The Freedom From Religion Foundation's recent request to the city of Casper, Wyoming, to remove a Ten Commandments monument in a city park has been covered nationally, due to a bizarre development.
The Foundation protested a bible monument in a Casper city park in September on behalf of Casper residents, pointing out that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a city hosting the decalog on public property must permit other groups to put monuments to their beliefs on city property, too. Outlandish homophobe Rev. Fred Phelps of Kansas subsequently demanded to place a monument on Casper public property featuring another bible verse: Lev. 18:22 (which calls homosexuals "abominations"). His monument would declare that slain gay student Matthew Shepard, who originally lived in Casper, is in hell.
Instead of voting to move the Ten Commandments monument, the city council voted 5-4 yesterday to relocate it to a new "monument plaza" dedicated to "historic" founding documents of our country. The council rejected Phelps' monument.
Yesterday's vote does not meet the test of the 10th Circuit decision. It also perverts legal history to suggest that the Ten Commandments had anything to do with the U.S. founding. They are not a part of the Constitution or Declaration of Independence. The First Commandment ("Thou shalt have no other gods before me") directly violates the First Amendment!
If the city "blesses" ten of the 600 commandments supposedly given to Moses by the Old Testament deity, how can it then say to Rev. Phelps that the barbaric Mosaic laws regarding homosexuality are not "historic"?
This was a close vote. Please ask the Casper mayor, who originally supported moving the commandments off public land, to move for reconsideration, to avoid lengthy and painful public divisiveness and litigation over this unacceptable action.
Contact:
Mayor Barbara A. Peryam
City of Casper
200 N David St
Casper WY 82601
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You may also wish to write the (Casper) Star Tribune:
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Letters to the Editor
Star-Tribune
PO Box 80
Casper WY 82602-0080
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