Vanity: My Letter to Alabama Attorney General Pryor

Self | 11/11/2003 | Self

[farmer18th]

Dear Mr. Pryor:

Your actions with respect to Judge Moore confuse me.

Is "Thou Shalt Not Steal" offensive to you? (I'm glad I don't own property in Alabama)

Is "Thou Shalt Not Murder" problematic for you? (I'm glad I don't live in Alabama)

Is "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" hurtful to you? (I'm glad you don't know my wife.)

Is "Thou Shalt not Bear False Witness" repugnant to you? (I'm glad I never had to seek justice in your state.)

Is "Thou Shalt Have no Other Gods Before Me" distasteful to you? (What with lightning bolts and all, I'm glad I dont worship next to you.)

We are a nation of laws, Mr. Pryor, and not of men. I'm just confused as to which laws you follow.

[mulligan]

What law is he (Pryor) following?

[TheOtherOne]

Which part of God's law don't you like?

The part people like you misinterpret, the part you seem to hear loudest, the part that you think tells you that you can tell eveyone else how to act in accordance with God.

[farmer18th]

..and the reluctance of ministers to embrace Moore whom they did rally for in the first case has meaning.

Suppose you elaborate. How a man of God could confuse the man (Moore) with the cause he champions (the ten commandments) is--I grant you--beyond me. Ministerial cowardice is the curse of our generation, so please, tell me, in what respect have these "men of god" been brave?

[EternalVigilance]

Why?

It is up to you to answer your own question if you are to be fair to Roy Moore. You have inferred repeatedly that it is because of some character flaw in him that certain pastors have not rallied to his cause.

Quit beating around the bush and just say what you think!

[mulligan]

What law is he (Pryor) following?

[lugsoul]

Get a grip on your lack of context. If you know anything about this case, you know that Moore openly took the position that the court COULD NOT ENFORCE any order it issed and that he had no intention of complying. That is a bit different than claiming lack of jurisdiction - but, of course, you probably have the sense to realize that this was straight up federal question jurisdiction.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

How often do you seriously file a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction? Or are you one of those perpetual pro se lunatics?

[Looking for Diogenes]

You brought up Justinian who constructed many churches with state money and endorse one religion as the true religion.

I didn't bring up Justinian, the man, I brought up the Code of Justinian. (Hint: there's also a difference between King James I of England and the King James Bible).

Justinian, James I, and George III were all comfortable with the concept of a state-sponsored religion. The United States was founded on the concept of freedom of religion.

Can you show me where the Code of Justinian is heavily influenced by Christianity? Aside from an article about the ownership of church property, and an aside about divine law, it seems to have little to do with the Mosaic Code.

The Decalogue is by all accounts "explicitly religious" and appears in the SCOTUS. So much for that argument.

Stylized depictions of the Tablets appear in artistic sculptures in the SCOTUS courthouse. You cannot read a single word of the Ten Commandments on display in that building that I am aware of. Furthermore, they are included to depict them many sources of law, and thus are placed there for a secular reason. If Moore had done the same thing his 'rock' would still be there. Instead he went out of his way to say that he placed the monument to establish Christianity as the official religion of the state.

[farmer18th]

The law of man, of petty procedure and soulless precedent, the same small-minded source that justified taxation without representation, public racial descrimination, and racial quotas. That's the law he's following...

[jimt]

The First Amendment clearly and simply forbids the federal government from making any laws in this area.

And the Fourteenth extended that to the states.

So when a rogue judge tries to advance his religion using his state office, he gets slapped down.

As he should have been.

[farmer18th]

Which bilge did you object to? The closing, confirming, line of the U.S. Constitution or Jonathan Trumbull's declaration of "no king but Jesus."

[EternalVigilance]

"The lawyer’s truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency."
-Henry David Thoreau

[Looking for Diogenes]

Take it up with the framers of the Constitution.

News flash: They're all dead. They left us with a document which says that the government shall not doing anything respecting the establishment of religion. They left us with a Supreme Court to interpret that document. They left us with the power to amend that document. If you don't like it, take it up with the SCOTUS. I'm sure they'll be happy to receive your amicus brief.

[Texas Federalist]

I'm not saying that this case was a case where jurisdiction was implicated, but your statement that I critcized was much more universal.

Besides, the Court could not enforce the order without the help of the legislative and executive branches. Congress voted to withhold funding for any enforcement of the order and there is no indication that Bush had any intention of calling out the U.S. Marshals. Therefore, the Court COULD NOT ENFORCE (I like to use capital letters too) the order.

[EternalVigilance]

Judges use their office to advance their religion every day.

The myth that they don't is humorous when viewed objectively.

[usadave]

A legal code which forbids placing explicitly religous monuments in government buildings.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution could have made it easier for all of us if they had just included this line in the First Amendment so as to read:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; it is forbidden to place explicitly religous monuments in government buildings.

[Texas Federalist]

They didn't leave us with a Supreme Court to interpret the COnstitution. The Court usurped that power on their own. However they did leave Congress with the power to limit the jurisdiction of the subordinate federal courts. I would suggest that they start usinjg that power.

[EternalVigilance]

That's okay. I'm working through the legislative branch to rein them in, using Congressional authority contained in Article III, Section II of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court will continue to be almost worthless until we get more justices who have basic reading skills and honest hearts.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Is God really so pathetic that He requires the aid of government to advance?

[farmer18th]

Must you dictate to everyone how they should relate to God?

On certain critical points, yes. If you don't believe that murder is against God's will, kindly let me know where you live, so that I can avoid the neighborhood. If you don't believe that adultery is against God's will, then you won't mind if my daughteres aren't left unattended in your home? If you call that "dictating," so be it.