A Ten Commandments lawsuit to be heard this week by the U.S. Supreme Court inappropriately focuses on free-speech rights rather than church-state separation, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The justices will hear oral arguments Wednesday in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum.

The case tests whether Pleasant Grove City, Utah, can accept a Commandments monument for permanent display in a local park while turning down a monument showing the tenets of another faith. The Summum religion sued the local government after its display was rejected.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Summum had a free-speech right to display its monument next to the Commandments monument.Summum is an informal gathering of people who are seeking to understand themselves, to know who they truly are inside. Summum is not about doctrine, dogma, or beliefs, but about gaining the experiences that will awaken us to the spirit within and to our place in the matrix of Creation’s formulations.

Normally when the government discriminates against one faith while preferring another, a lawsuit would be filed charging a violation of church-state separation. In this situation, due to roadblocks in pre-existing 10th Circuit law, attorneys for Summum made their argument based on First Amendment free-speech principles, not Establishment Clause grounds.

Americans United is sympathetic to Summum’s plight, but is concerned that Summum’s free-speech argument could weaken church-state separation legal doctrine. The watchdog group filed an amicus brief in support of neither Pleasant Grove City nor Summum and requests the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s decision. That way, Summum can re-litigate this case under the framework of church-state separation.

“Our Constitution requires the government to remain religiously neutral. Government officials should never favor one faith over others. Pleasant Grove City should never have approved the Commandments display in the first place. If the city had said no as it should have done, we wouldn’t be facing this mess at the Supreme Court.” — Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director

Lynn, however, urged the justices to approach the case with great caution.

“If the Supreme Court lets Summum’s free-speech argument stand,” he said, “it could open the door for government to use private speakers to spread a particular religious belief.

“It would also mean if the government allows any group to erect a permanent monument on its land, it must allow all proposed monuments to be erected with no restrictions,” he continued. “This could lead to groups putting up permanent monuments promoting hateful messages on public land throughout the country.

“Summum should have the chance to re-argue this case under the correct legal doctrine of church-state separation,” Lynn concluded. “Let’s hope the Supreme Court comes to the right conclusion here.”

About the Author: Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The French title was chosen because in addition to the meanings of the English word it also refers to a Compere or Master of Ceremonies, which seemed to fit the role of travelling showman.

The film was rushed to make the deadline for Annecy, and has more technical faults that there is space to list, but was fun to do all the same. It was set to recorded music by Earthly Delights, who conduct medieval dances, rather like bush dancing or square dancing, in Canberra, Australia. John Garden composed it and plays the Hurdy Gurdy, which felt exactly right for the puppet stage.

The Stiltfrog puppets are latex build-up over wire, about 4 inches tall. The Fool has a cushion foam body, latex build-up hands, and a foam latex head. Adam and Eve are Sculpey over epoxy putty, then foam latex puppets. It was shot on a Nikon D70 which developed flicker, and was replaced by a D50 which flickered from the start, though not as much. Compositing was done in Mirage, with a couple of planet shots put together in Lightwave.

Update

Lionel I. Orozco from  Stop Motion Works commented about our posting of Nicks work at Clarksville Online. He has a point:

Nick Hilligoss has gone VIRAL? …. He is spotlighted in a local USA online paper/voice from Clarkesville, Tennessee. Read about it, L’Animateur by Nick Hilligoss (StopMoShorts also mentioned). Nick has been YouTubified, Yahoo Videofied, Google videodized, the French Koreus.com site and here, here, etc. etc. and so on. Where are the ’suits’ (producers), studios, ad agencies who can perhaps offer Nick some animation gigs, or commissions, contract? Nick shed his own blood, sweat, tears and personal $$$ to create L’Animateur. Always, Stop Motion struggling to get respect & recognition and astounding, the sometimes amazing quality of work with verrrrry low budgets. Can you imagine, the leaps & bounds of Stop Motion, if you threw just a little money at it? – Lionel I. Orozco  Updated: 06.04.07

So if you know anybody in the film business or advertising industry,  show them Nick’s work, and lets get him some exposure!

* The text in this article is based off of the authors description of this video on his submisssion at StopMoShorts.