Ten Commandments Lawsuit Hearing Scheduled for Friday in Little Rock

A federal court in Little Rock has scheduled a hearing for this Friday in the lawsuit over Arkansas’ Ten Commandments monument.

In a court order, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker announced her court would hold a hearing on the pending cross motions for summary judgment in the case on Friday, July 7, at 10:00 a.m. in downtown Little Rock.

In 2015 the Arkansas Legislature passed a measure authorizing a privately-funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the State Capitol Building grounds.

The monument is identical to one ruled constitutional at the capitol building in Texas.

Shortly after Arkansas’ monument was unveiled, atheist groups and the Satanic Temple joined a lawsuit to have it removed from the capitol grounds.

The case originally was set to go to trial in July of 2020, but the trial was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lawsuit has remained in limbo ever since, and Judge Baker has twice been asked to set a schedule for resolving it.

In January, Judge Baker issued a scheduling order indicating a trial date in the case would be set sometime after August 31 of this year.

As we have said many times, there shouldn’t be anything controversial about a monument honoring the significance of the Ten Commandments.

Historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have helped shape philosophy and laws in countries around the world.

Arkansas’ monument simply commemorates that legacy.

Imagine as an Anthem for the World?

John Stonestreet, Radio Host and Director of the Colson Center

“Imagine” has become a kind of secular national anthem, but it seems like a strange choice. Last year, a bunch of celebrities tried to make us feel better about a global pandemic by singing “Imagine there’s no heaven.” Really? Facing death, let’s offer a materialistic worldview, with no future after we die and no present source of meaning? And, these millionaire celebrities actually sang to us, “Imagine no possessions?”

Then, during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, this song with the line “no religion, too” was sung, when 84 percent of the world identifies with a religious group. Not to mention, how does “imagine there’s no countries” fit with the Olympics, at a ceremony featuring every nation bearing their respective flags into the stadium? 

At best, this song is an ironic choice almost everywhere we hear it, especially for a global celebration of world cultures and athletes. At worst, it pushes a worldview that’s godless, hopeless, unrealistic, and ultimately meaningless.

Copyright 2021 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.