Congressman King Knows Only Moses; Secular Coalition for America Responds
June 27, 2006 - Representative Steve King (R-IA) exhibited his poor grasp of history during the June 22, 2006 hearing on HR 2679, the "Public Expression of Religion Act." King stated that he recognized none of the 18 historical lawgivers depicted in a frieze on the wall of the U.S. Supreme Court except Moses, who is shown holding the Ten Commandments. He stated that "the only figure I recognized up there [in the frieze] was Moses and the rest of them are pretty obscure from my understanding of Greek mythology and history." A few of the "obscure" lawgivers depicted are Hammurabi, Confucius, Napoleon, and John Marshall.
He later claimed that future archaeologists viewing the artwork on the Court would conclude that we are a nation of laws and that the "foundation of law is God's law." However, our secular Constitution actually protects us from "God's law" in the Ten Commandments. We are not required by law to "have no other god before thee," cannot be arrested for coveting what a neighbor has, or prohibited from engaging in work on the Sabbath as required by the Ten Commandments. In fact, only three of the Ten Commandments: murder, stealing, and perjury, are also in our nation's civil laws, but these prohibitions are necessary rules for any civilized society.
Congressman King would do well to seek a better understanding of both history and civics. In fact, studying the Constitution, which he swore to uphold, would be a good place to begin his lessons.
Below is our letter sent to Congressman King to educate him on the architecture of the Supreme Court and the meaning of our Constitution.
June 27, 2006
The Honorable Steve King
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. King,
As a lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for American (www.secular.org), representing the interests of atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and other nontheistic Americans, my job is to educate members of Congress regarding issues important to my constituency. Your statements during testimony on June 22, 2006 regarding HR 2679 "Public Expression of Religion Act" require a great deal of clarification.
You mentioned that on numerous occasions you have attended oral hearings at the Supreme Court and would gaze upon the art work in the frieze that surrounds the courtroom. You stated that "the only figure I recognized up there [in the frieze] was Moses and the rest of them are pretty obscure from my understanding of Greek mythology and history." I am surprised that you believe Napoleon, the Emperor of France, and John Marshall, the Fourth Chief Justice of the U.S., are either "obscure" and/or "Greek." The frieze does include "Greeks" who are perhaps "obscure" like Lycurgus, Solon, and Draco; but it also includes Hammurabi, Solomon, Confucius, Muhammad, Octavian (Augustus Caesar), and Charlemagne, who are neither "obscure" nor "Greek." Attached is information from the Supreme Court about all the law givers depicted in the frieze. Next time you are at the Court, I suggest you take it with you to better familiarize yourself with these important contributors to our secular legal history.
You also stated that if, in the distant future, archeologists were to examine the art used in the Supreme Court, they would come to the conclusion that we were a nation of laws and that the "foundation of law is God's law." You reached this conclusion because on the pediment on the east side of the Supreme Court sits Moses with the Ten Commandments on his knees. You apparently failed to see that Moses is flanked by Solon and Confucius. Upon which "God" would the archeologists assume our law is based: Jehovah, the god of the Jewish leader Moses; Zeus, or another one of a host of Athenian gods, from Solon's time; or the Chinese philosopher Confucius who did not talk about gods at all, but whose followers later molded him into a god?
From this information I doubt that future archeologists would come to the same conclusion as you. The secular laws of our country, which I follow and would follow even if they were not legally proscribed, help our society to live together in a civil manner. My secular government includes laws against murder, theft, and false witness which are included in the Ten Commandments and many other religious traditions.
However, the Ten Commandments are obviously not a foundation of our laws, because at least four of the Ten Commandments are prohibited by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The first three commandments require that everyone shall worship the same god in a proscribed manner. Yet the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment allows Americans of various faiths to worship their own gods in their own ways, and it also allows nontheists to worship no gods. The commandment requiring keeping the Sabbath holy cannot be used to impose rest and religion on all Americans on a certain day. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from imposing such religious practices through civil law. Three additional commandments: honoring our parents, committing adultery, and coveting our neighbors' property, while perhaps virtuous guidelines to live by -- are not included in our nation's civil law.
Three out of ten does not constitute a legal foundation. I live and work with people who believe in and follow the Ten Commandments. Their beliefs do not interfere with my life, so long as they don't require that I follow them as well. My government is neither based on this document, nor does my government require me to follow these specific theological tenets -- in fact, it explicitly gives me the right not to.
Sincerely,
Lori Lipman Brown
Director