When the question arises about the placement of the Ten Commandments in public spaces, the answer is obvious: They don't have a place there, except for a historical context.

Despite this, it remains one of the major legal issues in the United States.

Kevin Hasson, founder and chairman of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington and MSU law Professor Frank Ravitch spoke about this very issue Tuesday.

We shouldn't be surprised. After all, the U.S. Supreme Court didn't make it very clear when it ruled that a framed copy of the document could not be posted in a Kentucky courthouse while simultaneously ruling that a granite monument of the same document outside the Texas Capitol was constitutional.

Ravitch opposes displays "pretty universally," but Hasson claims the government should be allowed to display religion in public as long as it doesn't force the public to participate.

The problem with this is the government displaying religion would be like Congress making a law respecting an establishment of religion, which is obviously unconstitutional.

There's a reason Hindu religious laws aren't on display outside our courthouses.

In fact, only three commandments (and "bearing false witness" is only illegal if you do it under oath) are actually against the law in this country, mostly because our legal system isn't, as some proponents say, firmly based on the Ten Commandments.

Our legal system is more firmly based on British Common Law and Roman laws.

Given that, saying that the law is based on the Ten Commandments is wrong.

Now, the commandments are an important historical law which is the basis for much of the country's moral code today.

We support the idea that they should be allowed in a historical context alongside other great testaments to law such as the Code of Hammurabi and Roman law.

However, outside of that context, these monuments should not be on display.

The fact that it is rare to find these displays up in a historical context speaks of the intent of those that donate them — mostly for religious purposes.

When the religious purpose of the famous tablets is cast aside, the laws lose much of their meaning.

This country was built on the separation of church and state for a reason. Why is the country so adamant about keeping the church physically in the state?