Why the Ten Commandments Should Not Be Posted on Government Buildings
I am taking the position that the Decalogue, better known as the Ten Commandments,
should not be displayed on Federal and state buildings for the simple reason that the
government, must at all times, represent fairness and equality. In fact, equality is one of the
first principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence of the United States, when it
asserted that ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’
According to the Lonang Institute Library website, as far as the law is concerned, mankind is
created equally human by God. However, it should be noted that people have different
religious beliefs and their views of God differs from one another, which is the reason why
there are a number of religions in the world. The Ten Commandments is basically identified
with Christianity so having it displayed in federal or state buildings would create the notion
that public administration in the United States is based on the principles and teachings of
Christianity. Such negative notion would emanate particularly from those who have non-
Christian faiths including Muslims, Hindus, Jewish, Buddhists, among others.
Based on a recent religious landscape study by the Pew Research Center involving
35,000 Americans from the 50 different US states, 70.6% of Americans are Christians, which
are further broken down into Evangelical Protestants, Mainline Protestants, Historically
Black Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, Orthodox Christians, Jehovah’s Witness, and other
Christians. This means that 29.4% of Americans are actually not Christians. Therefore,
having the Ten Commandments posted on Federal or state buildings would indirectly mean
that the government is discriminating against 29.4% of its citizenry who does not share the
majority’s religious beliefs or inclination.
It should be worth noting also that while
Christianity is the largest religious group in the
world in a study conducted by the Pew
Research Center in 2015, which can be gleaned
from the graphs at right, the same entity
reported in April this year that there is now a
changing global religious landscape.
Accordingly, babies born to Muslims will begin
to outnumber Christians by 2035. A number of
online internet news outlets eventually came
out with their respective reports on the issue
with the Telegraph of UK citing that Muslims
