[Robert_Paulson2]

from the worldnet daily article linked from : Linked from the ACLJ site (sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice)

"I believe the judicial building is the right place for such a monument," Novak told U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson's court.

Novak went on to assert that the framers of the Constitution wanted to acknowledge as the source of all individual liberties the Judeo-Christian God.

"The blessings of liberty will not be present unless there is a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles. Otherwise it is like a comet that blazes and is forgotten," said Novak, an expert on religion and culture. "The government should consistently note the source of that belief, because if it weakens in public it becomes ineffectual."

But Edwin Gaustad, a professor emeritus of history and religion at the University of California Riverside, disagreed, saying James Madison and Thomas Jefferson – the two men most responsible for the First Amendment – believed government and religion ought to be kept as far apart as possible.

"Chief Justice Moore was saying that it was written to protect the role of God in government, that the purpose of the First Amendment was to protect the government to make public proclamations on God," Gaustad said. "I disagree. It was to protect the religious liberties of the citizens of the new nation."

"If you consult any reputable historian, they would find it a gross misstatement of the purpose of the First Amendment," he continued. "It is to protect the religious liberties of its citizens, not promote a public piety."

(lots of the "true conservatives" around here don't buy this)MY COMMENT

Moore had the monument, along with other references to God, installed in the rotunda of the Judicial Building six months after he was elected chief justice in 2000.

Plaintiffs have testified earlier that Moore has made the Judicial Building more of a church than a courthouse.

During Gaustad's testimony, Judge Thompson asked him if it would help if "there was a disclaimer at the bottom of the monument saying, 'We're not compelling anyone to believe.'"

"The disclaimer would help. Moving it to private property would help more," said Gaustad.

Attorneys gave their closing arguments yesterday. There was no word on when a ruling was expected.

[jwalsh07]

But Edwin Gaustad, a professor emeritus of history and religion at the University of California Riverside, disagreed, saying James Madison and Thomas Jefferson – the two men most responsible for the First Amendment – believed government and religion ought to be kept as far apart as possible.

Thomas Jefferson, as a state legislator, voted for laws respecting the establishement of religion.

Now what?

[.30Carbine]

[I]n 1776 immediately following America’s separation from Great Britain, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were placed on a committee to design a seal for the new United States. Both of them separately proposed featuring Moses prominently in the symbol of the new nation. Franklin proposed “Moses lifting his wand and dividing the Red Sea” while Jefferson proposed “the children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.”
David Barton, Wallbuilders, from his Affidavit in Support of the Ten Commandments

[First Amendment]

"If you consult any reputable historian, they would find it a gross misstatement of the purpose of the First Amendment," he continued. "It is to protect the religious liberties of its citizens, not promote a public piety."

"Reputable" meaning secular humanist and anti-religion.