Posted on 08/21/2003 4:38:28 PM PDT by Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
Chief Justice Roy S. Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court refused to back down from his defense of a Ten Commandments display Thursday despite a decision by his eight judicial colleagues to move the 2.5-ton monument.
"The fight to defend our constitutional rights to acknowledge God must and will continue," Moore told a crowd of supporters. "Very soon, we will file a petition for writ of certiorari before the United States Supreme Court to resolve clearly our inalienable rights to acknowledge God under the First Amendment."
Earlier Thursday, the eight associate justices of the Alabama Supreme Court voted to have the monument removed by the judicial building manager. The justices, who have the power to override Moore's administrative decisions, took the step after a federal judge threatened to fine the state $5,000 per day.
Republican Gov. Bob Riley and Attorney General Bill Pryor, both defenders of the Ten Commandments monument, hailed the justices' decision.
"Although I fundamentally disagree with what the federal courts have ordered, the state Supreme Court was correct in unanimously voting to uphold the rule of law," Riley said in a statement.
The governor, who is grappling with a budget deficit, said the fines could have added up to $1 billion within four months.
Pryor immediately filed the justices' order with the U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson, who set a deadline of midnight Wednesday for Moore to remove the monument. The deadline expired without much incident, although about 20 people were removed from inside the courthouse after refusing to leave.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council, was among those arrested. He said it's never a pleasant experience to be detained by police, but this particular situation warranted such a stand.
"I'm certainly ready [to be arrested again] if that's necessary," Schenck said. "The Commandments are still on public display. No appears to be moving them or attempting to move them. But there are plenty of people now - scores of people - who are willing to risk arrest."
Schenck has teamed with the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, to coordinate events in Montgomery throughout the week, including round-the-clock prayer vigils.
Defenders of Moore strongly objected to a decision made earlier in the day to shield the monument with a screen. Moore reportedly left a funeral to see that it was removed.
Later Thursday morning, the eight associate justices made their decision asking that that monument be moved from public view. Moore has dismissed suggestions that he place the monument in his office to comply with the court order.
In their order, the justices stated: "The refusal of officers of this court to obey a binding order of a federal court of competent jurisdiction would impair the authority and ability of all of the courts of this state to enforce their judgments."
Despite their defense of the Ten Commandments monument, Riley and Pryor condemned Moore for refusing to obey the law.
"The rule of law means that no person, including the chief justice of Alabama, is above the law," Pryor said. "The rule of law means that when courts resolve disputes, after all appeals and arguments, we all must obey the orders of those courts even when we disagree with those orders."
Alabama political observers like Johnny Green, who taught political science at Auburn University, said Pryor and Riley have taken a safe route by defending the monument while still vowing to uphold the law.
President Bush nominated Pryor for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, although Democrats have singled him out and raised objections to his so-called extremist views.
As for Moore, Green said this is likely the beginning of a quest for higher office. With Riley hurting politically because of an unpopular tax proposal, Moore could situate himself nicely for a run at governor in 2006, Green said.
Green said the state is split over the Ten Commandments question, but he said voters knew what they were getting by electing Moore to office. He has made clear his strong religious beliefs as well as his distaste for federal involvement in state issues, Green said.
"Remember, this is a place where they believe in states' rights," Green said. "So anytime the federal government tells Southerners what to do, they vehemently reject that and despise that. Alabamians would rather get a gun and fight than sit down at the table and discuss it sanely."
Ten Commandments Defense Act of 2003 & Freedom Restoration Act have been proposed to educate the COURTS and reverse the nonsense expressed in judical opinions that are contrary to the Bill of Rights. This nonsense has taken the place of the Constitution and the RULE OF LAW. See AMENDMENT ONE - FREEPER rwfromkansas
Conservatives and libertarians who once viewed the judiciary as the final bulwark against government tyranny must now accept that no branch of government even remotely performs its constitutional role. ...It's time for the executive and legislative branches to show some backbone, appoint judges who follow the Constitution, and remove those who do not." --Ron Paul 13 August 2003, Federalist No. 03-33, Wednesday Chronicle
The following explains why judge Myron Thompson is wrong:
The electorate must demand that Congress act in accordance with the testimony presented in Congress, the Court, and the Constitution
SUMMARY: Chief Justice Roy Moore's Case Defending The Display Of ...
The U. S. Constitution's guarantee against an "Establishment of Religion" is not violated by the placement in the Alabama State Judicial Building's rotunda of a 2 ½ ton monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments and a variety of other quotes. To the contrary, interpretations of the Constitution by a U. S. District Court in Alabama and a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals do violate the Constitution. The monument was designed and commissioned by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in recognition of the moral foundation of the law.
In a 1798 letter to American military officers, President John Adams declared that "The Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the governance of any other." Chief Justice Roy Moore's installation of the Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama Judicial Building recognizes this truth. Chief Justice Moore does not violate the U. S. Constitution. The two federal courts who have ruled against him do.
By a vote of 260-161, lawmakers last week OK'd an amendment by Rep. John N. Hostettler, R-Ind., to prohibit any money in the bill funding the Justice Department from going to enforcement of the controversial decision. House rebuffs court on 10 Commandments
By U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, July 2003
U.S. Rep. John Hostettler delivered the following statement regarding his amendment to prohibit federal funds for the enforcement of a federal court ruling that ordered the Alabama Supreme Court to remove a monument depicting the Ten Commandments:
"Mr. Chairman, in Glassroth v. Moore, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore violated the establishment clause of the first amendment to the Constitution by placing a granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama State judicial building in Montgomery, Alabama.
"In the court's words, 'The rule of law does require that every person obey judicial orders when all available means of appealing them have been exhausted.' In this statement, Mr. Chairman, the court plainly shows that it believes itself to be the chief lawmaker whose orders become law.
"But, in fact, Mr. Chairman, this is inconsistent with both the Constitution in Article I, Section 7, and, in fact, Federal statute, which says that the United States Marshal Service shall execute 'all lawful writs, process, and orders' of the U.S. district courts, U.S. Courts of Appeal and the Court of International Trade.
"In reality, Mr. Chairman, the founders of this great nation foresaw this problem and wrote about it. And when they developed our form of government, they said this, according to Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 78:
"'Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive that in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in capacity to annoy or injure them. The executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the strength or of the wealth of the society, and can take no active resolution whatever. It may truly be said to have neither force nor will, but merely judgment, and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments.'
"Mr. Chairman, given the fact that the judiciary has neither force nor will, it is left to the executive and the legislative branches to exert that force and will. We have heard tonight that the executive branch wants to argue the Newdow case that was spoken of earlier and may hear that the executive branch wants to argue in favor of the display of the 10 Commandments in that case.
"We will allow, therefore, the executive branch to leave these decisions in the hands of the judiciary who, a few years ago, concluded that sodomy can be regulated by the States, but most recently said that sodomy was just short of a fundamental right that is enshrined in our United States Constitution.
"But the framers of the Constitution never intended for the fickle sentiments of as few as five people in black robes, unelected and unaccountable to the people, to have the power to make such fundamental decisions for society.
"That power was crafted and reserved for the legislature, and one of the mechanisms that was entrusted to us was the power of the purse. Mr. Chairman, time and again I am sure that our colleagues are asked about ridiculous decisions made by the Federal courts, and many of us say that there is nothing we can do.
"Mr. Chairman, today, we can do something. We do not have to put our faith in the faint possibility that some day five people in black robes will wake up and see that they have usurped the authority to legislate and will constrain themselves from straying from their constitutional boundaries.
"Mr. Chairman, it might be suggested that we do not want this legislation to disrupt the judicial process in the interim between the Circuit Court of Appeals process and the Supreme Court.
"It is not my intention to do that tonight. In fact, I welcome the highest Court's review of this decision; and I say tonight that if they get it wrong, I will exercise the power of the purse again and defund the enforcement of that inane decision. Mr. Chairman, today is a great opportunity for us to learn the powers of the legislature vis-a-vis the judiciary.
"After this vote, Mr. Chairman, and the vote to de-fund the Ninth Circuit's decision to effectively remove the phrase 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance, our constituents will ask us, 'Congressman, do we, your constituents, have a voice in these most fundamental decisions, and we do not need to wait on a new Supreme Court Justice who may or may not, today or tomorrow, inject common sense into the decisions of the Supreme Court?'
"Mr. Chairman, we will be able to tell them, 'Yes, you do have a fundamental say.' And it is for that reason, Mr. Chairman, that I have offered this amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary Appropriations Act.
"This legislation is where we find any funding in any executive agency that would enforce the 11th Circuit's judgment in this case. My amendment would prevent any funds within that act from being used to enforce that erroneous decision in Glassroth v. Moore. I ask my colleagues to support the amendment
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to withhold funds from any enforcement action related to a federal appeals court's decision that the Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama judicial building is unconstitutional."
Yep.
And the motto: "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."
Huh? Wait a minute ...
5000 x 31 = 155,000
155,000 x 4 = 620,000
How do you get from 620,000 to $1 billion?
HUH? All the (for lack of a better word) "Heroes" in the bible were blood thristy tyrannts.
Just Look at Moses, Did you ever read the bible on what this guy did, He makes Saddam Hussien look like a pussycat. He is not a guy that goes along with good ole American values. After invading the Midianities (Numbers 31) and Amorites (Numbers 21) land unlike the USA with Germany, Japan, Iraq, etc. instead of rebuilding and helping out his fellow man he ordered the killing of all men, women and children except the virgin girls which he allowed (actually ordered) his solders to rape. So why on Earth would you people want a monument to this baby killer/child molester. It’s equivalent to having a monument to Hitler because he lowered unemployment and made the trains run on time
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
George Washington, Treaty of Tripoli, 1796
If Moore gets to put the 10 Commandments in the prominent place in which he's placed it, then a Muslim Chief Justice gets to replace it with the Koran, if he so chooses.
You bet it's pivotal. I want the 10 Commandment rock removed just so I won't have to look at a Koran rock 20 years from now.
Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime & pure, [and] which denounces against the wicked eternal misery, and [which] insured to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments. (Source: Bernard C. Steiner, The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers, 1907), p. 475. In a letter from Charles Carroll to James McHenry of November 4, 1800.)
[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. Source: Benjamin Franklin, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, p. 297, April 17, 1787.
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of man and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?
And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? (Source: George Washington, Address of George Washington, President of the United States . . . Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge), pp. 22-23. In his Farewell Address to the United States in 1796.)
1ST AMENDMENT:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
(Ok, we aren't in violation of this....Congress hasn't declared that our nation is a Methodist nation or Presbyterian nation or Baptist nation or .....)
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
Ooops....did they mean Congress couldn't pass any laws saying there were things we couldn't do regarding religious expression??
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.....
"IN GOD WE TRUST" is on our currency.
The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means, "God has favored our undertaking."
JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MONDAY APRIL 6, 1789
On motion,
Ordered, That leave be given to bring, in a bill to regulate the taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by the sixth article of the Constitution; and that Mr. White, Mr. Madison Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Gilman, and Mr. Cadwalader, do prepare and bring in the same.
On motion,
Resolve, That the form of the oath to be taken by the members of this Houses, as required by the third clause of the sixth article of the Constitution of Government of the United States, be as followeth, to wit: "I, A B a Representative of the United "States in the Congress thereof, do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) in "the presence of Almighty GOD, that I will support the Constitution of the United "States. So help me GOD."
LETTER FROM THE SENATE TO THE PRESIDENT IN RESPONSE TO HIS SPEECH:
We commend you, sir, to the protection of Almighty God, earnestly beseeching him long to preserve a life so valuable and dear to the people of the United States, and that your administration may be prosperous to the nation, and glorious to yourself.
In Senate, May 16, 1789.
Read and accepted; and
Ordered, That, the Vice President should affix his signature to the address in behalf of the Senate.
THE SENATE proceeded to consider the resolve of the House of Representatives of the 25th instant, to wit:
"In the House of Representatives of the United States,
"September 25th, 1789.
Resolved, That a joint committee of both Houses be appointed to wait on the President of the United States, to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States, a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed, by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a constitution of government for their safety and happiness.
"Ordered, That Messrs. Boudinot, Sherman, and Sylvester, be appointed of the said committee on the part of this House."
Resolved, That the Senate do concur in the above recited resolution, and that Messrs. Johnson and Izard, be the Committee on the part of the Senate.
Ordered, That the Secretary do carry a message to the House of Representatives accordingly;
Journals of the Continental Congress SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1777:
The committee appointed to prepare a recommendation to these states, to set apart a day of thanksgiving, brought in a report; which was agreed to as follows: Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased him in his abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of his common providence, but also to smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defence and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a measure to prosper the means used for the support of our troops and to crown our arms with most signal success: It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgivin g and praise; that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor; and that together with their sincere acknowledgments and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favour, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance ; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public council of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all human blessings, independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labour of the husbandman, that our land may yet yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under his nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth "in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." [Note 1: 1 The original read: "That at one time and with one voice."] And it is further recommended, that servile labour, and such recreation as, though at other times innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion.2
[Note 2: 2 This report, in the writing of Samuel Adams, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 24, folio 431.]
MY ALL TIME FAVORITE on this issue was this email I received: Dennis Miller!! He said recently on his show, regarding the judges who declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional:
"So, Your Honor, the Pledge is unconstitutional because it says 'Under God'. Guess that means when you were sworn in with your hand on a Bible, and at the end of your oath repeated, 'So Help Me God' that makes your job unconstitutional! Therefore you have no job, which means your ruling doesn't mean a thing."
In the Jefferson Manuscripts in the Library of Congress are two notes of suggestion on the Great Seal. One in the writing of Franklin, and the other in that of Jefferson.
Franklin's note reads: "Moses [in the Dress of High Priest] standing on the Shore, and e xtending his Hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharoah who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his Head and a Sword in his Hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses, [expressing] to express that he acts by [the] Command of the Deity. "Motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."
The note of Jefferson reads: "Pharoah sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand passing thro' the divided waters of the Red sea in pursuit of the Israelites: rays from a pillar of fire in the cloud, expressive of the divine presence, [reach] and command, reaching to Moses who stands on the shore and, extending his hand over the sea, causes it to over whelm Pharoah. "Motto. Rebellion to tyrants is obedce to god." Words in brackets were stricken out by the pen. Jefferson merely noted a version of the Franklin suggestion. In the Writings of Jefferson (Ford), I, 420 is what purports to be a scheme of arms made in 1774, but the date assigned to it is doubtful.
In a letter from John Adams to his wife, written August 14, 1776, he said: "Doctor F. proposes a device for a seal. Moses lifting up his wand, and dividing the red sea, and Pharoah in his chariot over whelmed with the waters. This motto. 'Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.' "Mr. Jefferson proposed, The children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night--and on the other side, Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs, from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we have assumed.
If you read through the minutes of the historical beginnings of our country, you'll come to the conclusion that all these founding fathers would be facing lawsuits today of being in violation of the very documents they created. What is wrong with this picture?
The rule actually is that when we remove God from the equation, when we act and live as if we have no one to answer to but ourselves, and if there is no God, then the rule of law is social Darwinism-- the strong rule the weak. We'll find that, quite to the contrary, it is not Christianity and the belief in the God of the Bible that results in carnage and genocide. But it's when people reject the God of the Bible that we are most vulnerable to those kinds of things that we see in history that are the radical and gross destruction of human lives. Stand to Reason Commentary - The Real Murderers: Atheism or ...
Two major Rabbinical organizations, representing over 1000 Orthodox Rabbis, today declared their support for Alabama Chief Judge Roy Moore in his battle to keep the Ten Commandments on display in the Supreme Court building in Montgomery, Alabama.
Lawyer groups, led by the ACLU, have demanded that Judge Moore remove the display, citing church-state concerns; and Federal Judge Myron Thompson has given Judge Moore a deadline of August 20 to remove the display. But Judge Moore is refusing to be intimidated.
Rabbi Hirsch Ginsberg of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis said: "The Ten Commandments are the basis of civilized society and the rule of law. It is no accident that legal testimony begins with swearing to tell the whole truth, while holding a Bible. Here, in New York City, many courtrooms have a plaque on the wall, right above the judge's head, proclaiming 'In G-D we trust'."
Rabbi Abraham Hecht of the Rabbinical Alliance added: "It's no surprise that the ACLU, a radical left-wing organization of ambulance-chasing rip-off artists, should object to the Ten Commandments. The Biblical injunctions against lying, stealing, and adultery must make them feel terribly uncomfortable."
Rabbi Yehuda Levin who is representing the two Rabbinical groups in Montgomery, Alabama this week, commented on a nasty New York Times editorial that referred to Judge Moore as a demagogue: "This is the worst kind of savage yellow journalism. The New York Times has lately been rocked by scandals, in which it has been revealed that senior reporters and editorial staff have knowingly fabricated stories and distorted the news. They have some nerve criticizing a moral, intelligent, and courageous man like Chief Judge Moore."
Rabbi Levin will hold a press conference on the steps of the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery on
Friday, August 15, 2003, at 10:00 a.m.
After the press conference, Rabbi Levin is to meet with Chief Judge Moore to make a presentation to him on behalf of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis and the Rabbinical Alliance.
When I saw the picture on the front of USA TODAY of an elderly Christian man being hauled away by the police in defense of the Commandments given by the Creator and Redeemer I was grieved and angry at the same time
The time to draw the line and "choose" your side is now
JOS 24:14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. [15] But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
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