To watch "the memo" click here .
And that's the memo.
Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thanks for watching us tonight.
Some breaking news earlier today. As you may have heard, authorities in San Diego now believe seven-year-old Danielle van Dam has been murdered, and they believe a neighbor of the van Dams, David Westerfield, did it. He's being held without bail right now. We'll let you know if anything else happens in this case.
The Talking Points Memo this evening is about the Ten Commandments and the Supreme Court. The court has decided not to hear a case whereby Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon was legally blocked from displaying the Ten Commandments on the statehouse grounds. That means no commandments in Indianapolis.
The Indiana Civil Liberties Union is very happy, but I am not. This is a bogus ruling, and Americans should be very concerned. Lower courts had ruled that the posting the Ten Commandments in a government building violated the Constitution's establishment clause. That says, "The government shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion." That means the government must stay neutral on religion and not impose one on Americans.
OK, fine, that's a good provision.
Let me ask everyone this question. What religion does the Ten Commandments impose? Judaism? Moses got the tablets. Christianity? Islam? Which one? The answer is, none of the above. The Ten Commandments is a historical document written, pardon the pun, in stone.
They establish methods of behavior for those interested in having a life based upon the respect of others and the higher power, spirituality.
So why are the courts intruding on history? Why do I not have the right as an American to read in a government office the basic tenets that our civil laws are based on?
Somebody is violating my rights here. Supreme Court knows very well there's no religion favored by the Ten Commandments. Everybody with any sense knows that. Are the Baptists favored? Buddhists? What religion is being encouraged here?
But the Supreme Court is basically dominated by secular jurists, judges who do not want any mention of morality -- and that's the word, morality -- to be included in government business. That's why there's chaos in the justice system, the public school system, the tax system, and the welfare system, because there is no standard of right and wrong set by the federal government.
There's no moral discipline imposed on programs. Send welfare tax dollars to drug addicts, fine. Send education money to school boards, OK, and if that money doesn't get to the kids, well, that's life.
The sad fact is, there's little moral focus, the right and wrong of a situation, in public life. So the Ten Commandments, that historical document which encourages moral behavior, is not allowed in our public arenas.
Thank you, civil liberties people, and thank you, Supreme Court. Positive, constructive behavior has just been dealt another blow.
And that's the memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day."
Word is there are some thugs in Pakistan trying to sell that videotape of Daniel Pearl being murdered. We would never run a tape like that under any circumstances. And anybody who would buy it, should be ostracized from the international media. The whole thing is revolting and ridiculous in the extreme.
— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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