@Greg this is what I fight for everyday.
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This again? How much money are the Christo-fascists going to waste on lawyer fees this time?
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We hope that the school district will just take the plaques down without any attorney fees.
Apparently it was given by the Class of '26, so I would guess it’s been up for some time
How ridiculously inflammatory.
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Do they ever?
Update:
New Philadelphia Superintendent David Brand explains that there are currently looking into the matter over the Ten Commandment display, which was presented from a graduating class.
“ This plaque was a gift from the Class of 1926 and it’s been in place since the 1920s when that portion of the middle school/high school was opened. We are currently reviewing all of our options. Trying to do that due diligence to make the best decision for our students, the district, and the community.”
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There is nothing to “review.” They are violating the law. They should stop doing that.
Easy peasy.
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I find these types of Ten Commandment plaques (and even heavy monuments in the infamous Judge Roy Moore case) a fascinating phenomenon. For anyone who has read the New Testament (especially the Pauline epistles), the emphasis on the Ten Commandments is very strange for Christians.
The Judge Roy Moore saga involving the Ten Commandments monument (which continued as a travelling road show!) seemed closer to outright idolatry, as well as political grandstanding. I was rather relieved to see him “encouraged” into a kind of retirement. He’s a strange fellow with far too much influence.
As to that Ohio school, surely some local church might welcome the plaque into their fellowship hall or sanctuary.
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As I think we are all in general agreement on whether removing the plaque is a good idea, I did want to ask a you a slightly different question.
Christianity, or at least some form of it, is a historical fact in the context of North American history. In this case, and potentially other’s, the plaque could be seen no so much as a mixing of church and state in the current context, but as a historical artifact from a previous generation. Much like the discussion of statues of historical figures who did both good and bad thinks, do you ever see room to keep a plaque like this as a historical artifact, with perhaps the addition of some commentary to encourage critical thinking about it’s context and meaning in today’s society?
of course I see the plaque of as an artifact of history. Right now it is in a public school. Since there are no members alive of the class of 1926 who gave it to the school, I think the plaque should be taken down and given to the town’s historical society. My town has a historical society will a lot of great things in it from a rich 300 years history, even from a plantation that had slaves on it.
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“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” - John Adams
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We never were a Christian nation. That’s what separation of church and state is about, so I’m not reading your article. But we were based on Christian principles, in broad brushstrokes. We never were anti- religion, though, and today’s kids are clueless about the Ten Commandments and Christianity and its importance to the birth of this country (are you a denialist about that, too?), not that I approve of Judge Moore’s new in-your-face ‘monument’. I wish you were as much an activist against ‘pastafarianism’.
A post was split to a new topic: The Laws of Love
That was quick! Thanks, @T_aquaticus. 
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Update:
FFRF is asking the district to promptly remove the Ten Commandments display to comply with constitutional dictates, and to maintain an environment where all students, regardless of religious beliefs (or nonbeliefs) feel welcome.
“The First Commandment alone is reason why public schools may not endorse the Commandments,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Students in our public schools are free to have any god they like, as many gods as they like — or none at all! In America, we live under the First Amendment, not the First Commandment.”
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The FFRF, in their religiosity, reminds me of the Taliban, destroying Buddhas of Bamyan.
FFRF is not destroying anything. FFRF wrote a letter to the school district superintendent remaining him of his obligation under the US Constitution to not favor one religion over any other. Public schools must neutral be on religion and allow students to be free from unconstitutional religious dogma. This religious artifact doesn’t need to be destroyed. It can be carefully and reverently be taken done and can be given to an historical society, a museum, a church, or a synagogue. But it can’t stay in a public school where children are being educated on the US Constitution. The plaque is clearly unconstitutional.
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Meanwhile, they’re not being educated about the impetus that led to the beginning of this country. The Ten Commandments? What’s that?