Posted on 08/22/2003 2:22:56 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments."
– James Madison
Alabama's Chief Justice Roy Moore is a national hero.
He became one in 1995 when, as a circuit-court judge in the state, he placed a hand-carved wooden plaque of the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall.
That act set off legal challenges that led to him becoming known as "The Ten Commandments Judge" and eventually his election by the people of the state to the top judicial position in Alabama.
It should have surprised no one when, upon assuming his new position as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, he installed a two-ton, washing-machine-sized granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse.
Predictably, the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suits against Moore, charging his action violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Last month, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Moore and ordered him to remove the monument. Moore vowed once again to fight the ruling.
Is there any validity to the charge that positioning the Ten Commandments in a state courthouse violates the First Amendment?
The First Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
For starters, Congress never entered the equation when Moore made his decision to erect the monument. Secondly, and most importantly, which religion is established by the posting of the Ten Commandments?
The Ten Commandments are not only revered by all believing Christians and Jews, they are the very basis of Western civilization and, more specifically, the cornerstone of American self-government.
Just ask James Madison, the author of the U.S. Constitution. He said the founders staked their entire experiment – and it remains an experiment more than 200 years later – of self-government. The only alternative to a free society of individuals governing themselves under the simple yet profound precepts of the Ten Commandments, he understood, was a society coerced to behave by the power of government.
That's what the debate is all about in Alabama today. Do we wish to live in a society of self-governing individuals who behave themselves because of a consensus around some eternal truths, an absolute morality, a simple code of right and wrong uniting people of many faiths? Or, do we prefer to live under the rule of men and a system of ever-changing, always-evolving morality and subject to the whims of unaccountable judges and the fads and fashions of democracy?
That's the choice. We can argue whether Judge Moore made the right tactical or strategic legal choices, as one Southern Baptist leader has done. But this fight and this choice is much more important than that. There's a much bigger issue at stake – that issue is what kind of a country we want.
I want the kind of a country James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and our founders envisioned for us. That's what Judge Roy Moore wants, too.
It's time for Americans to rally around this man, his cause and tell the ACLU to take its meddling to some other country.
America was founded on the principle of self-government. We can't have self-government without the Ten Commandments, without biblical principles of right and wrong, without a basic code of morality.
This is not a question of separation of church and state. No church is being established in Alabama or the U.S. when we acknowledge the power and principality of the Ten Commandments in our lives and in the life of our country.
On one side, we've got Judge Moore, Rabbi Levin, and now Joseph Farah, all drawing a line in the sand on this Ten Commandments issue, and saying 'this far and no further!' to the liberals. I say that line-up deserves Freeper respect and support.
On the other side we have the ACLU, militant gays, secular leftists, and a handful of senior Freepers, who should know better but have allowed their usual common-sense conservatism to become waylaid by over-focus on the legal aspects of the matter. Right at the time when we are on the cusp of getting behind Judge Moore activism-wise, and there are threads planning freeps in support of his stance. Now I am asking you guys to suppress your concerns, to go with the collective view here and to stop undermining FR's cohesion and motivation as the issue goes from red to white-hot over the next few days. Respectfully, Byron
It's time for Americans to rally around this man, his cause and tell the ACLU to take its meddling to some other country.
America was founded on the principle of self-government. We can't have self-government without the Ten Commandments, without biblical principles of right and wrong, without a basic code of morality.
This is not a question of separation of church and state. No church is being established in Alabama or the U.S. when we acknowledge the power and principality of the Ten Commandments in our lives and in the life of our country.
Its amazing how a 15,000 pound rock can supposedly promote Itself thats what the ACLU calls it anyway I wish i could be among those protestors helping to defend Judge Moore and that great rock which holds the ten commandments.
Mornin Byron still full of that great common sense i see we need a concerted effort to oust the ACLU out of the lives of the people it oppreses its time to take this country back from those who would see it driven into the ground by tyrannizing its people its religions and its laws!
God bless Judge Moore and all those who recognize this attack on God and the most basic principles of this land The ten commandments!
Judge Moore is a hero. Big time.
I salute his knowledge of the foundations of our moral code, embrace his intense ability to EDUCATE us all on the foundations of our system of law, admire his steady staying of the course, have profound respect for his standing up for his state, its constitution and his adherance to the same and wish we had a few thousand more judges just like him!
For myself, were I ever to be in a position to be standing before a judge, I would want that judge to understand the rule of law in exactly the same manner this good judge does.
By displaying only one version of the 10 Commandments, Judge Moore has implicitly endorsed one sect of Christianity above the others; and endorsed Christianity above Judaism, Islam, and all other religions. That's where the Constitutional violation comes in.
There is no government establishment of religion involved in the judge's actions, my friend. None at all. Just a simple acknowledgement of the keystone of your (and ours) legal system, and its foundation. Exactly the kind of daily reminder the legal profession need, as they walk into court these days. Cheers, By
....any reader of this thread can see who's 'hoping for confrontation', bud.
It seems to me then that you're saying that our constituion and all the founding documents are unconstitutional because they acknowledge God. America was founded as a CHRISTIAN nation that would tolerate (not embrace) the rights of others to worship as they please.
Those whom we have tolerated are far less tolerant towards us as Christians and are now seeking to remove our rights.
The rule of law is not what some black robed traitors decide that it is today if it conflicts with the Constitution and the intent of the founders to be found in their writings. One quote, taken out of context does not reflect the intent of the founders.
What Judge Moore and his supporters are doing should have been done long ago when prayer and posting of the Ten Commandments were removed from the classrooms in our schools.
God Bless and God Speed Judge Roy Moore.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.