Congressman Wants Citizens of ALL Religions to Reflect on the Ten Commandments

Well, spring is in the air, and that can mean only one thing: it's time for a member of Congress to introduce a resolution proclaiming the first weekend of May "Ten Commandments Weekend." This time, the resolution comes from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

These kinds of resolutions almost always contain a dose of Christian nationalist American history revisionism, and Gohmert's resolution, H. Res. 211, is no different. In fact, just like Sen. Sam Brownback in his 2008 Ten Commandments Weekend resolution, and Broun in his, Gohmert includes a quote from John Quincy Adams in one of his "Whereas" clauses: "Whereas the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, declared the Ten Commandments to be 'laws essential to the existence of men in society, and most of which have been enacted by every nation, which ever professed any code of laws.'"

And, just like Brownback and Broun did in their resolutions, Gohmert omits the part of the quote in which Adams made it clear that many of the laws of the Old Testament were "adapted to that time only" and binding only on the ancient Jews. Here's what Adams actually wrote, in a letter to his son: