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.

[lugsoul]

Yep. And it cost him about $100K. I'd like a gig like that - "here - write this brief. Take the least winnable positions imaginable, and I'll pay ya one hundred grand."

[farmer18th]

How am I consenting to that? What about the atheist? What about the Shinto practitioner, the Buddhist, the Hindu? Where is their consent?

Where does that leave them?

Out in the cold--where they can contemplate those virtues that made their adopted country worthy of seeking. As to "hick theology," some of those squirrel shooting Kentucky Baptists were better at liberating the Jews than any of Christianity's more contemplative and currently irrelevant traditions.

[reflecting]

several years ago when the ACLU went after Moore about the Ten Commandments plaque that hung in his court room it propelled him to become the Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice. That and a very tight relationship with the trial lawyers, (by the way my one delight in this whole matter is that if Moore is removed the trial lawyers will have gotten nothing for thier money)

This is not about public display of the Ten Commandments --- it is about Moore and his ambitions.

With his alliances you might begin to see why pastors might be leary aligning themselves with Moore.....

[Viva Le Dissention]

So since you're so keen on the thoughts of the Founders, what is your opinion on Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance? I've heard Madison had something to do with the drafting of the constitution, but I'm not sure...

[lugsoul]

Moore's shilling for ATLA is well known. If ya don't have Hubbard, gotta go to the trial lawyers. But who can blame him? Those $19.95 videotapes of Roy wheeling in the monument on a pallet jack are only gonna raise so much money.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

You sure about that, Mr. History Major?

[jwalsh07]

Ha ha. Yes, the writers of the Bill of Rights would have saved us all a lot of time if they had ben more diligent drafting those short articles. They worked on them for only a day or two.

The author of the First Amendment was a devout Christian who resided in a sate wit an established religion during and after the ratification of the US Constitution. He might disagree with your assessment of the original meaning of the establishment clause, no?

[Catspaw]

He's just planning on winging it, handing out some plum state contracts to cronies in the televangism racket to reward them for donations and favors, all while blaming all the shortcomings on all those who have the audacity to oppose Him as being part of some Satanic conspiracy.

Well, yes--plus handing out a few plums to his pals, the trial lawyers.

But I wonder if they'll elect him, given that they've already gone through the Fob James era.

[Texas Federalist]

"Oh that's right. They appointed you to do the job."

Yes jackass, they left me to do it. Tell me where in the Constitution it gives the judiciary the exclusive right to interpret the Constitution.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

My suggestion is that you look very carefully at the maps of the campaigns of the Second World War before making such a claim again.

[Viva Le Dissention]

I think Madison's thoughts are made clear in his Memorial and Remonstrance. He makes no bones about it--gov't and religion shouldn't mix.

[farmer18th]

So since you're so keen on the thoughts of the Founders, what is your opinion on Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance?

You mean the part where he described Christianity as a "precious gift?" That part, or the part that acknowledge--as a given--a single sovereign creator? (Terribly insensitive to modern pantheists.)

You mistake a concern for using the apparatus of government to advance a particular religion with the common moral law embraced by Baptist, Congregationalist, Jew, Catholic, Presbyteran, and Quaker. This, after all, is a discussion about THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

That would be when their contemporary, John Marshall, interpreted it as such in 1803. He knew them, and had a much greater ability to discern what they meant than you do.

The other interesting part is that they didn't slap him silly, and willingly acceded to his viewpoint.

[Viva Le Dissention]

Yeah, he says civil people must believe in God. Then he says leave it the hell out of the government. Or do you just simply read that part (basically the entire essay) out?

I can't believe you're now saying that the Ten Commandments isn't religious. You've gone beyond all reason.

[Catspaw]

This, after all, is a discussion about THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

No, it's about two mortals, Roy Moore and William Pryor and a hearing that starts in Montgomery, Alabama, tomorrow on whether Moore should be removed or otherwise disciplined by the Alabama Judicial Review Board. Pryor is the prosecutor and Moore is the defendant.

[jwalsh07]

So since you're so keen on the thoughts of the Founders, what is your opinion on Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance? I've heard Madison had something to do with the drafting of the constitution, but I'm not sure...

Of more interest might be Madisons presenting of and getting passed "A Bill for Punishing . . . Sabbath Breakers".

[Looking for Diogenes]

Well, that's your opinion.

Yeah, the Supreme Court Justices got the idea from me!

The "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment means at least this: neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining [p*16] or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups, and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect "a wall of separation between church and State." Reynolds v. United States, supra, at 164.
Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing, 330 U.S. 1 (1947) (USSC+)

[farmer18th]

Let's see--a Creighton quoting fellow would probably be, what, oh, Catholic, right? Without detracting from the contribution many patriotic American Catholics made in World War II, just how effective was the Pope at keeping Fascism out of Italy? Tell me. Was the contemplative tradition a virtue on that occasion?

[jwalsh07]

I think Madison's thoughts are made clear in his Memorial and Remonstrance. He makes no bones about it--gov't and religion shouldn't mix.

Evidently his actions spoke louder than his words in the state of Virginia.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Contain your excitement. I know you're eager to get back to some proper blue laws, but you're wetting the floor like a trembling puppy.