I reported in February that a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Ten Commandments monument in a city park in Plattsmouth, Kansas, would have to be removed. Now they have stayed that order and the full court will review whether the monument will stay or will have to go.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

In 2002, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Lincoln rejected the city's argument that the monument is protected by the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom. He ordered the removal of the monument, saying it ``conveys a message that Christianity and Judaism are favored religions.'' The three-judge appeals court panel agreed in a 2-1 decision, saying the monument's ``message is undeniably religious.''

Christian Right groups are hoping for a victory here - they would really like official government endorsement of Christian messages to be found constitutional on the theory that such messages are "historical." Evidently, because politicians and people believed and promoted them in the past, the government should therefore continue promoting them today. This would essentially place a statute of limitations on violations or the separation of church of state: if the government can get away with it for long enough, it becomes "historical" and constitutional simply because it is old.

Read More:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• Ten Commandments