A recent case involving a Ten Commandments monument outside a municipal building in Bloomfield, New Mexico, again shows that the attorneys at the Freedom From Religion Foundation aren’t the only ones who think that such monuments represent the government’s endorsement of religion.
The courts ruled the monument violated the U.S. Constitution and represented a government endorsement of religion and that’s why the city must now pay the legal fees for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the complaint in 2012 on behalf of two Bloomfield residents, Janie Felix and Buford Coone. City Manager Eric Strahl said Bloomfield has until June 30, 2021 to pay the $700,000 that it owes for the ACLU’s legal fees. The city will have to pay interest if it waits. (The ACLU warned the city it would lose the case. City officials didn’t listen. That’s why it’s the city’s job to cover the ACLU’s legal bills for wasting their time.)
Strahl also said he has been evaluating different online fundraising sites and maybe he will establish an account to “see if there are like-minded people who supported the city’s position” who may be willing to help pay.
Strahl said if the city is unable to raise money through donations to pay the $700,000, it will have to pay the sum out of its general fund.
The Ten Commandments monument was put up for religious reasons in 2011. Shortly afterward, two residents sued the city alleging it violated their constitutional rights and represented a government endorsement of religion. This endorsement was ruled unconstitutional by multiple courts in subsequent years. City officials later surrounded it with secular displays to deemphasize the link to Christianity, but any study of the history of this monument shows it was erected to promote a Christian worldview. The monument has been relocated to the First Baptist Church of Bloomfield's property. Attorneys for Alliance Defending Freedom filed a motion asking the Supreme Court to take up this case in 2016, but the Court said no.
“Americans shouldn’t be forced to censor religion’s role in history simply to appease someone who is offended by it or who has a political agenda to remove all traces of religion from the public square,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman after the Court announced that “17-60 BLOOMFIELD, NM V. FELIX, JANE, ET AL.” was denied cert, meaning the earlier rulings striking down the monument remain in place.
Photo Credits: Patheos
