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Dear Editor,
When I first heard of the controversy regarding the posting of the Ten Commandments, I just assumed this was a case of someone trying to force his denomination's doctrine on the rest of the people. Particularly when I found out that the requested version of the commandments was the Calvinist version which splits the first commandment in two and omits the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife", altogether.
But [D. P.] has made the courageous statement that he would have no problem with the posting of Islamic and Buddhist religious law as well as his preferred version of the Commandments. So we can all rest assured that Mr. [P] will work as hard to post Lutheran, Catholic and Jewish versions of the Commandments as he does his own, and that he will work equally hard to see that all the religions of this nation are equally represented. From Asatru, Bahai, and Buddhism, through the traditional religions of the Potawatami and Menominee tribes, all the way to Zoroastrianism. America has probably a thousand living religions. What an enormous project Mr. [P.] has undertaken, to see that all these many groups are treated fairly, and that no person will ever walk into a courtroom and feel like an outcast who cannot expect equal justice because his religion has been excluded.
I feel that all of us should help Mr. [P.] in his great work. If a thousand of us would just each research one American religion and discover its moral law, and pass it on to Mr. [P.], he will be able to take these documents to each of the county boards, and see that each is displayed on an equal basis with his own preferred version of the Commandments. Since Mr. [P.] has indicated that he is not prejudiced, and since he believe in a religion which commands 'Love thy neighbor as thyself', I'm sure he'll do so gladly.
I will not sit idly by and let Mr. [P.] bear this burden alone. I have taken it upon myself to research the first of the religions on my short list, Asatru. This is the faith of the ancient Vikings, which was revived in 1875 in Iceland, and has been speading strongly throughout the American Midwest this decade. Their moral code is called the Nine Noble Virtues (which are Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-reliance and Steadfastness). I am sending a copy of this religion's moral code to Mr. [P.], so he can see that it is displayed right alongside his version of the Ten Commandments. I'm also sending a copy directly to the Menominee Township Board---since they have already approved Mr. [P.]'s Ten Commandments, they will of course have to approve these as well to avoid violating the Constitution.
All it will take is for another 998 or so Menominee County citizens to each research one living
religion of America (try using the Internet). Then we can resolve the Ten Commandments issue
the American way--'With liberty and justice for all'.
Nissa Annakindt
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