What I never understood about the ten commandments issue is that it's part of the foudnation of the three major Religions of the world. This means that it is a core belief to the majority of religious people on this planet.
I think banning display in public places is stupid... but I think that if someone can toss up the Ten Commandments, then someone else should be able to go toss up a tract from their own religious book without being harassed. I think this would be a much more interesting test of tolerance that the right claims they have oodles of and that the left completely lacks.
Banning is stupid, it never works the way people want it to. Ban something and you lend credibility to whatever it represents, you strengthen it by showing you fear it. I think Athiests would be a hell of a lot more successful if they just sat down and shut up. Many are apathetic towards faith and religion but will go to defend it when some Athiest lunatic comes screaming from the shadows. If they wanted to effectively fight religion, to help it fade away, they'd just stay quiet and watch. Let apathy take its course.
