It's been in the works for quite awhile now and, on Friday, the unveiling of the Ten Commandments memorial brought a crowd to downtown Anderson. Two large, granite blocks, inscripted with the commandments, now occupy a portion of the YMCA parking lot at 12th and Jackson streets and those who were glad to see it showed their enthusiasm.
Last winter, the Anderson City Council entertained the idea of putting the monument on city property in front of city hall after a presentation by Ken de la Bastide, a member of the Ten Commandments committee and, at the time, a reporter for The Herald Bulletin. The council approved the idea then later backtracked because of possible litigation.
The country had witnessed Alabama Judge Roy Moore's Ten Commandments granite being forcibly removed from Alabama state property. The U.S. Supreme Court, in 2005, couldn’t seem to come to terms of whether a religious statue could remain on public grounds. One ruling, concerning Texas, said yes. Another such monument in Kentucky got the court's disapproval.
The court mentioned that the Ten Commandments could be included along with other documents that formed the law, such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, on public property. But the Ten Commandments by themselves violated the separation of church and state.
There should be no controversy here as the property on which the monument sits is owned by the Young Men's Christian Association. It's an impressive looking monument and for Christian followers who base their lives on these principles it will be an inspiration to see.
There will be those who object, of course. We will no doubt receive many comments at the newspaper both for and against. But the Ten Commandments committee saw something they thought needed to be done and went after it. When their original plan was thwarted, they kept raising money and seeking a new location. They didn't seek controversy but an outlet to declare their belief to all.
That's not only freedom of religion but freedom of speech, two bedrock rights in our Constitution.
De la Bastide noted at the ceremony that the committee wanted to put monuments in all Madison County communities, then to Delaware County with the eventual goal of all 92 Indiana counties housing a monument because, as he said, "millions of people in our country are lost."
We did get a little concerned when we heard about the fate of an Indianapolis monument that has suffered vandalism and, once moved to
Anderson, was defaced again. We hope that doesn't happen to this monument. People will pass by it and beam at the message, others will frown. But it stands as a testament to those who believe and, whether people agree with the message or not, exercising religious rights are fundamental to our nation.
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