Is this his hand because if you agree it is, my blue collar just beat your historian collar to a pulp. :-}
Posted on 08/27/2003 8:59:09 AM PDT by 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
This one sentence should be convincing enough from George Washington's daughter on where her father stood with his God:
"I should have thought it the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Christianity."
"May ample justice be done them here, and may the choicest of Heaven's favors both here and hereafter attend those, who under the divine auspices have secured innumerable blessings for others: With these Wishes, and this benediction, the Commander in Chief is about to retire from service--The Curtain of seperation will soon be drawn--and the Military Scene to him will be closed for ever."
Deists do not invoke Heavens favors RD. That's the truth of the matter, it is a Christian belief.
You mean this one?
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor--and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to 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 signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be--That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions--to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
"Or are you claiming he was an atheist just mouthing platitutdes to the Almighty to please the peasents?"
Again, please don't attempt to put words in my mouth. I don't believe that Washington was an atheist. But the above can hardly be considered evidence of a man expressing his Christianity, can it? This is, quire simply, the way public speakers spoke at the time, religious or not.
As an historian, I know that most records of such addresses were not written by the speaker's hand, but rather by their secretary's hand. Therefore, not a primary source.
Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the oppertunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence--A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.
The Successful termination of the War has verified the more sanguine expectations--and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my Countrymen encreases with every review of the momentous Contest.
Again deists do not invoke divine intervention, Christians do.
Just what exactly do you think GW's religion was or better yet why did he continually speak of divine intervention and what religions in America at that time period believed in same?
Excuse me?
I don't know. I would love to know, however.
Is this his hand because if you agree it is, my blue collar just beat your historian collar to a pulp. :-}
Good night RD.
No, but the Alabama Constitution makes allowance for it for it.
FReepers are generally some of the smartest people I know, but I am disheartened by the combination of either willful ignorance or lack of understanding and the willingness of otherwise rational people to side with the liberals in the tearing down of the Constitution, our rich history and traditions and the taking away of our once precious freedoms.
Trust you to be in here gloating, Catty
*****
No gloat, By, just fact. One cannot continue to scream and yell at that volume for that length of time without risking injury to one's vocal cords.
From the Montgomery Advertiser:
For Ken Barnett, 58, of Prattville, the reality that the monument had been moved was too much to handle.
For almost an hour, Barnett yelled and shouted, "Put it back! Put it back! Put it back!" and called those responsible for the monument's removal, "God haters."
"You ain't taking my Ten Commandments, you ain't taking my Bible and you ain't touching my faith," he shouted.
Barnett's emotional performance left him drenched in sweat and his voice exhausted.
From another story in the Montgomery Advertiser. Mr. Barnett is the man in the plaid shirt mentioned above and the one I referenced.
 |
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Larry Sikes, left, Ken Barnett, center, and Joseph Aikens shout "Put it back" after the Ten Commandments monument was moved Wednesday. Most demonstrators remained calm and solemn. |
Had you watched the coverage, By, you'd know that this was an accurate quote. He was shown on all three cable networks as well as CBS, NBC and ABC saying this. Of course, if you choose to think they're lying, you go right ahead.
In my post #597 from the Montgomery Advertiser, he's identified by name, Ken Barnett, Prattville, Alabama.
As for him being a media plant, you'll have to ask him. He was featured in all three network stories last night, as well as covered live by the three cable channels and mentioned in media reports.
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