read in the news that the judge who hangs the ten commandments in his court room was denied an appeal once again to the ruling that he needs to remove the tablets as they violate the first amendment. some religious zealots would (and from what i’ve read) have made a holy war about this, but the more reasonable supporters might ask, “what harm are two little tablets doing?” i would say none – but that doesn’t mean the commandments should stay up there. i’d doubt that a minor religious icon, placed in a community with likely very homogenous religious beliefs really bothers that many people. however, the tablets are less a problem themselves as the fight that surrounds them. the controversy is symptematic of an attitude which places individual religious belief over the protections that allow everyone to have such beliefs. the fact that it is still is neccessary in our culture to make a big deal out of these first ammendment issues is clear from a fact that there is a fight over this at all. this issue has been made a holy war where supporters of the commandments plan vigils and protests rather than saying, “ok we’ll take the tablets down, but we hope that one day our country will be free enough from discrimination, intolerance, and persecution that the ten commandments on public display will be viewed as an expression of the religion of a certain group of people and not as a symbol for that group’s desire to dominate other groups.” unfortunately, that’s not the statements i’m hearing and that means that this religious war is likely to continue for a long time.