How did the lawsuit in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum arise?
In September 2003, the Utah-based Summum religious organization, founded in 1975, sought to donate to the city of Pleasant Grove, Utah, a monument of the Seven Aphorisms — seven mystical principles that the group says explain the workings of the universe. Summum teaches that when Moses first went to Mount Sinai, he received stone tablets from God that were inscribed with these principles. Summum believes that because the Israelites could not comprehend the Seven Aphorisms, Moses destroyed the tablets and went to Mount Sinai a second time. According to Summum, Moses then returned to the people with clearer, more accessible rules now known as the Ten Commandments. Summum asked the city to display the Seven Aphorisms monument among the more than 10 objects already on display in Pleasant Grove’s Pioneer Park. Specifically, Summum requested that the city place the Seven Aphorisms monument next to a Ten Commandments monument that the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a primarily secular group, had
