The Supreme Court of Idaho ruled that the citizens of Boise have the right to vote on returning the 10 commandments to their original location at the court house.
Against the will of the people, the Boise City Council moved a Ten Commandments monument from a public park to a local church to avoid a lawsuit from extremist groups. Brandi Swindell with Keep the Commandments Coalition says residents refused to take the ruling sitting down.
Apparently the citizens of Boise have more political backbone than the Mayor of the city and the citizens of San Diego. Mayor David Bieter is quoted on the official Boise city web site as saying this is a perfect compromise. While the “Keep the Commandments Coalition” are willing to stand for the liberty and religious heritage their forefathers bequeathed to them without compromising the foundation for either of them.
“This case serves as a wake-up call to a lot of communities; the people have a lot of power. They just need to rise up and say that they are not going to allow these government officials to wash away their religious heritage.”
In the case of the Mt. Soledad Cross, the citizens of San Diego have conceded the notion of the rights of the community and they are arguing their case from their enemies presuppositions. Like the mayor of Boise they are looking for a compromised political solution instead of standing on principles. Therefore the solution, even if they win the right to keep the cross on the land, is a loss for the foundational principle of liberty.
It is a loss because their actions declare that the federal government has more right to display a cross than the local community does. This stands the idea of liberty on it’s head. It is not the federal government that grants freedom. It is the federal government who is suppose to protect freedom given by God and protected by our constitution. If our federal court were reigned in to a constitutional level there would be no need for this debate.
The citizens in Idaho however, are operating from a biblical and liberty preserving presupposition. Namely that the people in a community have a right to make decision based on their own beliefs. They don’t want a compromise and they are not looking for a fight. It appears they simply understand the principles of liberty and are willing to stand in defense of those principles.
Thank You Idaho for being willing to stand in the gap and defend our rights as a free people!
Here are other counties around our nation where this battle has taken place and where we have suffered from the tyranny of the minority.
Ten Commandments Monuments & Displays
Removed from Public Property
Alabama | Montgomery, August 2003 |
Georgia | Habersham County, November 2003 |
Indiana | Bedford, November 2000 |
Elkhart, August 2002 | |
Iowa | Johnson County, March 2001 |
Kansas | Kansas City/Wyandotte County |
Kentucky | Harlan County , May 2000 |
McCreary County, May 2000 | |
Pulaski County, May 2000 | |
Minnesota | Duluth, March 2004 |
Montana | Custer County, August 2003 |
North Carolina | Winston-Salem, January 2004 |
Ohio | Adams County, June 2003 |
Pennsylvania | Hanover, January 2004 |
Tennessee | Murfreesboro, June 2002 |
Taylor County, January 2003 | |
Utah | Murray |
Ogden | |
Provo, May 2003 | |
Roy | |
Salt Lake City | |
Toole, August 2002 | |
West Valley | |
Wisconsin | Milwaukee, July 2001 |
Monroe | |
Wyoming | Casper, November 2003 |
(SOURCE: Freedom Forum First Amendment Center and news reports) |
[…] San Diego Sells Liberty Boise Stands For Liberty […]
[…] In related news….( I always wanted to say that) there is more information out today about the ballot initiative in Boise ID. The Keep the Commandments Coalition who is leading the charge to return the 10 Commandments back to the city park is willing to raise money to pay the fees associated with the move. More on that here. […]