A Pennsylvania school district capitulated to the demands of a militant atheist who filed a federal lawsuit demanding the district remove a Ten Commandments monument erected on a public high school campus. New Kensington-Arnold School District agreed to give the massive monument the heave-ho, ending a lawsuit filed in 2012 by self-avowed atheist Marie Schaub. Ms. Schaub claimed the 6-foot-tall stone monument posted outside Valley High School was a religious symbol and therefore was a violating of the U.S. Constitution.

“It’s unfortunate that many people in my community don’t understand or appreciate the separation of church and state, but I hope this settlement serves as an important lesson,” she told the Valley News Dispatch. Ms. Schaub also claimed the monument was offensive to herself and her daughter. I can only imagine which commandment she found to be more offensive? If I was a betting man I’d say it was either the one about coveting thy neighbor’s ass or the one about graven images. Anyway, the school district has 30 days to extricate the monument from the front lawn — and it also has to fork over $164,000 in legal fees.

“We’re very pleased,” Freedom From Religion Foundation attorney Patrick Elliott told the Valley News Dispatch. “It means that the Constitution is being followed by the school district.” FFRF is a group of perpetually offended atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers based in Wisconsin. They intentionally bully and intimidate small towns and communities in their quest to eradicate Christianity from the public marketplace. They are truly an unpleasant bunch of people, folks. Supt. John Pallone told the local newspaper they agreed to settle the lawsuit “in order to take the high road.”

“We compromised and agreed to remove the monument,” he said. That’s hardly a compromise. It’s more like appeasement. The superintendent went on to tell the newspaper he believed the district “had a winnable case.” “We’re in a position where we just can’t continue to fight this distraction,” he said. How infuriating! The school district had an opportunity to demonstrate to children how to defend our constitutional rights. Instead, it chose to throw in the towel for the sake of expedience. And in doing so, it violated an eleventh commandment: Thou Shall Not Tucketh Tail and Run.