Members of Congress are already deeply divided over nearly everything, but before you think it can’t get any worse…
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) wasted little time before introducing two bills that would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in both the Capitol and the Senate and House chambers.
Stearns introduced the bill Jan. 4, the first day of the 109th Congress. He first introduced a similar resolution in the 105th Congress and subsequent versions in the 106th and 108th.
“Posting the Ten Commandments in places like the House and Capitol would merely serve to remind members that we have the responsibility as lawmakers to be as fair and just as possible,” Stearns said.
The legislation, in case you were interested, is H.Con.Res. 11. Chances are, this is just another meaningless bill that won’t go anywhere, just like hundreds of others that get introduced every session. Indeed, at this point, Stearns’ measure has exactly zero co-sponsors.
Still, I can’t help but marvel at the idea of adding religious strife to an already toxic political environment.
Here’s a question for Stearns: which version of the Commandments would he like to see posted in both chambers — the Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish? The Decalogue appears in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy in 17 verses, not 10. The three traditions number and word the Commandments in different ways, meaning that Congress, should Stearns’ proposal be adopted, would have to pick one of the three for official endorsement. In addition to dividing lawmakers along religious lines — doing wonders for camaraderie, I’m sure — it just screams “unconstitutional.”
Right now, Stearns’ bill doesn’t specify which version must be posted in the House and Senate. Hopefully, he knows better than to believe, as Bush does, that there’s a “standard” version of the Ten Commandments.