A plaque of the Ten Commandments should be removed from the Washington County Courthouse, argues Atheist and First Amendment activist Carletta Sims. Defenders of the display, though, insist that the plaque is of "historical" interest. A "kitchen militia" group threatens action on behalf of "God and the Bible."

n Tennessee, American Atheists State Director Carletta Sims has called for the removal of a plaque of the Ten Commandments displayed outside the Washington County Courthouse. "This is a blatant violation of the separation of church and state," Sims told reporters earlier this week. "That courthouse is there to stand for justice for all, not just the religious mainstream."

    The plaque was erected in the 1920s to honor a local Presbyterian minister, Robert L. Bachman. The monument was retained when the courthouse underwent renovation eleven years ago; the County Commission decided to keep the plaque ostensibly for its "historical significance," according to a local county historian.

    Sims has already initiated contact with county officials, and says that if necessary she and the organization will take legal action to have the Ten Commandments removed.

   American Atheist member Richard Surhe is making a similar effort in North Carolina, where he has gone to court to have the Decalogue taken down from the Haywood County courthouse.

    Both cases rely on a 1971 Supreme Court decision in Georgia which declared that the Ten Commandments could not be displayed in a courthouse. Nearly a decade later, a related case -- STONE v. GRAHAM -- declared the posting of the Commandments in public school classrooms to be an unconstitutional infringement of the establishment clause of the First Amendment, a form of government sanction of religious belief.

   The argument that the Decalogue plaque is "historical," and presumably immune to any First Amendment tests, has been used to justify a number of practices including public prayer. The religious aspect of the Tennessee case, though, became apparent when County Historian Ruth Broyles, who had defended the "historical" and honorary status of the plaque as a monument to Rev. Bachman, then declared "I think the people in this county who believe in the Ten Commandments ought to stand up and fight to keep it..."

MILITIA THREATS?

    Ms. Sims, who last month successfully challenged a "release time" scheme in her local public school district that would have transported students to local churches for religious instruction, reports that she has already received a threat from a woman with "the kitchen militia." The caller added that she was an attorney from Nashville, TN. who represented "God and the Bible. The "militia" also reportedly sent statements to local news media about Sims' challenge to the courthouse commandments.

   Sims remains determined, though, to have the Decalogue removed from the building. "There are questions about how some of these Commandments such as prohibitions against lying, adultery and worshipping false idols, can really be enforced. People just have to make up their own minds about these personal issues."

    Ms. Sims also cited the Commandment which tells us "Thou Shall Not Kill."

    "It's ironic to have this on a government building," she said. "Government is always killing, whether through war or capital punishment. To me, this is just hypocrisy."

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