When the newly renovated Flathead County Courthouse was unveiled last December, there was a noticeable absence in the front lawn.
Missing were seven stone monuments featuring the U.S. and Montana constitutions, the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Mayflower Compact, Magna Carta and 10 Commandments. Construction on the courthouse’s underground utilities led county workers to move the monuments to the southwest corner of the property.
Kalispell resident Fred Bryant is lobbying the city council to take possession of the monuments and move them to Depot Park where there’s already the veterans’ memorial.
“These are things that veterans have fought for and quite a few of them have died for,” Bryant told the Beacon, referring to the seven monuments.
“Up there (at Depot Park) they are more visible and I think they should be displayed with the rest of the veterans’ monument.”
But the Flathead Area Secular Humanist Association (FASHA) is strongly opposing the relocation specifically because of the 10 Commandments. The group has said that the city would be actively promoting Christianity by moving the large stone monument to Depot Park.
The charges were raised in a recent letter to city staff and councilors from Ian Cameron, Jesse Ahmann, Kristin Hargrove, Shawn Hargrove, Doug Bonham, Frank Jeniker, Susan Miller, Bob Beck and other members of FASHA.
“We see absolutely no justification for including a 10 Commandments monument – there is no known reference to the 10 Commandments in U.S. law or founding documents,” the letter said.
“So, in placing the 10 Commandments monument in a prominent public display on public land, the City of Kalispell is at risk of being perceived (and is perceived by members of FASHA) as taking a ‘theological’ position rather than presenting a historically accurate one, and endorsing one religion over another.”
The Kalispell City Council will discuss the issue at a work session on Monday at 7 p.m.
Similar to the Jesus statue controversy in Whitefish, the contention over the 10 Commandments monument has again brought to the fore the separation of church and state on public land.
“There are also potential legal consequences which we will pursue if needed,” FASHA wrote. On its website, the group says its mission is to “act as a secular force for good in our communities” and “provide a community that is an alternative to traditional ‘faith based’ communities.’”
Bryant, a retired Navy veteran and longtime member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE), said his motivation for moving the monuments is not based on religion. He sees it as a matter of historical respect. He explained his stance in a letter to the city.
According to Bryant, in the 1940s, a Minnesota judge named E. J. Ruegeomer was having trouble with repeat juvenile offenders. As a last ditch effort, Ruegeomer ordered a young man to memorize the moral objectives of the 10 Commandments, which he said influenced the nation’s fundamental laws and ethics. The measure worked, and the story of the judge’s effort spread quickly. Ruegeomer happened to be a member of the FOE and the organization picked up on his example. The organization began distributing bronze plaques of the 10 Commandments to communities across the nation.
In June of 1950 the FOE held a statewide convention in Montana and distributed monuments to several counties, including Flathead. The 10 Commandments statue was erected in front of the county courthouse that June and sat quietly unopposed until a group threatened to sue the county a few years ago. Bryant and others raised $12,000 and bought six other monuments that could join the 10 Commandments and turn the area into a historical display.
The issue sat dormant until now.
“We believe that it could be argued that it is the Eagles who are being allowed by the County and City to exercise its free speech rights on public land. If this case could be made, then the city may be required to allow for other forms of free speech at the site as well,” FASHA wrote.
The group contends that philosophical works by historical figures like Montesquieu, Descartes and Voltaire should be included alongside the monuments as well.
“The Enlightenment thinkers” were “hugely influential for Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and James Madison (and many others) in drafting the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence,” FASHA wrote.
Dick Frisk, president of the local FOE Aerie 234 chapter, expressed his support of the monuments in a letter as well.
“Those monuments represent the basis of most of our laws and the ideals that many of our veterans fought and died for,” Frisk wrote.
But FASHA is asking the county to remove the monuments altogether and return them to the FOE.
Bryant is open to hearing any opposition. He’s also ready to stand up for those monuments again.
“I didn’t get this hat for being timid,” he said, pointing to his blue cap that read, “Retired U.S. Navy.”