hey would do it in the Middle East. So public school classrooms in the United States should display the religious symbols and documents which are supposedly "the foundation of our civilization," says publisher and presidential nomination hopeful Steve Forbes.

   During a talk yesterday at a West Des Moines school, Forbes came out in support of displaying the Ten Commandments, insisting that the Decalogue was a central theme in American political life and are "how we got to where we are today."

   "In schools, you should have an understanding of from whence we came, and it starts with the Ten Commandments," Forbes told a group of students at Valley High School. "It's the basis of Western civilization. The Ten Commandments gave us Judaism, from which flowed Christianity, from which flowed the rise of Europe, from which we had our origins. It's the foundation of civilization."

   Forbes added that in Islamic societies, one would expect to see religious symbols in schools and other public venues. "If you went to, say, a country that has the Muslim religion, and you go to a school, you might expect to see the Koran there. You wouldn't be surprised ... it's part of their culture. It the same thing here."

   But the millionaire publisher who is running hard in the Iowa and New Hampshire primary races, asserted his belief in the superior virtues of the Christian faith for Americans. "The Koran is not the basis of this civilization," he said. "The Ten Commandments are. Understanding them as the basis of our civilization going back several millenniums is basic to understanding how we go to where we are today."

   The student audience included mostly junior and senior government students, according to the Des Moines Register. Forbes' remarks were also carried to about 70 other classes in public, parochial and home-school classes throughout Iowa.

   The GOP hopeful also underscored his support for "voluntary," student-led prayer in public school classrooms. He dismissed complaints that displaying sectarian religious documents in school classrooms was an unconstitutional entanglement between government and religion. In response to a question asking if he would tolerate the display of non-Christian religious symbols, Forbes opined that the Koran was not the basis of American civilization, and that the Commandments were.

   Forbes' comments on prayer and display of religious symbols in schools or other government buildings come as several candidates play catch-up with GOP front-runner George W. Bush, and vie for the crucial votes of religious right groups. Gary Bauer, head of the powerful Family Research Council, is also stumping in Iowa, and on Monday picked up endorsements from important leading conservative activists, including the past president of Iowa Right to Life, and Mark Boddicker, GOP chairman in Benton County.

[text only]