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By Katelyn Polantz
PEARISBURG
The Ten Commandments will return to the walls of Giles County schools, after a school board majority vowed Tuesday to dig in for what could be a long and costly court battle.
The board voted 3-2 Tuesday afternoon to rehang the Commandments among a display of nine other historical documents.
About 50 people stayed silent while the board began its meeting. Many of the attendees have prayed and pressed for this outcome since the district first removed the documents from school halls in December amid pressure to take them down.
The board then heard two comments from members of the public -- one for and one against -- and quickly voted after that.
"You have my word: My spiritual, physical and financial resources will be behind you," county resident and school district volunteer Charlie Henderson told the board before receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. "How could I go home tonight and look in my granddaughter's eyes and say, 'It cost too much?' "
The board held no discussion on the matter.
Chairman J.B. Buckland and board members Joseph Gollehon and Ronald Whitehead voted to rehang the Commandments. Drema McMahon and Lewis Webb opposed.
"Personally I felt it's the right thing to do," Buckland said.
Tuesday's decision is final as far as the board goes, Buckland said, and punctuated mounting public support for the religious text.
Many in the audience after the vote exclaimed, "Praise God," voiced sighs of relief and thanked their school board representatives. Some, including Henderson, pledged to help the district financially to defend the decision.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and Freedom from Religion Foundation have said they will sue the school board, alleging violations of parts of the First Amendment that protect religious freedom. The groups will ask for an injunction in U.S. District Court, their attorneys have said.
On Tuesday, attorney Patrick Elliott of Freedom from Religion, an atheist and agnostic group, said it's "very likely" his organization and the ACLU will sue after they consult two families they represent in Giles County.
Meanwhile, Buckland said he and Superintendent Terry Arbogast had consulted attorneys at the Liberty Counsel. The conservative Christian legal group will represent the school board pro bono if the district faces a legal battle.
Costs will come if the district loses in court and must pay for their opposition's expenses.
Two Kentucky counties that lost a 12-year battle to keep a display with the Ten Commandments in courthouses each owe half a $450,000 court bill to the ACLU. The counties are scrambling for funds to pay off the debt, the McCreary County Record reported in May.
"I love my country and these documents, but we do not have the money to take this to the Supreme Court," McMahon said after the vote.
Principals at Giles County schools will choose where to hang the Commandments among a display of other historical documents before next school year begins, Buckland said.
Bobby Lilly, Pulaski County assistant commonwealth's attorney and Giles County resident, proposed months ago the district use a display called the Foundations of American Law and Government to place the Ten Commandment in an educational context.
Similar displays have been used in past court battles over the Ten Commandments in government buildings, with mixed outcomes. Their results have hinged on whether the courts see the displays to have secular or religious motives.
The Giles County display includes framed prints of the Mayflower Compact, Virginia Declaration of Rights, Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, the Magna Carta, sheet music of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and a picture of Lady Justice, with her blindfold and scales.
The sole opposer to speak, Cory Brunson, told the board its decision reflects upon all Virginia residents. Brunson is not a Giles County resident and represented Freethinkers at Virginia Tech, a student group.
Because of the lack of opposition in this rural and predominantly Christian county, Brunson said he felt a need for a group to voice the other side.
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Legality
If the schools post equivalent writings from all other religions, it can be viewed as an historical display, and therefor legal. If ONLY the ten commandments are allowed to be posted, it becomes a religious school, and as such not eligible for taxpayer funds. Ergo, if the relevant Christian organization wishes to take over all support and make it a parochial school, it will be up to them to fund it, and the community will have to establish a secular school.
BTW, as a matter of interest, a prime example of a religious school is a Madrassa, in case anyone is interested.
One more Founding Father weighs in.........
"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
James Madison
For all you cowards who give a thumbs down to this post,at least have the courage to come forward and dispute Mr. Madison's opinion.What would he know anyway? He was only there at the founding of this nation. Surely you are much wiser than he was.
Leave the scholarship to the scholars
That quote did not come from Madison. It was attributed to Madison in "The Myth of Separation Between Church and State" (1989) by David Barton, but he has since declared it a misattribution after Madison scholars reported that this statement appears nowhere in the writings or recorded utterances of James Madison.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Madison
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capital.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/r/religious-depictions.htm
I didn't give you a thumbs down. Instead I did the brave thing and spent five minutes proving you wrong. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an honest mistake rather than an intentional misattribution.
How much courage does it take to circulate fabrications?
Maybe YOU need to read the Ten Commandments.
FAIL
Please have the courage to admit that your post utterly fails and that making up a quote that never existed to "prove" a point is very unwise, indeed.
wrong
This quote is a common misattribution to Madison. There is absolutely no record, written or otherwise, of him saying this.
I don't have any problem with some of the laws...stealing and killing as legal code..adultery as moral code...
The problem, as others have stated, is explicitly with the 1st and 2nd commandments, which explicitly throw freedom of religion and its expression right out the window. And the 4th one, which effectively makes Saturday (NOT Sunday; a common misconception) a forced holiday. People should be free to adhere to these commandments in their personal lives, but to make them even suggestive moral code in a public buidling supported by taxpayer money is extremely dangerous.
also from the early days of the nation
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion - Treaty of Tripoli, ratified by the Senate in 1797 (unanimous vote) and signed by President John Adams
You do know that the quote
You do know that the quote you took that from has moved the commas around to change the meaning of that don't you? Of course you don't.You are new to this game of "I'll post one line from some quote without knowing the subject matter" That was from a treaty made with muslim pirates. That has NOTHING to do with the rules you and I live under (unless you have been playing pirate lately on the high seas) Maybe a nice trip to DC to see all the places the 10 commandments are placed on govt buildings would open your eyes.
umm
You attributed a quote to James Madison that in reality he never said. All I did was post part of a treaty written within a few years of the country's founding that said America was not founded on the christian religion. Take the commas out and the sentence retains the same meaning.
like, for instance, the much
like, for instance, the much abused "I am a real Christian" blurb from Jefferson? Is that the sort of abusive quote mining you're talking about? lol, I think you were a bit early in casting that first stone . . .
Which of the ten commandments [for other people] is "don't lie?"
twist, distort, deflect, say anything to get your way
http://www.fathersmanifesto.net/tjchristian.htm