Pennsylvania artist Violet Oakley was ahead of her time, mainly because she refused to forget her heritage or her faith. It's not likely the New Kensington-Arnold school board gave Oakley a thought when they agreed last week to remove a Ten Commandments monument from outside Valley High School and pay $164,000 in legal fees to settle a federal lawsuit. The fight might have ended differently if they had.

Oakley was America's first female commissioned muralist, hired in 1902 to paint inside the state Capitol in Harrisburg. She completed 43 murals over the ensuing quarter-century. In the decades since then, countless millions of visitors have admired and drawn inspiration from Oakley's artworks, which reflect her deep respect for the religious and social tolerance fostered by Pennsylvania founder William Penn and the early Protestant Church leaders who profoundly influenced the commonwealth Penn founded in 1681.

Her first completed Capitol mural, “Penn's Vision” includes a depiction of Penn, arms outstretched, coaxing people to board awaiting ships for the New World.

“Penn's Vision” was Oakley's first in more ways than chronological. She once said of her work: “My own faith in an organized world governed by international law dates from my first study of the life of William Penn and his 'Holy Experiment.'”

Another panel portrays the persecution and martyrdom of Englishman William Tyndale — he was burned at the stake in 1536 for the crime of translating the Bible into English. It's a strong tribute to the unwavering faith and conviction that helped establish Penn's “Holy Experiment.”

In another part of the Capitol, the courtroom of the state Supreme Court features a 16-panel mural by Oakley tracing the progress of law, from divine law, to the spirit of the law, symbolized by Christ walking on a troubled sea filled with sinking ships.

Other panels show the Sermon on the Mount as a revelation of the Christian concept of law; and Moses “hewing out the Ten Commandments upon Mount Sinai, under divine inspiration,” as the artist once described it.

There's nothing circumspect about Oakley's intent; neither is there any denying the intent of those authorizing payment of her commission, namely the justices of the Supreme Court and a state Legislature of a century ago. It clear in a quote appearing on one of the 16 panels, attributed to British legal scholar Sir William Blackstone: “Human laws are only declaratory of an act in subordination to Divine Law.”

Oakley's murals aren't simple abstracts. They are more than historical accounts of ancient moral law. The Capitol would not be the same Capitol without these paintings. More specifically, the Supreme Court would be a different Supreme Court without the Oakley Progress of Law mural.

Kensington-Arnold School District won't be the same anymore, either. The Freedom From Religion Foundation told The Associated Press that it received a signed settlement Tuesday saying the district will relocate the 6-foot-high granite monolith from near the gym entrance at Valley High School within 30 days. The local Eagles club donated the monument to the school more than 60 years ago.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president, Annie Laurie Gaylor, said: “We're very glad it's over with, but honestly, it shouldn't have been fought in the first place,”

We agree that it should not have been fought, but for stridently different reasons.