First Government Building to Add Atheist Monument

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

A Florida courthouse that stirred controversy over posting the Ten Commandments has decided as part of a legal settlement to give equal time to atheists.

 

The group, American Atheists, objected to Bradford County Courthouse’s Decalogue display last year and sued the county, claiming the Ten Commandments monument violated the separation of church-state doctrine.

 

To resolve the matter, local officials offered to put up a display by the atheists alongside the biblical one, which was agreeable with the plaintiffs.

 

“While separation of religion and government is always our primary motivation, equal access in this case works for us,” Dave Muscato, public relations director for American Atheists, told the Christian Post. “We are thrilled to place what we believe to be the first ever atheist-sponsored monument on government property in the history of the United States.”

 

The group plans to display a monument bench that will feature quotes from Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a renowned atheist activist, an excerpt from the Treaty of Tripoli signed by President John Adams, and quotes from founders Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

                                                                                                                          

“It also includes a 10-point list that parallels the Ten Commandments monument, specifying the Biblical punishment prescribed for violating each commandment, with Biblical citations,” Muscato added. “Several of the punishments are simply execution.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

To Learn More:

Fla. Courthouse to Have First in the Nation Atheist Monument (by Michael Gryboski, Christian Post)

Florida Courthouse to See Country’s First Atheist Monument (by Eric Dolan, Raw Story)

American Atheists (Facebook)

Fort Bragg Agrees to Allow Atheist-Themed Concert on Base (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Atheists in Foxholes Demand Recognition (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)

Comments

Tango 11 years ago
The Decalogue contaons concepts that are common in the three leading western religions, as well as several that are common with non-western religions, like prohibitions on murder, theft and lying. The "separation" you are complaining about is present in the fact that the government is not mandating that we all must follow variant A of religion X, as the English did with the Anglican church. The First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." People love to recite the first ten words as gospel - pun fully intended - yet in their enthusiasm forget the six that follow, making it seem that the goal is less freedom from the presence of religion than it is the elimination of religion as publicly acceptable.
julietjudge 11 years ago
The 10 Christian commandments should be removed. If there is a recognition of a religion then there is no seperation of church & state. Are the original Jewish 613 commandments going to be put up too and what about the 5 pilars of Islam?

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