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

[arkady_renko]

If this was the fellow yelling, "Put it back!", he did not advance his cause at all. Give me the folks laying down and praying silently any day. The screamer was obnoxious, even if sincere.

[vikingcelt]

"Did they take this man's Bible too? No, didn't think so..." No, but scary as the thought is, that just might very well be next.

[alpowolf]

It also shows that this "crusade" actually is not about "states' rights" however much some people want to pretend that it is.

[AndrewC]

The currrent Alabama governor is trying to raise taxes to provide for the poor.

Yeah, right. The Democrats say the same thing all of time. They have been raising taxes without cease. Seems like we should have less poor. We don't.

[Catspaw]

I did notice that there were other protesters near him moving him back from the steps and trying to calm him down. I remember him yelling at them, "DON'T TOUCH ME," but if they'd let him go, he probably would've done something to get himself arrested. I hope, once he calms down, he thanks them.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

..."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...

So spoke the commie.

[Lurking Libertarian]

law really did start with the 10 Commandments.

Ever hear of Hammurabi?

[halfdome]

With the exceptions of thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal, the rest of the commandments are more like laws the Taliban would enforce.

[MineralMan]

""Did they take this man's Bible too? No, didn't think so..." No, but scary as the thought is, that just might very well be next."

That's just silly. Nobody's coming for your Bible, and nobody's coming to shut down your church. You do your cause no good whatever with statements like that. Reasonable people are well aware that your Bible and your church are the targets of nobody.

You can have your Bible, or your Quran, or your book of Satanic Spells. Nobody cares one bit. You can have your church, if you can get enough folks to keep it open. Nobody cares.

[AmericanInTokyo]

You believe in the god of thought known as 'atheism', which is a religion. Therefore, you are religious.

One question.

How can you be 'against' something if that 'something' does not exist? 'Against' must, by reason and quite necessarily, have a referential point, i.e. 'that/he/she/it/they' which it is 'against'. Accordingly, the thing/entity/argument that atheism is 'against' is precisely: God.

Therefore, even for the atheists such as yourself (although they refuse to see it or ascertain it through spiritual or sensory modes), God exists.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Hammurabi was more the grandfather of eastern collectivism.


The Ten Commandments are the foundation of western civilization.

[MineralMan]

"You believe in the god of thought known as 'atheism', which is a religion. Therefore, you are religious."

That's a common misconception. I believe in no gods whatever, nor do I believe in any supernatural entities of any kind. I have a disbelief, not a belief. I have no religion of any kind. I worship at no altar of any kind.

I have reverence for the Constitution of the United States, and am very glad to have been born in this nation instead of many of the other nations of the world. My feelings for that document is about as close as I come to worship.

Atheism is not a religion. There are no beliefs involved in being an atheist. None. It is simply a disbelief in deities and supernatural entities. Nothing more.

[smiley]

Maybe this is the rule of law and the marker should be removed...but that doesn't explain why I feel badly about it. Why is it that we Americans have to kow-tow to people who come from foreign countries who tell US they are bothered by OUR religious beliefs and symbols and that WE have to refrain or remove our symbols while THEY get to practice their religion in front of OUR face? What's next? Our currency?

[Mortimer Snavely]

"Movers Haul Away Ten Commandments in Montgomery"

And with them, the idea that there are concepts which transcend the authority of the State.

Blessings of the State upon thee! Blessings of the Masses upon thee! Buy more! Buy now! Buy more now! Spend, consume, and enhance they credit rating, and fret not for the morrow, for the morrow is not now, and now is all that ever was, that is, or that shall ever be!

[AmericanInTokyo]

But there must be the pre-existence of the object of your disbelief, correct, for you to disbelieve it? Correct? Otherwise, how do you explain the concrete manifestation, even if in an epistomological mode, of God or gods who is/are to be disbelieved?

[MineralMan]

"How can you be 'against' something if that 'something' does not exist? 'Against' must, by reason and quite necessarily, have a referential point, i.e. 'that/he/she/it/they' which it is 'against'. Accordingly, the thing/entity/argument that atheism is 'against' is precisely: God. "

Atheism does not mean "against God." The prefix a- signifies "without" not against. Look it up. The prefix that means "against" is anti-

[Lazamataz]

With the exceptions of thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal, the rest of the commandments are more like laws the Taliban would enforce.

Yeah. That Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother stuff is sooooo repressive. Besides, I like committing adultry. And isn't coveting your neighbors stuff just, like, cool? And lying is really important to make it in today's society.

I can see where you're coming from.

[Lazamataz]

Thanks. You nailed it gillman.

[unixfox]

That's just silly. Nobody's coming for your Bible...

Not yet.