6. Historically,
Baptists have affirmed the Divine inspiration and authority of the Bible. The Bible declares, and I affirm, the sacredness
and holiness of the religious covenant being affirmed in the giving of the Ten
Commandments (Exodus 19), and it explicitly states that Moses recorded that God
personally spoke and wrote down the Ten Commandments:
"These are
the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your
whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the
deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. (Deuteronomy 5:22 NIV,
cf. Exodus 24:12)
Historically, Baptists have affirmed the religious
significance and purpose of the Ten Commandments as being the terms of a religious
covenant between God and people of faith.
7. Many
Baptists, as well as many other people of faith -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim
-- continue to affirm that the Ten Commandments are properly understood to be
the terms of a religious covenant between God and people of faith. Among
them some, like myself, are horrified when attempts are made to have secular
courts of law rule that the terms of this sacred and holy covenant no longer
have any religious significance and meaning. In the long run, I believe the effect of such
rulings serves to undermine sincere faith by trivializing the value of
religious covenants.
8. Foremost among the terms in the covenant are
those that identify Divinity. The word
"God" appears six times, usually within the phrase "the Lord
your God" (five times). The word
"Lord" appears seven times.
One of the commandments pertains to the dignity necessary when invoking
Divinity and the special care necessary to assure that every invocation of God
have meaning and significance:
“You shall not
misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who
misuses his name."
(Exodus 20:7 NIV)
I believe that the name of the Lord God is
"misused" when declarations are made that the words "Lord"
and "God" on Ten Commandments monuments are historical artifacts and
no longer have religious meaning and significance. In effect, this undermines religion by
negating the significance of the most sacred symbols of religious language.
9. Historically, Baptists have been among the foremost proponents
of the separation of religion and government.
Theologically, this conviction
derives from the belief that liberty of conscience is prerequisite for the
personal decision and commitment from which Baptists believe sincere faith
grows. Politically, this belief stems
from their experience of persecution for their faith by both the English Crown
and by the established church governments of Colonial America. In
distinction from nearly every other Christian denomination, the earliest
Baptists were insistent that liberty of conscience be secured for people of all
faiths and people of no faith.
While some Baptists now deny that church and state should be
separate, many Baptists and others
like myself, continue to affirm the historic Baptist commitment to separation
of church and state. I believe posting
a Ten Commandments monument on government property under sham secular pretenses
serves to trivialize the holiness of sincere religious covenants and
misappropriates a sacred religious symbol to endorse a diluted religiosity
devoid of any transformative experience.
10. I have observed the
Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma State Capitol from both within and
outside the Capitol building. The
placement of the monument makes viewing it unavoidable to any sighted person
walking up and down the Northeast staircase of the Capitol building. The monument gives me the impression that
the Oklahoma state government endorses a certain form of religion.
I have met many people walking up and down that staircase whom
I know to be people of other faiths and people of no faith. People for whom both the U.S. Constitution
and the Oklahoma State Constitution secure an equal right to freedom of
religion and freedom from religion. I
believe posting the Ten Commandments monument before unwelcoming eyes on
government property sends a message that such persons are looked down upon as second
class citizens by their government. I
also believe that their irritation with the monument will serve to create
unnecessary divisions and conflict within the community between them and people
of conscientious and sincere covenantal faith.
