Faced with a costly lawsuit and a tough argument, officials in Virginia's Giles County have done the right thing. Ten Commandments displays in area schools - that were initially removed after a complaint but then returned after public outcry - have been removed once again. The Roanoke Times reports:

School board Chairman J.B. Buckland said the board acted out of legal and economic prudence. The Ten Commandments, he said, are still gospel.

"Our entire board would like to see them stay up, but we can't take that chance of them filing a suit and us losing," Buckland said.

Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based religious freedom group, had advised Superintendent Terry Arbogast that the school district "would lose" if hit with a threatened lawsuit by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the ACLU, according to minutes released Wednesday of a Tuesday special school board meeting.

If even Liberty Counsel believes your religious display is not likely to stand up in court, then you really do have an uphill battle. Kudos to county officials for setting aside their own religious fervor and coming to a rational decision that not only protects the county budget, but oh yeah, the religious freedom of all school children and parents in the process. The Ten Commandments belong in our homes and our houses of worship, not in our schools.