Posted on 08/03/2004 5:16:45 AM PDT by truthandlife
A woman who wants Harris County to remove a Bible display from in front of the Civil Courthouse testified Monday that she received an avalanche of hate mail after filing her lawsuit last year.
"They were very angry letters, not what I would like to think of as Christian," Kay Staley, 60, testified on the first day of a nonjury trial before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake.
The estimated 40 letters, 50 phone calls and several e-mails Staley testified she received show that the public perceives the dispute as religious, said Staley's lawyer, Randall Kallinen.
Staley believes the 4-foot-5 marble monument topped by a Bible under glass lit by a neon light breaches the constitutional wall between church and state.
Assistant County Attorney Frank Sanders argued that there can be no violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment because the county neither built nor maintains the monument.
The monument was erected in 1956 by the Star of Hope Mission to honor philanthropist William S. Mosher, owner of Mosher Steel Co., and was donated to the county.
Neither side has explained why the monument was built in front of the courthouse or why it was donated to the county.
The Star of Hope maintained the monument for many years, turning the pages of the Bible every Saturday, but it fell into disrepair and the Bible disappeared for several years before being restored in 1995.
Staley testified that her lawsuit was inspired by a case last year in which the Alabama chief justice was forced to remove the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of that state's Judicial Building.
She had wanted to have the Bible removed since graduating from law school but had been unable to find a lawyer to take the case, she said.
An attorney and real estate broker, Staley testified that the inscription to Mosher was barely visible but that the Bible was easily seen.
"I feel angry because I don't think it represents my spiritual beliefs," Staley said. "I'm fearful also because I don't want to see our nation discriminate against anybody's spiritual beliefs."
She testified that the Bible display represents the beliefs of a faction within Christianity to the exclusion of other faiths and that politicians pander to that faction in order to get votes.
Kallinen showed the judge video clips from TV channels 39 and 24 showing County Judge Robert Eckels and County Attorney Mike Stafford attending a rally called by church groups to support retaining the Bible display.
Kallinen hopes the video clips will help convince the judge that county officials oppose removing the Bible for religious and political reasons.
Eckels and former state District Judge John Devine are expected to testify today.
Devine orchestrated the privately financed repair of the monument in 1995, and Kallinen will try to show that he did so for religious purposes, not to honor Mosher.
Lake asked lawyers to prepare answers to several questions:
•If the monument has both secular and religious purposes, does it pass constitutional muster by only showing that it has a secular purpose? •Should he consider only the original purpose of the monument or the purpose it had since the monument was refurbished? •Should he consider oral statements made at the dedication? This is a reference to religious statements made at the 1996 dedication. •Should he consider the community understanding of the monument or only the described purpose of the monument?
Why doesn't SHE remove HERSELF from our society and go live in another country?
Sometimes people just get fed up and cannot take it anymore. Which is about the point that I am to with some happenings.
Well, who's a better expert on what's Christian and what's not Christian than a Bible-hating lunatic?
What ever happened to "turn the other cheek"?
Do I hear "turn your plowshares into swords" echoing from the hillsides?
The phrase 'spiritual beliefs' is a dead giveaway. This is a new age, 'let's all hug' type.
"I'm fearful also because I don't want to see our nation discriminate against anybody's spiritual beliefs."
So an Odinist religion preaching racial hatred against non-Nordic people would be fine with her? I don't think so. And has she really tried real hard to find a lawyer to take the case since she graduated from law school?? This does not sound like a very competent attorney to me.
Umm, yeah...a faction like almost all of Christianity. What is this wingnut talking about? Is she so insecure in her "spiritual" beliefs that a display of the Bible is going to ruin her life?
I personally don't believe that any sacred writings other than the Bible are valid or inspired by God. That's my belief, but I'm certainly not threatened if someone wants to build a monument that displays the Koran or the Vedas. They mean nothing to me and therefore can't hurt me. I wouldn't appreciate someone trying to force me to read them or believe in them, but that's not what's going on here. Nobody says she has to go look at the Bible, and it's mere presence in the community can't hurt her.
Don't you just love it when people who positively hate Christianity try to tell Christians how they should act?
A typical demorat response for sympathy. Hate mail is a convenient way for her to garner support. I would not doubt she created the hate mail. I think she should visit the desert for a long time-out. God,Guns and Freedom it's the right way not the commie way. Bush/Cheney 4more years.
And this would be WHAT?
As for the pandering, only a Supreme Force could EVER do anything about THAT!!!
Who does she think gave birth to "The Law" and the notion of justice. Why does she get get offended by the book of laws and the author. Isn't she a lawyer??
Eventually, one runs out of cheeks.
Somehow they always seem to "forget" that. You have an excellent point. All law is based on a moral code of conduct, and none more clearly than our own being based on the law given through the Old and New Testaments (i.e. the Bible).
Right on!
I certainly hope so.
Rosy cheeks are a sign of healthiness. Bloody cheeks on the other hand ... ;)
But it's ok that she wants it removed for religious and political reasons. How "tolerant" of her.
"I feel angry because I don't think it represents my spiritual beliefs," Staley said"
I feel angry because allowing her to remove it doesn't represent MY religious beliefs - and the majority of other Americans feel the same way.
Ergo, majority should rule in this case of conflicting rights. The only reason it doesn't is because of the flawed theory of "protected classes" having more rights than the majority. "Protected classes" have incluided, along with racial/ethnic groups, other categories such as animal rights wackos, atheists, homosexulas, atheists and others who have deviant beliefs.
Its time to eliminate "protected classes".
"Ergo, majority should rule in this case of conflicting rights."
Ya know, I think it's even simpler and lower-level than that.
When I was a kid, it was very often the case that children were chided for not knowing how to take a joke or for over-reacting to teasing. In other words, there were things that you could justifiably get upset about, and things that it was childish to get upset about.
Didn't matter how upset you were, if people decided you were being childish, you got told to shut up and learn to get along with people.
Say, at a BBQ, you're upset because you didn't get a particular one of a dozen identical drumsticks--get over yourself.
You wanted strawberry soda and not grape--grape is what we have. Deal with it.
You wanted to play monopoly, and everybody else wants to play hide-and-seek--nobody likes me, everybody hates me, think I'll go and eat some worms.
When did we stop doing that? When did it become a rule that anybody has a right to get upset about anything, and everybody else has to act like they have a point?
A bunch of people want a display of a Bible. Grow the heck up, Staley. It's not hurting you. And even if it bothers you, putting up with things like that is part of getting along with people. I mean, I object to sharing the planet with you, but you don't see me running to ask a court to banish you to Pluto, do you?
It's childish to be upset about the Bible display. There's no reason to take such tantrums seriously.
You're right.
As a Country we have become so suit-happy we have lost our senses of perspective, humor and reality.
An accident happens and it has to be somebody else's fault, or some manufacturer's fault. Its never a lack of common sense on the part of the accident victim.
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