Atheist Challenges Monument Ten Commandments Monument Offends Pocatello Man

An atheist says the Ten Commandments monument on the Bannock County Courthouse lawn offends him because it advocates a belief in God.

Stephen Wells, Pocatello, testified in federal court on Wednesday that the monument also interferes with the way he is trying to raise his family, because he is teaching his children to be free thinkers.

“I don’t believe in this God. My family doesn’t believe in this God,” he said.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge started a trial that is expected to last several days. He’s hearing it without a jury.

Wells and Larry Fullmer of Pocatello are plaintiffs in a case brought against the county by the American Civil Liberties Union.

They want the monument removed on the ground it violates the separation of state and religion.

The county has refused. Commissioners contend it advocates rules of law, not religion.

Under cross examination by Marcus Nye for the county, Wells said he has gone from Catholicism to atheism.

Wells said he entered a Catholic seminary twice and left both times.

Fullmer testified that he is disturbed by the monument because he considers it intruding on the separation of church and state.

The granite monument was erected in 1967 as a gift from the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Nye said it was part of a Hollywood promotion for the Cecil B. DeMille movie, “The Ten Commandments.”

He said there are thousands of similar monuments erected across the country.

The county installed two other plaques adjacent to the controversial monument in 1993.

One contains a quotation by Thomas Jefferson concerning religious freedom and the other states that the county does not endorse particular religious beliefs.

The county’s legal fight to keep the monument is being financed by the Idaho Counties Risk Management insurance carrier.