>Would you object to separate posters/signs around a school that said:
>
>Don't steal
>Don't Lie
>Don't murder your classmate
>Don't take something that's not yours
>
>and so forth.
>
>Or do you support signs that say:
>
>Steal if it meets your needs
>Lie to get what you want
>Murder your classmate if you have to
>Take what you need but only that
>

Why does it have to be one or the other? Why not neither?

>IOW, in your objections do you categorically object to the principles of not lying, stealing, murdering, etc? or do you hold a moral equivilance point of view that allowes you to do these things if the situation arises? ie. Situational ethics

This is where you keep skipping a step. Not wanting religious observance in school does not mean that someone is hostile to religion or even believes terribly differently than you do. In fact, there are a fair number of organized religious groups (including all the major denominations of Judaism) that are opposed to prayer in the schools.

In fact, it's probably safe to say that, almost across the board, the people who want prayer in school are in the majority where they live and assume that it will be their prayers. I doubt most of them would be interested in a system where the Lord's Prayer was recited on Monday, the Sh'ma on Tuesday, a key Muslim prayer on Wednesday, a Hindu prayer on Thursday and a Buddhist prayer on Friday. (Yeah, I know I left some out, but there are only five days a week. <g>)

>Now, as to the first four (4) commandments they aren't all that onerous either if you think about them a little. Actually, Jesus said that 1) Loving God with all your heart, soul mind & body and 2) Loving your neighbor as yourself contained therein all of the Law and Prophets, the 10 Commandments being a sort of Cliff's Notes (If God's name is Cliff anyway <g>) version.
>

FWIW, Rabbi Akiba (one of the great Jewish sages) was asked to explain the Torah while standing on one foot. He said, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it."

>IOW, just exactly what is it that you object to here that is so horrible? That someone has codified a set of moral laws? IOW, do you object to the laws (and why I'd be curious to know) or do you have some other reason? That others might want to express themselves?

What Chris and I object to is that they are a religious statement, and should not be presented to our children as the absolute, _only_ truth. If I want my children to see the 10 Commandments as a key life lesson, I'll take care of it. But we don't have a state religion that says that everyone has to believe the 10 Commandments.

>You see, from the POV of folks like myself, if you wanted to post an athiet's Code of Ethics alongside the 10 Commandments I'd be ok with that as it might spark discussion, which I see as the heart of education.

Well, if the bulletin board were labelled "Key Religious Statements" or something like that, and also included the key principles of a bunch of other religions, it might be appropriate for a class studying comparative religion. But, an unlabelled bulletin board in a school says "This is something we all believe" and that's unacceptable when it's the principles of a religion.

<>

I'm afraid that you'll make my kids and other kids like them feel like second-class citizens in school.

Tamar