Washington ? The Supreme Court gave government officials a mixed message about Ten Commandments displays on public property: You can put them up, just don’t be too religious about it.

In its first rulings on the church-state issue in a quarter-century, a closely divided court said a 6-foot granite monument that proclaims “I AM the LORD they God” outside the Texas Capitol is allowed partly because it sits in a vast park that “suggests little or nothing of the sacred.”

But in a second 5-4 decision Monday, it struck down framed copies of the Ten Commandments in two Kentucky courthouses, even though it was surrounded by other nonreligious documents, because officials had previously stated their purpose was to promote religion.

“What the rulings say is when a government overtly endorses a particular religious viewpoint or tradition, it’s unconstitutional,” said Marci Hamilton, a church-state expert at Cardozo School of Law. “Displays are OK if you don’t have an in-your-face declaration that the government stands behind Christian tradition.”

She and other legal experts said the rulings will bring additional litigation as displays are challenged by both sides case-by-case.

“The court has found no single mechanical formula that can accurately draw the constitutional line in every case,” wrote Justice Stephen G. Breyer, the only justice to vote with the majority in both cases.

The court said the key to whether a display is constitutional hinges on whether there is a religious purpose behind it. But the justices acknowledged that question would often be controversial.

The Ten Commandments are displayed outside a restaurant in Bedford, Ind. The U.S. Supreme Court ruledg Monday that some displays of the commandments are OK, if they are not set in an overtly religious context.

“The divisiveness of religion in current public life is inescapable,” wrote Justice David H. Souter.

He said it was important to understand the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which requires the government to stay neutral on religious belief. Questions of such belief, he said are “reserved for the conscience of the individual.”

The rulings mean thousands of Ten Commandments displays around the nation will be validated if their primary purpose is to honor the nation’s legal, rather than religious, traditions. Location also will be considered, with wide-open lots more acceptable than schoolhouses filled with young students.

Kansas reaction

Members of Kansas’ mostly Republican delegation in Congress said Monday that the court should have gone further in allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed in or near government buildings.

“I’m pleased in that it seems to signal the court starting to move away from its strident position against expressions of faith,” said Republican Sen. Sam Brownback. “The Ten Commandments are a foundational document for our democracy. These documents should not be removed but revered.”

Republican Rep. Jim Ryun said the decision not to allow a display in the courthouse was ironic because the Supreme Court itself has the Ten Commandments sculpted on the walls of its own chambers.

“I think we should look for ways to encourage the standard of behavior found in the Ten Commandments, regardless of where they were written,” Ryun said.

Republican Rep. Jerry Moran said the issue is one of allowing religious expression.

“Sadly, it appears the Supreme Court would allow the display of the Ten Commandments only in a historical context as opposed to the core principles by which Kansans live their lives,” Moran said. “Religious freedom is central to what makes America great, and it should be protected.”

The court “has again demonstrated it is out of touch with the principles and laws upon which this country was founded,” said Rep. Todd Tiahrt.

Rep. Dennis Moore, the state’s lone Democrat in Congress, said he respects the court’s decision to determine the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on a case-by-case basis.

“I do not believe our Founding Fathers wanted any religion to have government-sponsored supremacy over any others,” Moore said. “Religion is deeply personal, and all citizens of our country must be allowed to choose their own spiritual path.”

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline said he agrees that government should be neutral toward religion but said displaying the Ten Commandments doesn’t come “anywhere close to the government establishing a religion.”

“A nation that forgets the source of justice ultimately and eventually loses justice,” Kline said.