10 Commandments and US Law

[eynon81]

Figure GD is a better place for this than Religion, cause this is more a legal question.

I often hear repeated among more socially conservative commentators about how the 10 Commandments have influenced US law. Being a Christian myself I'm open to the idea, but as I've matured as a law Geek I'm not finding much support for this claim.

All you need to do is watch an episode of Vikings or HBO's Rome to see the influence those 2 culture had on our law (our tort law is a direct descendant of the Saxon/Norse code to the point where's I'd be cumfie arguing cases under it). The Catholic Church and Enlightenment Christianity also had an influence, mostly in the modern area and mostly in terms of mellowing some of the older law's harsher edges.

BUT....I'm not seeing much, if any influence, stemming from the 10 Commandments or the Old Testament in general.

here's a link:
http://www.conservapedia.com/Ten_Comman ... _in_US_law

even conservapedia can't figure it out.

thoughts?

[John Galt]

it arguably influenced state laws but not really federal law (i can't get off sale liquor on sundays ). i mean, there was a time in this nation, after the constitution, where states still had state-religions (first amendment did not apply against the states). also, things like murder and stealing, conservapedia, are dealt with by state law except in exceptional circumstances. also, even if the ten commandments did not exist, i'm pretty sure those things would still be illegal

[eynon81]

[The Dude]

It's just something people say without verifying because it sounds right to them.

[The Dharma Bum]

It's a part of the history of law, in much the same way Hammurabi's laws were. Of course you wouldn't argue that the country was built on a neo-babylonian legal philosophy on that basis. At least I wouldn't.

But if you could, and you wanted to be a true conservative you should support the worship of Bel Marduk in the schools. There is about the same level of connection there so it's just as legitimate.

[fstarcstar]

I know it has affected Texas in particular, its why the 10 commandments are located in the capital, and the Supreme Court allowed it to happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Orden_v._Perry

[eynon81]

[Homer]

Well the British legal system was influenced by the Normans and Saxons, and it would make sense for the US to take large chunks of our legal system, being an ex colony.

[eynon81]

[spacemonkey]

Most of the ten commandments were probably tribal law before they were the ten commandments anyway.