The Clay County Commission and the Ten Commandments are in the news again:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The Clay County Commission voted unanimously before an audience of nearly 200 Wednesday to leave a plaque of the Ten Commandments on the wall of its chamber.

The plaque is one of several historical documents — which include the Bill of Rights — that are on display, said Commissioner Jimmy Sams. The display has been up for several years.

I’ve mentioned this before, and really, I only bring it up because I feel the need to respond to this:

County resident Jesse Sizemore has asked the commission several times to remove the Ten Commandments, citing the constitutional requirement of separation of church and state.

As simply and clearly as possible: There is no Constitutional requirement of separation of church and state.

The word “church” doesn’t appear in the Constitution. The word “religion” only appears in the first Amendment to the Constitution, which reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Even allowing that the Fourteenth Amendment extends the protection of our rights to the local level (which it really doesn’t — it says “State“), displaying the Ten Commandments is not an establishment of religion. We don’t require citizens to recite the Commandments, nor do we ask them to swear that they follow them. It’s merely a display that symbolizes the historical and cultural influences on our county.

As I said in the post I linked before, I really don’t care all that much about this issue on its own merits. The Ten Commandments are an important part of my religious beliefs, and I like having them there as they’re a nice nod to the culture of our county, but I don’t see having them taken down as a slap in the face. If we had a decent-sized Muslim community, I’d be okay with displaying some symbol of their beliefs, too. The same would be true of Buddhists, Hindu, or members of any other faith.

However, I have a huge issue with the attitude of modern America that the Federal Government should stick its nose into every little aspect of our life. This is a local government issue, and as it doesn’t involve the infringement of any right, those wanting to bring in the Feds should shut up and nominate an anti-Ten Commandments candidate to take the plaque down.

On a semi-regular basis, I read Opinionista, BTQ, and a few other blogs (the names of which escape me, unfortunately) written by lawyers. One of my best friends is a lawyer. Every time I hear anything about the profession, I can’t help but ask myself why.

Why would anyone want to do that? How can anyone choose to work a job that cuts so deeply into both their spare time and their dignity? I’m not even talking about the perceived image of lawyers here, I’m talking about the kind of atmosphere that is so often described within law firms.

The answer, I suspect, is money, but I have to wonder if it’s really worth it. I’m sure that there is some tiny percentage of lawyers who believe they’re doing a necessary service for society (whether they are or not is a debate for another time), and some who actively enjoy what they do, but for most, I suspect it’s money (and perhaps prestige — “lawyer” probably sells better than “data analyst” when discussing your job).

I’ve never been one to care much about what I do for a living. Beyond having shelter, food, and internet access, I don’t even care much about how much money I make. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy having the money to keep myself stocked in new comics, DVDs, and gadgets, but I’d sooner live without those things than work at a job that made me miserable to afford them.