The World Around You

The USA Today editorial page discusses the Roy Moore case and makes the same central argument I have made about the contention that the commandments are the basis of our law,

Moore’s actions test whether the Supreme Court is the ultimate authority for interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Otherwise, Moore, as the officer of a state court, can thumb his nose at a long history of Supreme Court rulings.

Proponents describe the Commandments as an important but benign acknowledgement of the origins of universal law. But a close reading suggests they’re largely concerned with religion:

• The First Commandment to most Christians — and the Second to Jews — is “thou shalt have no other God before me,” a religious doctrine subscribed to by many Americans, but certainly not all.

• More than half of the Commandments’ biblical text is about religious observance: no idolatry, no misuse of the Lord’s name and no work on the Sabbath, for example.

The Supreme Court considers the matter settled: Three attempts to reopen the issue were turned away in the past three years.

They go on to urge the Court to quiet the cases that are popping up all over the country. This debate needs to be settled, but it does not appear there has been a conflict in the circuit courts of appeals on this issue. There were different sets of facts in each case and each case appears to have been decided correctly based on established law.