. This was the AA's problem with the Ten Commandments posted on public land. Even outside a courthouse, displaying Biblical verse belies an establishment bias that is explicitly at odds with Constitutional Law. But, the counterargument goes, aren't Moses' tablets the basis of our modern judicial system, and isn't a Ten Commandments display more historical than religious?





Herein we get to the core issue: Is America a Christian nation





The answer is: it depends on who you ask. If you ask the CMF, the answer is of course. The county law that originally permitted the Ten Commandments monument intended to promote free speech and, " commemorate 'people, events and ideas which played a significant role in the development, origins or foundations of United States of America or Florida law, or Bradford County.'" And most Christians fully believe that biblical law fully informs American law, and thereby plays a significant role in the development of the nation.





However, there are two little problems with this line of Christian thought. Firstly, the Ten Commandments are Jewish, not Christian. Or, they were Christian rules only after being Jewish laws. Or, Jesus wrote the commandments off anyways when he answered the direct question of which were to be followed: "Love The Lord your God with all your heart..." That wasn't a mitzvah, or at least it wasn't any of the preexisting ones verbatim. Regardless, why is it Christian organizations that continue to press for the Commandments in public and government venues, whereas the Jews don't seem to care much either way?





And secondly, American law doesn't actually care what god you worship, or who you sleep with, or who you covet, or if you swear, or if you observe sabbath, or if you honor your parents. Not in a criminal case at least. Only 40% of the Ten Commandments directly correlate to American law, so how can we say the former contribute in any significant way to the latter?





Dare we say that the AA monument is more true to the historical development of America law since it displays the following from the Treaty of Tripoli: " As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen..." Actually, no. The quote is rife with historical vagaries, as can be read about here and here . Yet, even if that quote is only 40% likely to represent the opinion of our founding politicians it then still is as influential upon our legal system as are the Ten Commandments.





Overall, the entire debate over monuments on public property is farcical. Neither edifice should be on display, as their purposes are not the commemoration of anything important. They are just part of the the game of socio-political posturing with no greater significance than various organizations flaunting their feathers in front of a captive audience. It's marketing, not advocacy.

Atheists are celebrating a recent legal victory in Florida, where constituent parties have debated the complex balancing act regarding free speech, religious liberty and separation of church and state. TIMES magazine's online newsfeed reported here after sites such as the Huffington Post National Review Online , and RAW Story had already published snippets days earlier.