In a suprising decision, the United States Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it would hear a case which will decide whether or not the 10 Commandments can be displayed on goverment land or in governement buildings. The Court has not touched this issue since its 1980 decision which removed displays of the Ten Commandments from public schools. Since then, lower courts have issued conflicting decisions regarding the display of the 10 Commandments on government property and buildings.

There are actually two related cases being heard by the Court--one from Texas and one from Kentucky. The Kentucky case involves a decision by a Kentucky Appeals Court that banned the posting of The 10 Commandments in State Courthouses. The Kentucky Court was divided but ruled that the posting of the 10 Commandemnts would violate the separation of church and state. In Texas, the case involves the posting of a 10 Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds. A homeless man sued to have the monument removed but his application was denied.

The 10 Commandments come from the Old Testement and contain both religious rules such as sabbath observance and the worship of one God as well as secular commandments like the outlawing of stealing, murder and adultury.

This issue is highly contentious. The American Civil Liberties Union was actively involved in the Kentucky case while numerous conservative Christian groups have aruged that the First Amendment seeks to avoid the establishment of an official state religion rather than banning religious symbols from government buildings altogether. A decision is not expected until some time in 2005.