Editor:

In regards to Steven Warrick’s column (“Government has the right to reject monuments,” March 4): I followed the introduction to the case of Pleasant Grove v. Summum with glee until he made the irresponsible assertion that “as the embodiment of right and wrong… (the ten commandments) are the foundation upon which our law is built.” What is it about the first three or four commandments that has provided this “foundation”? Are admonitions to have a god, only one god, no idols, and correct usage of this one god’s name found anywhere in our constitution (arguably the most successful and comprehensive legal document)? Take these rules away and all that is left are sayings against perjury, murder, disrespect of elders and theft (plus the trinket lusting of possessions, arguably the source of achievement and our standard of living). A foundation that is only effective when it is cut in half is not a foundation8212;it is ancient drivel that ought to have been in the minds of the Jews before they reached Sinai, otherwise they wouldn’t have lived to hear God’s voice from atop the mount.

Zack Oakey,
Ophthalmology Department, Lab Faculty