As the old saying goes, what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.? And now people entering the Bradford County Courthouse in Starke, FL will be able to have a gander at both a monument featuring the Ten Commandments and another one which will feature quotes celebrating secularism as well.? And why not?
Having lost the battle to have the original monument to the Ten Commandments removed, the national organization, American Atheists, has decided that it will simply erect an additional monument – one which celebrates its animating ideology.? The decision to build a monument to secularism signals that they now are willing to compete in a “game” which they previously argued should not be played at all.
Some will argue that this is a hypocritical move on the part of an organization which for years has argued that public grounds should be as neutral as possible.?? Some will make that argument, but they would be wrong.? Instead, the decision to build the new monument represents a new and more mature approach to how we use public space.
Rather than spend more effort on seeing how empty we can make the American public square, we need to see how expansive and inclusive it can become.? No, this is not an argument for an “anything goes” approach, but it is an invitation to change the initial response, especially from atheists, secularists, and more rigid legal liberals, to the issue of what symbols and celebrations can find a legitimate spot in American public life.
Rather than beginning with the premise that less is more, and that our collective freedom is best protected when more of who any of us is, is left at home and in private, we can shift to a “more is more” response, and cultivate a culture in which all of our freedoms are best protected when we can celebrate who we are as openly as possible.? To be clear, this attitude will frustrate many cultural conservatives when it is applied to a whole range of social and sexual issues, but that is for another time.
In the meantime, the existence of these two monuments should not been seen as in competition with each other, even though some, including many of those who supported erecting them, undoubtedly see it that way.? The presence of these two monuments, side by side, should be seen instead as complementing each other.
This is a moment that some will frame as “either/or”, when in fact, it is really about “both/and”.? Each monument celebrates a piece of what has made, and continues to make America great.? Each honors ideas without which we would be the poorer, and leaders whose leadership has enriched this nation.? While either monument alone could be construed as problematic, taken together, they are a gift to the people of Bradford County, and actually, to the rest of us as well.
Listed for many years in Newsweek as one of America’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis” and recognized as one of our nation’s leading “Preachers and Teachers,” by Beliefnet.com, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield serves as the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a training institute, think tank, and resource center nurturing religious and intellectual pluralism within the Jewish community, and the wider world, preparing people to meet the biggest challenges we face in our increasingly polarized world.
An ordained Orthodox rabbi who studied for his PhD and taught at The Jewish Theological Seminary, he has also taught the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs an ongoing seminar, and American Jewish University. Rabbi Brad regularly teaches and consults for the US Army and United States Department of Defense, religious organizations — Jewish and Christian — including United Seminary (Methodist), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox) Luther Seminary (Lutheran), and The Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) — civic organizations including No Labels, Odyssey Impact, and The Aspen Institute, numerous Jewish Federations, and a variety of communal and family foundations.
Hirschfield is the author and editor of numerous books, including You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, writes a column for Religion News Service, and appears regularly on TV and radio in outlets ranging from The Washington Post to Fox News Channel. He is also the founder of the Stand and See Fellowship, which brings hundreds of Christian religious leaders to Israel, preparing them to address the increasing polarization around Middle East issues — and really all currently polarizing issues at home and abroad — with six words, “It’s more complicated than we know.”