Grappling with the Gray

Are you ethical? Only by investigating all sides and contemplating every angle can we improve ethical decision-making, build more trusting relationships, and help create a more ethical world. Join our panel of leaders and thinkers as we grapple with a new ethical challenge each week.

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Grappling with the Gray

Grappling with the Gray #100: Opting out of the Ten Commandments?

August 14, 2024 • Yonason Goldson • Episode 100

Thank you for your support in reaching episode 100 of Grappling with the Gray!

Celebrate with me as three of my stalwart recurring guests -- Kimberly Davis, 🟦 Melissa Hughes, Ph.D., and Peter Winick -- join the panel for this milestone.

Here is our topic:

This past June, a bill signed into law made Louisiana the only state requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom in public schools and colleges.

Not surprisingly, civil liberties groups planned lawsuits to block the law, arguing it would unconstitutionally breach protections against government-imposed religion, unfairly and illegally eroding the constitutional barrier between religion and government.

This is a dramatic reversal from 2003, when former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was ousted from the bench after disobeying a federal judge’s order to remove a 5,000 pound granite monument of Ten Commandments display from the state court building.

Baton Rouge Attorney General Liz Murrill commented that, “The 10 Commandments are pretty simple, but they also are important to our country’s foundations.”

Research seems to back her up. Behaviorist Dan Ariely has reported that when students were asked to recount the 10 Commandments, they demonstrated less inclination to cheat, even though many of them couldn’t name more than two of the Commandments.

A similar question arises almost every December over whether Christmas should be a national holiday. Objectors claim that it is a religious observance unjustly imposed on non-Christians, while defenders argue it is part of our national heritage and part of the cultural fabric of our country.

The late Senator Joe Lieberman remarked that the Constitution promises freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. Is it possible for us to acknowledge a cultural heritage built on religion while preserving the boundaries between church and state?

Meet this week’s panelists:

Kimberly Davis is an author, TEDx speaker, and founder of the Brave Leadership University, leading development programs world-wide, around authentic leadership, purpose, presence, and influence.

Melissa Hughes is Founder and Principal of the Andrick Group, applying recent brain research to improve employee engagement, company culture, team dynamics, and innovation.

Peter Winick works with individuals and organizations to build and grow revenue streams through their thought leadership platforms and is host of the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast.