Movers Haul Away Ten Commandments in Montgomery

FOXNews.com ^ | Wednesday, August 27, 2003

[NWO Slave]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A chorus of demonstrators joined an irate man in screaming "Put it back!" Wednesday morning after a monument of the Ten Commandments was wheeled away from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building.

"Get your hands off our God, God haters!" yelled the wildly gesturing, red-faced man who initiated the chanting.

Workers used a dolly to move the 5,280-pound granite marker from the rotunda to another, undisclosed place in the courthouse building.

Meanwhile, a Wednesday afternoon hearing to consider a lawsuit to keep the monument in the rotunda was canceled.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Mobile on behalf of a Christian radio talk show host and a pastor, says forced removal of the monument would violate the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.

Christian Defense Coalition Director Patrick Mahoney told the crowd of demonstrators that he wasn't told where the monument had been taken.

Because of its size and weight, the marker was presumably moved to another location on the ground floor of the building.

Mahoney said the monument would not be covered, and that he would be allowed inside to see it once it was moved. Mahoney said he was informed of the plans by building manager Graham George.

Mahoney didn't know whether the monument's new location would be accessible to the public.

The federal court had said the monument could be in a private place in the building but not in the highly visible spot in the rotunda directly across from the building's entrance.

Protest organizers asked the crowd outside not to rush the building or do anything else except pray. Some people seemed to be listening, with dozens kneeling, bowing or lying face-down in prayer in front of the judicial building and on the steps before and after the monument's removal.

The marker was wheeled away in a matter of minutes.

A federal judge in Montgomery ruled last year that the monument, which Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore (search) installed two years ago, violates the Constitution's ban on government promotion of religion and ordered its removal by Aug. 20. The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to hear Moore's appeal.

But Moore refused to comply. Eight associate justices voted Aug. 21 to remove the monument, and Moore was suspended the next day.

Attorney General Bill Pryor, defending the associate justices, filed a motion Tuesday afternoon to dismiss the latest lawsuit, saying the Mobile court lacks jurisdiction and the complaint lacks merit.

About 150 monument supporters marched on Pryor's office Tuesday, demanding he resign for supporting the associate justices' decision. Seven representatives were allowed inside to meet with Pryor's chief deputy for about 20 minutes. The rest remained outside, chanting, "Resign now! Resign now!"

Gatherings of pro-monument demonstrators outside the judicial building have grown each day in the past week to at times number in the hundreds.

People seeking removal of the monument from its public site had said they were grateful that it was finally being moved, a week after the deadline set by a federal judge.

"This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and respect for religious diversity," the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said before the monument was rolled out of the rotunda. "Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for."

Lynne's organization was among groups suing to remove Moore's monument, which he installed without telling the other eight Supreme Court justices.

Demonstrators promised to keep up their protests of the removal.

"If it takes 75 years to reclaim this land for righteousness, God find us and our children and our children's children ready," said the Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the national clergy council.

Affirmative Action Judge Opposing Judge Roy Moore

[RoughDobermann]

You iron fisted sock puppet liberal on a rage ... got your cute little dagger ready too ?

At the very least, you ARE entertaining.

[RoughDobermann]

First off, to become a Christian, she will in fact HAVE to wake up one day and decide totally on her own that she "wants to become a Christian." No one can do that for her, not even Mom or Dad. Secondly, guiding our children in a system of faith/belief, should not diminish their ability to "think independently." It certainly hasn't my son...who having been exposed to the Christian faith since he was a baby, attending service, sunday school, and on his own volition, choosing to accept Christ as his personal savior, and was subsequently baptized, would NEVER think of taking his Bible to school unless he had to, and/or I reminded him to do so (being the free thinker he is)..

Yes, I suppose that is true. I guess one can't be a Christian without accepting JC as your savior.

[sport]

Woul yu be so kind as to cite the sttute number Judge Moore is alleged to have violated.

[RoughDobermann]

Please respond to the question I ask in 250 please.

[dougiefresh]

Religious Diversity??? What religion opposes the 10 commandments?

[sport]

Correction on post # 303.

sttute should read statute. Other that correction, it stands as written.

[MineralMan]

"Woul yu be so kind as to cite the sttute number Judge Moore is alleged to have violated.
"

I'd say it was whatever number of the Commandment against taking "the Lord's name in vain," since that's what this has all been. Moore has used the 10 Commandments and this monument as a personal platform to get himself elected to the Supreme Court of Alabama, and appears to be using it to seek even more power.

You're not supposed to do that with the Judeo-Christian deity, if I understand correctly. But, since that law isn't on the books here in the USA, I'll just have to say that he violated a court order, not a statute.

[MineralMan]

"What religion opposes the 10 commandments?"

Any religion with more than one deity? Hinduism? Remember what the first four Commandments say?

[lugsoul]

We do not have a civil law system. Our law is not entirely represented by codified statutes. But the legal constraints which Judge Moore violated are found in the 1st Amendment, as applied to the states via the 14th Amendment. You question and the implication behind it is a canard. You are fully aware that this is an Establishment Clause case. If you aren't, you should read the opinions.

[My2Cents]

I have no objection to home Bible study. Why do you suppose I would?

Because in your previous post you assumed they were double parked, rather than simply being harrassed. I apologize for painting you with the brush, assuming you're opposed to people actually seeking to follow God in their lives. But I think you should take seriously the apparent trend in our society that there are people who, if they could, would snatch Bibles from people. They did it in the Soviet Union, they do it in communist China. It is not unheard of, and these same people live in this country, and they all seem to have attorneys looking for ways of undermining this nation's religious heritage. I don't think Judge Moore's crusade was necessarily a wise one, particularly in regard to ignoring a federal court decision, but this case is emblematic of the way faith and God are being pushed out of everyone's sight in this society.

[strela]

"Get your hands off our God, God haters!" yelled the wildly gesturing, red-faced man who initiated the chanting.

An idol worshiper, eh? You know what to do, Charlton:

[kegler4]

"I know of some cities that have come after home Bible studies by enforcing some obscure traffic laws regarding parking in residential areas. If they haven't taken your Bible, it's because they haven't figured out a way to do it yet."

So they broke in and stole the Bibles?

Give me a break. There's no police department in the U.S. that's against Bible study. The vast majority of police I know are Christians.

[nfldgirl]

Would she have taken it if her parents hadn't forced Christianity upon her? Yes or no?

Would you be a lying, thieving, gluttonous pig-of-a-fornicating creep and criminal if your parents hadn't taught you that lying, stealing, fornicating, and stuffing yourself like a pig was immoral, unjust, and downright disgracefully shameful behavior?

GIVE ME A BREAK ALREADY! Are we not to influence our children to do that which is right and just and moral in our own eyes, and to associate ourselves with others who share our system of values and belief? Shouldn't I "show" my kid how and why it's important to brush his teeth and use soap-n-shampoo when he takes a bath? When he's old enough, and chooses NOT to, well then, so be it. But as my child, I'm going to do what I think is right by him. Why should that be any different than passing our faith on to our children. It's not to "force" anything on them, but to guide them in a manner of belief and living that in the long run, will be of immeasurable value to their lives.

You make it sound like our children are little robots with no minds of their own, and that's just not the case. In fact, it is just because they have "minds of their own" and their natural instinct is to be "independent" and to "rebel" that we as parents "guide" them through their formidable years so that when they become adults, they are equipped to handle life, with all the challenges and adversity that go along with it.

[sport]

How do you personally know that Judge Mpoore is using the 10 Commandments to seek even more power.

Did he confide that to you?

[Woahhs]

For the same reason why I don't like getting calls from telemarketers during dinner...

I dare say, I'd agree with you if there were no qualitative difference between jewels and cut glass. As there is a difference, I would think one better served by becoming educated on those differences rather than discarding any shiney crystal that happened to fall into my possession.

[thoughtomator]

Having gotten years of formal education in Judaism as a youth, the subject of the Messiah was never emphasized in any context... so it is my testimony, from experience, that Messiah prophecy is tangential to Judaism. The core of being a Jew is obeying God's commandments, not to prepare for a savior. We save ourselves via observance of God's law.

[RoughDobermann]

Nice diatribe, but it did not answer my question. I'll try one more time: Would she have taken it if her parents hadn't forced Christianity upon her? Yes or no?

[MineralMan]

"How do you personally know that Judge Mpoore is using the 10 Commandments to seek even more power. "

I read the news and have followed this judge's nonsense since before he became a Supreme Court Justice. You did know that his entire platform for running was having the 10 Commandments in the courthouse, right? I just wonder where he thinks he's going next.

[kegler4]

"Here's an example for you....this happened a couple years ago in a local elementary school--fifth grade. Teacher told students they could bring a book from home to read during their free time. A girl chose to bring her Bible. [I know this family, and this girl did this totally on her own--no prodding from parents.] Then the first (appropriate) time she brought it out to read, the teacher took it away from her, delivered it to the office, and the office called her mother to advise that the book could be picked up in the school office at the end of the day. The mom notified the dad of what happened. He immediately went to the school to discuss this with the principal who would not back down on their decision to disallow the Bible in class, so the father immediately removed his three children from that school and enrolled them the same afternoon in a private school just a mile down the road."

This is certainly not evidence of a conspiracy to take away Bibles. There are always misguided, wrong-headed dolts out there. When this sort of thing happens it's almost always because somebody's afraid they're going to get sued, not because they have anything against the Bible or religion.

If the father had bothered to fight this he would have won quickly. In this case, the ACLU would have been on his side. In my state, the attorney general's office would have straightened out the school system immediately.

[nfldgirl]

It sounds as if maybe the little girl was supposed to be paying attention to her lessons instead of reading something else at that time--Bible or no. That may have been what happened.That is NOT what happened. It happened exactly like I said it did. The time was appropriate to read whatever the children brought from home, and the teacher's assumption was that the Bible was "not appropriate" and the administration sided with the teacher's decision.