Bible, Exodus 20:1-17 - Texas State Capitol Grounds - Austin, TX, USA
Posted by: 
Raven
N 30° 16.518 W 097° 44.449
14R E 621113 N 3349962
The Ten Commandments are etched on a 6-foot granite monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds. This monument in question was the topic of a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court case in 2005.
Waymark Code: WMMH58
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/21/2014
Views: 9
The Ten Commandments monument is located on the Texas State Capitol northern grounds, behind the capitol building (between the Texas Capitol and Supreme Court buildings). It is a 6-foot high by 3-foot wide Texas "Sunset Red" granite structure in the traditional shape of the biblical stones and inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
Erected 1961 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles of Texas (a civic organization) with the support of Cecil B. DeMille (director of the film "The Ten Commandments"), the monument was a present to the people of Texas: the donating organization paid for its erection while the State accepted it and selected its site based on the recommendation of the state agency responsible for maintaining the Capitol grounds -- thereby acknowledging it as a historical display on the 22-acre State Capitol grounds.
The etched words are from the Bible, in particular "Exodus 20:1-17"; it reads:
"I AM the LORD thy GOD."
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images."
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in Vain."
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."
"Thou shalt not kill."
"Thou shalt not commit adultery."
"Thou shalt not steal."
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house"
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbors."
"---------------"
"PRESENTED TO THE PEOPLE AND YOUTH OF TEXAS BY THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES OF TEXAS 1961"
The monument became the topic of a heated judicial debate in 2003, when a suit brought by Thomas Van Orden of Austin, TX challenged that acceptance and placement of that monument by the State of Texas violated the US Constitution's First Amendment, which states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (among other government restrictions). In essence, the suit contended that the monument's etched wording was unconstitutional as it violated the doctrine of separation of church and state. The suit ultimately made it to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005: a sharply divided Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government land by a by a 5-4 vote on the grounds that the monument conveyed both a religious and secular message. Interestingly enough, the Supreme Court also ruled on two similar cases in Kentucky courthouses that very same day, declaring those Ten Commandments as unconstitutional.
Address:
Texas State Capitol
1100 Congress Ave.
Austin, TX 78701
USA
Website: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
Please include the following with your submission of a visit:
1. Photograph as a proof of your visit.
2. Short narrative. Tell of your visit, share something new, edit the waymark with additional quotes found a the location, add new visiting hours or anything that would be nice to know when visiting the location.
3. Finally, please add a visit if you go to the area and you find the building, memorial, memorial or structure has been removed. Please submit an edit to the waymark adding the words {Historic/Removed} at the end. Also, edit the short description to annotate the reason it was removed for the value to other visitors.