To me, this is a no-brainer. Of course citizens have the right to build a monument to the
Ten Commandments; “Congress shall make
no law…prohibiting the free exercise (of religion).” Also, the tale of Moses
receiving the law of God is one of the most well known stories ever and the
basis for 4000 years of Judeo-Christian morality. However, because of that
pesky First Amendment, the state of Oklahoma finds itself in a sticky
place. Along with the right of citizens
to practice the religion of their choice without interference from the
government, the very same amendment bars the state from endorsing one religion
over others; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion.”
By allowing a monument rooted firmly in the practice of
Judaism and Christianity to take a place of prominence on the capital grounds,
the state appears to have endorsed one set of beliefs over all others. To
rectify this, the state must allow the erection of similar monuments rooted in other
faiths OR order the removal of the original monument. The fact that it is a
group of Satanists who have announced plans to place their own monument in
Oklahoma City makes me gleeful. It is the perfect group to challenge the state
of Oklahoma.
The worship of Satan would most likely be abhorrent to 99%
of the citizens of the Sooner State, and this will be a real test of Oklahoma’s
commitment to the ideals of the United States Constitution. If Christians and
Jews can have a monument on land at the state capital building, then so can
other faiths, right? That is exactly
what the Constitution guarantees.
The First Amendment protects the right of stupid people to
say hurtful things exactly as strongly as it does the right of Martin Luther
King, Jr. to speak so beautifully about equality. That same First Amendment
protects the right of any citizen to pray to any arbitrary and omniscient being
he or she chooses, while at the same time guaranteeing the government cannot
endorse one particular omnipotent being (or set of beings) over any other
omnipotent being (or set of beings). For the Constitution to mean anything, it
has to apply equally. For the citizens of Oklahoma, that means you either have
to take down those Ten Commandments or clear space for Baphomet (the
goat-headed Satanist monument), Shiva, Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster,
and any other imaginary being people choose to worship. That is the enduring
truth of the First Amendment: it is at its most beautiful when protecting what
many find most ugly.
