Fla. county approves adding Ten Commandments to gov’t building displays: ‘Foundations of American law’

A Florida county has approved a recommendation to add copies of the Ten Commandments to a display of historical documents in government buildings.

The Collier County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 last week to approve Item 10.B following hours of debate and public comment both for and against the proposal.

“Recommendation to display the Ten Commandments as part of a larger exhibit depicting the foundations of American law and government in appropriate publicly accessible locations on County property to be selected by the County Manager,” read the proposal.

Collier County Commissioner Chris Hall of District 2, who sponsored the recommendation, told The Christian Post that he was inspired to do so after speaking with an 87-year-old local school board member.

“I thought it was a great idea just to encourage people to bring about the acknowledgment of moral values, virtue, humility, and getting back to what made this country great in the beginning,” said Hall.

The commissioner told CP that he was “super-pleased” that the proposal was approved, though he “never anticipated the resistance that came about” and was “actually shocked that people would resist just a simple measure.”

With the recommendation passed, local officials, including the county attorney, will meet to discuss the matter and how to add the Ten Commandments to the historical documents display.

The proposed display is expected to have at least eight historical documents, according to Hall, who noted that a specific sample for the final design has not yet been approved.

Hall’s recommendation received mixed reactions from locals, as well as criticism from progressive advocates, including the Rev. Sharon Harris-Euing, president of the Interfaith Alliance of Southwest Florida.

“Everything about it seems inappropriate and contrary to the principles of a free society where religion and government are separate,” said Harris-Euing, according to  Fox 4 in Cape Coral. 

“Christians are not to be preferred, and the Christian perspective is not to be ascendant. I say that with humility and deep commitment as a Christian minister.”

Collier County Commissioner Burt L. Saunders, who represents District 3 and was the lone vote against the proposal, explained at last week’s meeting that while “I certainly believe in the concept of the Ten Commandments and the admonitions contained in the Ten Commandments,” he felt it was a “divisive issue” that was “not a function of county government.”

Saunders quoted from a letter from an unnamed local woman who wrote that “even when presented as part of a larger exhibit, incorporating a religious text into government-sponsored display risks compromising the principle of the separation of church and state.”

Hall dismissed the concerns over church and state separation, telling CP that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment was “clearly meant to keep the state out of the church and not the other way around.”

“The mere mention of the word of God or prayer or Christianity or anything does not mean that we are putting religion on to people. It has nothing to do with that,” Hall continued.

“By displaying the Ten Commandments with other public documents and other historical documents, we have in no form or fashion put religion on people.”