Judge suggests "Six Commandments"

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - Will the Ten Commandments be reduced to six in a Virginia school? A federal judge made that suggestion to try and end a longstanding legal battle.

Ask any random person this question, and nobody gets it wrong.

ANDY: "How many commandments are there?"
LADIES: "10 commandments."
ANDY: "Are you sure?"
LADIES: "Yes."

But that answer's somewhat in doubt in a case outside of Roanoke that has national ramifications.

The scene is Narrows High School in rural Giles County. For years, the school displayed the Ten Commandments until a parent sued...calling for the separation of church and state.

A federal judge, Monday, suggested the school take the Ten Commandments down to six by removing the four that clearly mention God and the Sabbath.

Carl Tobias is a law professor at the University of Richmond.

"I don't think it was a joke. I think the judge is very serious. I think he's really wrestling with a very difficult case," Tobias said.

The high school argues the Ten Commandments were part of a larger display of historical documents. Instead of making a ruling, the judge sent the case to mediation, rather than a more rigorous and expensive hearing. Tobias believes the two sides will remain deadlocked.

A bit of irony in a case where the outcome is anything but set in stone.

"That's the whole idea that the framers had, was to keep the government out of religious disputes of this sort," Tobias added.

It's unclear if either side is okay with the idea of six commandments, but they'll negotiate that with the mediator outside of the confines of a traditional courtroom hearing.

If mediation fails, then the case will likely go back to the federal judge for a ruling.

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