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The phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. money, the Supreme Court has said, is constitutionally kosher because it is an expression of generic, harmless "civic religion." The phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance could be seen in the same light, though the court has yet to say so explicitly.

But monuments to the Ten Commandments in public buildings, a practice the court announced this week it will consider in cases from Kentucky and Texas, are different. Such monuments are not mere "civic religion." They are a dangerous entanglement of church and state. While some of the commandments ("Thou shalt not steal," for example) aver moral precepts no less applicable to secular than to religious life, others ("Thou shalt have no other gods before me," for example) deal specifically with matters of religious doctrine.

Contrary to the assertions of some would-be theocrats, the Ten Commandments are not a foundation of U.S. law. The foundation of U.S. law, except in Louisiana, is English common law. (In Louisiana, the foundation is ancient Roman law, as transmitted through French codes.)

The influence of the Enlightenment, which prized reason above religious dogma and tradition, is also seen in the Constitution, especially in the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment.

That amendment strongly suggests that government should not be in the business of endorsing a particular translation or version of Scripture. The quotes here are from the King James Version, but there are dozens of versions for a monument-maker to choose from.

Nor should the state be endorsing one or another Ten Commandments enumeration system.

What most Protestant Christians take to be the Second Commandment, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image," Catholic Christians regard as a subsection of the "no other gods before me" First Commandment.

Conversely, what most Protestants regard as a single 10th Commandment ("Thou shalt not covet ..."), Catholics regard as two - a Ninth Commandment against coveting your neighbor's wife and a 10th Commandment against coveting your neighbor's goods.

Such differences of religious interpretation are not inconsequential. Wars have been fought over their like. That is why the republic's founders wanted church and state kept separate, a principle to be cherished as much in the troubled 21st century as it was in the 18th.