Remember the biblical story of the Hebrews' departure from Egypt, having been freed by the Pharaoh after 400 years in captivity?
In that exodus, there came a time when Moses had ascended Mount Sinai, where he received the commandments from God. Meanwhile, the Hebrews at the mountain's base became restless. Without Moses' guidance, the Hebrews gave in to their fears and demanded Aaron, Moses' brother, build them a golden statue, a stand-in for God or gods that they could worship there in the wilderness.
What’s the point?
Arkansas should cease its efforts to build a monument to the Ten Commandments on public ground.
A similar story is playing out in Little Rock these days, with some (but not all) Bible-believing Christians on one side and folks who understand the desirable limitations of religion's role in government on the other.
Sen. Jason Rapert, a Republican from Bigelow, may view himself as a modern-day Moses, delivering the Ten Commandments to a people in desperate need of their moral teachings. He proposed, and convinced the Legislature to pass, a law authorizing construction of a monument to the biblical commandments on the grounds of the state Capitol. He's finalizing the paperwork to create the nonprofit American History and Heritage Foundation as the mechanism necessary to raise money for the project.
Rapert, however, is more like Aaron, willing to build a secular object -- even denying its roots in faith as thinly veiled subterfuge to clear the path to its construction -- to represent God in front of the masses, some of whom are believers and some who are not.
As with Aaron's golden calf, Rapert has unleashed reactions he either didn't anticipate or, at least, doesn't welcome. Leaders of the New York-based Satanic Temple want to place a 8 1/2-foot bronze statue of Baphomet -- a goat-faced, winged creature associated with the occult -- on the Capitol grounds. The Universal Society of Hinduism wants to erect a statue in honor of Hindu deity Hanuman, a monkey-faced god known for his strength and exceptional grammar. A Wisconsin-based group of atheists say they want a monument that says "There are no gods."
How about we just install a single monument at the Capitol? It will be in the shape of a can of worms. Opened, of course.
Despite the protestations of Rapert's supporters otherwise, the Ten Commandments monument is about establishing a nod to a particular faith tradition. And this mess is exactly what any reasonable person would have predicted when the Legislature overwhelmingly backed Rapert's bill.
Arkansas doesn't need a monument on public land to the Ten Commandments any more than it needs one to the Bible, the Quran, Book of Mormon or the Tripitaka. Advocates of smaller government shouldn't try encourage its extension into religion.
Our state lawmakers would do better by their neighbors if they simply tried to live by their faith as opposed to carving it in stone.
Commentary on 09/01/2015