(BCPM) The American Controversy over the Ten Commandments

This blog post was written by former graduate assistant Seven Franklin.

Beginning in the late 1990s and continuing into the early 2000s, religious liberty once again became a focal point for controversy in American public life. School prayer, sex education, and marriage were prominent topics of discussion. Many Americans believed that a more pointed effort needed to be taken to instruct children in morality. Those “seeking a greater influence of religion in American public life” correlated “the country’s moral decline to the removal of God from public life.”[i]

There was a desire among religious conservatives to emphasize in public spaces—whether it be schools, workplaces, or courthouses—Judeo-Christian values. It was perceived that “the presence of religious pluralism in society” was a “preference by the liberal democratic state for the secular over the sacred.”[ii] This environment birthed a contentious fight over the place of the Ten Commandments in American life, on a national and state level.

The papers of former Representative Chet Edwards, housed in the Baylor Collections of Political Materials, provide insight into this tumultuous period. The Ten Commandments controversy that shook the nation appears in Edwards’s correspondence and files – one concerning Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. In 1999, before entering office, Moore campaigned using the title “Ten Commandments Judge.” As Chief Justice, Moore’s popularity grew in Alabama and nationally. In 2001, following other religious controversies Moore fueled, he decided to place a large granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of Alabama’s Judicial Building. This monument was eventually taken down following various court rulings.[iv]

On the national level, there was an extended push for legislation to empower states to display the Ten Commandments in public or government buildings. This charge was led in part by Rep. Robert Aderholt who presided over Alabama’s 4th District. Initially, Rep. Aderholt attempted to add an amendment to the 1999 Juvenile Justice Bill, but the amendment failed. One man wrote Rep. Chet Edwards to thank him for opposing the amendment. The individual thought the Ten Commandments movement violated the country’s historic commitment to “church-state separation,” and quoted Thomas Jefferson to drive his point home: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” While the evangelical religious movement saw itself as extending religious liberty, others felt that prioritizing Judeo-Christian ideals over other religious and non-religious traditions ran counter to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. [v]

In 1999, Rep. Aderholt introduced a House Resolution Bill titled “The Ten Commandments Defense Act.” He wrote Rep. Edwards that it was intended to “promote morality and work toward an end of children killing children.”  The bill would not “force our schools and public buildings to display the Ten Commandments” but would “allow each state the option to decide this issue respectively.” It was a state rights’ position as much as a religious liberty one, Aderholt argued. Evangelical Christians believed the decision belonged not to the courts or national government but each individual state.[vii]

Rep. Edwards voiced his opinion on the issue in multiple places, including his personal correspondence with constituents. “It is clear that the U.S. Supreme Court, not the Congress, has the authority to ultimately determine if a law is constitutional.” He wrote that the court had already ruled in 1981 that posting the Ten Commandments in public spaces was unconstitutional. “The Ten Commandments is undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian tradition,” and the First Amendment was created to “protect religion from government interference.” Congressman Edwards believed that the founders did not want the government to pick and choose which religions to aid or censure. Ultimately, he believed that “parents and houses of worship, not government institutions, should teach the Ten Commandments.” Religion was a private matter, and Edwards thought parents should have a personal responsibility to determine their child’s religious upbringing. [viii]

The Congressional papers of Rep. Edwards contain files on political controversy concerning religious liberty from this period, ranging from the Religious Liberty Protection Act to abstinence education. Researchers can find valuable sources on religious freedom in Baylor Collections of Political Materials. Contact an archivist for more information!

 

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[i] Pottenger, John R. “Mixing Religion and Politics: The Case of the Ten Commandments.” In Reaping the Whirlwind: Liberal Democracy and the Religious Axis, 11–31. Georgetown University Press, 2007.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Thomas Chester “Chet” Edwards U.S. House of Representatives papers, Accession #8A, Box 159, Folder 17, Baylor Collections of Political Materials, W. R. Poage Legislative Library, Baylor University.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Thomas Chester “Chet” Edwards U.S. House of Representatives papers, Accession #8A, Box 159, Folder 12, Baylor Collections of Political Materials, W. R. Poage Legislative Library, Baylor University.

[vi] Thomas Chester “Chet” Edwards U.S. House of Representatives papers, Accession #8A, Box 159, Folder 17, Baylor Collections of Political Materials, W. R. Poage Legislative Library, Baylor University.

[vii] Thomas Chester “Chet” Edwards U.S. House of Representatives papers, Accession #8A, Box 159, Folder 10, Baylor Collections of Political Materials, W. R. Poage Legislative Library, Baylor University.

[viii] Ibid.