Yahoo NewsOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A Ten Commandments monument on the Oklahoma Capitol grounds is a religious symbol and must be removed because it violates the state’s constitutional ban on using public property to benefit a religion, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The court said the Ten Commandments chiseled into the 6-foot-tall granite monument, which was privately funded by a Republican legislator, are “obviously religious in nature and are an integral part of the Jewish and Christian faiths.”
The 7-2 ruling overturns a decision by a district court judge who determined the monument could stay. It prompted calls by a handful of Republican lawmakers for impeachment of the justices who said the monument must be removed.
Attorney General Scott Pruitt had argued that the monument was historical in nature and nearly identical to a Texas monument that was found constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Oklahoma justices said the local monument violated the state’s constitution, not the U.S. Constitution.
“Quite simply, the Oklahoma Supreme Court got it wrong,” Pruitt said in a statement. “The court completely ignored the profound historical impact of the Ten Commandments on the foundation of Western law.”
Pruitt said his office would ask the court for a rehearing and that the monument will be allowed to stay until the court considers his request. Pruitt also suggested the provision in the Oklahoma Constitution that prohibits the use of public money for religious purposes may need to be repealed.
Ryan Kiesel, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which represented the plaintiffs in the case, said Pruitt’s suggestion and the calls for impeachment amounted to sour grapes.
“I think the idea that you go about amending the constitution every time you lose a court battle is a dangerous precedent for anyone to engage in, but in particular for the state’s highest attorney to do so,” Kiesel said. “And the calls for impeachment represent a fundamental misunderstanding of how an independent judiciary functions within our system of democratic government.”
Since the original monument was erected in 2012, several other groups have asked to put up their own monuments on the Capitol grounds. Among them is a group that wants to erect a 7-foot-tall statue that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard. A Hindu leader in Nevada, an animal rights group, and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster also have made requests.
Rep. Mike Ritze, a Republican from Broken Arrow whose family paid about $10,000 for the monument’s construction, pushed the bill authorizing the monument. He said he hoped the attorney general would appeal the ruling.
The original monument was smashed into pieces in October, when someone drove a car across the Capitol lawn and crashed into it. A 29-year-old man who was arrested the next day was admitted to a hospital for mental health treatment, and formal charges were never filed.
A new monument was built and put up in January.
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http://news.yahoo.com/oklahoma-court-ten-commandments-monument-must-come-down-164936584.html
they’re taking everything down…
Piece by piece. Nobody seems to care.
They gotta make room for all those statues of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hillary and Oblah blah Stuzz.
And don’t forget the statue of the Satan worshipers.
“Among them is a group that wants to erect a 7-foot-tall statue that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard.”
This would be the same trash that initiated the removal of the monument, no doubt.
Satan spoke, his minions obeyed.
Could we expect anything less now that the SCOTUS has declared America a homosexual nation ? Shamefully disgusting . . . . .
They don’t want anybody reading these and saying “WOW what a good way to live your life”. Without bloodshed and mayhem you can’t keep the sheep stirred up.
Gay people can marry because they have rights and they are free but everybody must be forced to buy insurance because we have no rights and we are not free.
Abortion is ok because people have the right to choose and it’s their bodies but mandatory vaccinations must be enforced because you have no right to choose and it’s not your body.
Everyone is free to worship whichever God they choose but they have to get rid of the Ten Commandments because it violates the law and they can’t have people choosing that religion.
If people can’t see that there is an agenda going on then they are blind as friggin bats.
Well said.
about that Abortion , what about pops doesn’t he have a say after all its he’s baby too .
No surprise here , the jews are just following through w/ their agenda . Start the ball Tector !!!
THE KHAZARS, BEFORE THEY “DECIDED” TO BECOME “JEWS”, WERE WIDELY KNOWN AS THE SERPENT PEOPLE. GEE… I WONDER WHY?
THAT NEEDS TO BE TARGETED BY OUR DEMOLITION TEAMS AS A POLITICAL TARGET
ya wheres the A team when you need em 😉
What do you expect from a state that puts up Satanic monuments and symbolism in their courthouses. The Ten Commandments is the equivalent of an abomination to their Satanic values. Hope the Satanic bastards burn in Hell!