Defend the Ten!
| As
we all know by now the Alabama Justice, Roy Moore, a Protestant of deep
faith who defended the maintenance of the monument of the Ten
Commandments on public property because he said that the state "has a
right to acknowledge God", was dismissed from his position. The US
Supreme Court refused to accept his appeal. But now, the Court has concluded
hearing oral arguments wherein the litigants, the ACLU & Company
[what else of course] and the states of Texas and Kentucky and various
pro-Commandments groups, such as the Center for Law and Justice argued
the following, shortened to the basic premises of each: the removal
side argued that the mere display of the Ten Commandments is
unconstitutional as the state thereby favors one religion over another,
not just religion, period; and the other side argued that the
Commandments are a historical symbol of our source of law, that they
are not just religious but historical. With arguments like these from
the Ten Commandments backers the God side appears to be much like the
Court, prone to dubious and cloudy reasoning, if its ramblings can be
called reasoning in the first place, since it seems more interested in
international law, and not the US law. Ironically Moore's case was rejected, yet his argument is closer to the truth of the matter at hand. I say closer because not only does THE STATE HAVE THE RIGHT TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD, IT HAS AN AN ABSOLUTE DUTY TO DO SO: On December 11,
1925 Pope Pius XI promulgated his encyclical letter Quas Primas,
on the Kingship of Christ. The encyclical dealt with what the Pope
described
correctly as "the chief cause of the difficulties under which mankind
was
laboring."
During the oral presentations one of the liberal judges asked the ACLU
side if it would be possible to accept those Commandments that are also
crimes according to the state, murder, theft, perjury. The answer was
that it might be. To
acknowledge only a portion without the rest, especially the first
three, is to ignore the foundation and the essence, is to pretend that
God exists but His Holy Name is to be banished from our public
institutions and His authority as well! Who could imagine that someone---anyone---could conceive of such an endeavor, and claim the right to do so! Words fail.Pope Pius XI explained
that the manifold evils in the world are due to the fact that the
majority
of men have thrust Jesus Christ and His holy law out of their lives;
that
Our Lord and His holy law have no place either in private life or
in politics; and, as long as individuals and states refuse to submit to
the rule of our Savior, there will be no hope of lasting peace among
nations.
men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ---Pax
Christi
in Regno Christi. The answer to these questions is that
in this encyclical Pope Pius XI reaffirmed the unbroken teaching of his
predecessors upon the papal throne that states as well as individuals
must submit themselves to the rule of Christ the King. In affirming
this fundamental truth of our faith, Pope Pius was not referring simply
to Catholic nations, or even to Christian nations, but to the whole of
mankind. He stated this truth unequivocally by quoting a passage from
the encyclical, Annum Sacrum of Pope Leo XIII: The separation of Church and State was condemned unequivocally by the Roman Pontiffs until the Second Vatican Council. The Church's teaching is that the State has an obligation to render public worship to God in accord with the teachings of the True Church, the Catholic Church, and positively to aid the Catholic Church in the carrying out of her functions. The State does not have the right to remain neutral regarding religion, much less to pursue a secular approach in its policies. A secular approach is by that very fact an anti-God and an anti-Christ approach. This unequivocal teaching was summarized very clearly by Pope St. Pius X, who, in his encyclical Vehementer Nos, condemned the principle of the separation of Church and State as "an absolutely false and most pernicious thesis." The practical consequences of this Catholic teaching are difficult to imagine for those of us who have known nothing but a secular state, in which the State claims to have no responsibilities in matters of religion and morality. [The secular state outlaws certain immoral acts, not because they are immoral, but because the majority wish them outlawed.] Nevertheless, we must admit that this claim of the secular state is profoundly wrong. The only word adequate to describe the claim by a Catholic politician that he will not allow his private beliefs to impinge upon his public duties is blasphemy---or at least open rebellion against God. For the Commandments of God are binding in public as well as in private, and it is blasphemous for a Christian to maintain the contrary. Papal teaching on the source of authority in government is clear and has already been stated: Omnis potestas a Deo.---"All authority comes from God." Pope Leo XIII explained in his encyclical Immortale Dei that: Every civilized community must have a ruling authority, and this authority, no less than society itself, has its source in nature, and has, consequently, God for its author. Hence it follows that all public power must proceed from God. FOR GOD ALONE IS THE TRUE AND SUPREME LORD OF THE WORLD. Everything without exception must be subject to Him, and must serve Him, so that whosoever holds the right to govern, holds it from one sole and single source, namely, God, the Sovereign Ruler of all. "There is no power but from God." [Rom. 13:1]. The 10 are one as God's Word is one, as the Holy Trinity is One, as the Truth is one! The first three, the most important---the 10 Commandments are listed in descending hierarchical manner from the highest to the lowest---set the tone and context for the rest. The first is the acknowledgment of God as the one and only God and the prohibition of the worship and even mere acknowledgment of false gods or idols. Where there is no acknowledgment of God all the rest are subject to human manipulation as the twisted logic in re the prohibition of willful murder has been since 1973. So much sad, awful irony! Where are the bishops to proclaim Quas Primas and the rights of Christ the King? Only a lone Protestant and a a handful of Catholics on the web and in the Catholic press. May God have mercy on this nation, its courts, and its poor benighted people. Defend the Ten! 1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath. 4. Honor thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 9. Thy shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. 10. Thy shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. [Exodus 20] DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE WITHOUT TEXT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PICTURES |
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