(August 26,2003)
The Ten Commandments.
The Constitution of the United States of America.
This is what it is all about. This is why a middle class carpenter from Illinois has written a book, established two web sites. Two all or nothing ideologies are at odds with each other once again, the latest battleground, a courthouse square in Montgomery Alabama.
Two years ago, Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore installed a 5,300 pound monument of the Ten Commandments to be viewed by all who enter, a "mission" to remind all that our founding fathers and the core of our entire legal system has its roots in a single religion, Christianity. Any who enter are witness to a specific expression of a higher power’s influence on our nation, bought and paid for by a staunch believer in a triune God who sent his only begotten Son to save us from our sins. But the people who enter there are not seeking salvation, only justice promised them by another doctrine, The Constitution of the United States of America.
Some of these people pray to Jesus; some meditate with Buddha; some offer worship to Vishnu; some simply don’t pray at all. All of them have one thing in common as they enter the building: they seek a fair and impartial Chief Justice, one who will hold the laws of their country above all else. They want to feel assured that their prayer will not be examined along with their case. They want to feel confident that the same decision will be offered them as the next guy. After all, a document guarantees them this right with NO exceptions.
But as they enter the State Supreme Court in Alabama, they are confronted with Chief Justice Roy Moore’s "higher law."
Like it or not, Christian or not, the writers of the Constitution gave us an all or nothing proposition in the First Amendment. Many of them had felt the sting of persecution by governments in Europe affiliated with a different form of Christianity. From the Puritans to the Pilgrims to the Quakers: they had been given an all or nothing proposition to abandon their faith or leave. They did not want to see it happen here, so they agreed our government must stand behind all expressions of religious conviction, or none. Wisely, our founding fathers decided to support none. To protect ALL the people, NO religion will be favored over another. NO one religion can say its way to worship is more legally right. ALL religions would have a place in the United States of America, and the highest power any citizen would ever face would be governed by laws written by man. This was their intent. This was their promise to us. This is why they wrote the First Amendment.
Did they think it would ever be used to protect a person of another faith? Did they ever think it would be used to protect an atheist?
It doesn’t matter; it does.
A Christian IS protected.
A Buddhist IS protected.
A Hindi IS protected.
An atheist IS protected.
All or nothing, no more no less.
How much more simple can it get? Those seeking removal of the monument are not trying to erase God from our lives. They are trying to put God where God belongs, in a church, in a home, in the hearts and minds of those who believe . . . not a courtroom or a congress, or even the White House. While our leaders serve us, they must serve ALL of us, or, in effect, they serve NONE.
In my humble opinion, Chief Justice Moore has let his personal faith interfere with his promise to serve ALL the people who enter his court. As long as he defies the ruling of the "higher court" his office answers to, he violates the highest law permitted in our land. Give it to his church. Sell it on Ebay. I don’t care. Get it off a property that is bought and paid for by tax dollars, that is designed to protect and serve the highest power allowed by the laws of our land. Put another list of ten laws in its place: The Bill of Rights.
And Chief Justice Moore, if you don’t like it. . . resign. Become a minister. Become a businessman. Go back to being a lawyer. I don’t care. You are not fit to serve as a judge in any U.S. court, for I know which list of ten laws take precedence in your court. You posted them in the square for all of us to see. That, and that alone, disqualifies you as MY judge.
©2003 Mrbline5784
Note: My thanks to Mrbline for submitting this article! Click "Read More" below for the full text. |
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