"I think there's already a sense of concern from the majority of people in the area that somehow their rights are being infringed upon by a minority that's not even represented here in the area, and I'd have to agree with them from that perspective," Daniels said. "I think the community would not react favorably."

The Summum group originally approached Pleasant Grove in 2003 with the request that it be allowed to erect a monument. Pleasant Grove denied the group's proposal, and a lawsuit ensued in 2005.

The city is now joined with Duchesne, which also has a Ten Commandments monument in its city park, in a court battle against the Summum group.

"My understanding is that (the lawsuit is), for lack of a better word, a scavenger hunt for Ten Commandments monuments in the state, to try to have them removed," said Edward White III, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center in Michigan, who is representing Duchesne and Pleasant Grove. "There were nine monuments on public properties in Utah in the beginning, and now there are only two left."

According to a Web site run by Summum, the group believes the Seven Aphorisms were received on a tablet by Moses before he received the Ten Commandments. When Moses saw the Israelites were not prepared to accept the aphorisms, he broke the tablet and revealed its principles to a select few, they believe.

Although Barnard says the lawsuit has been pending until now, a trial date is scheduled to discuss the issue in September.

---

E-mail: achoate@desnews.com