Free Republic

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[1] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would...

Through his spokeswoman, President Bush has ventured a cautious opinion on the controversy over the Ten Commandments monument in Alabama. Deputy Press Secretary Claire Buchan (BYOO'-kan) says it's important that laws and court rulings be respected. However, she notes that some courts have ruled it's O-K to erect displays of the Ten Commandments -- while others have forbidden it. Either way, she says, rulings can be appealed. But that's the most she'd say -- even though the president has made the encouragement of faith-based social work a central part of his administration. She didn't say whether Chief Justice Roy Moore...

<p>Only one in five Americans approve of the federal court order under which workers removed the Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of Alabama's state judicial building Wednesday, according to a new poll.</p> <p>The new CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll found 77 percent of the 1,009 Americans interviewed earlier this week disapproved of U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson's order to remove the monument.</p>

Did Judge Roy Moore Violate His Oath? Jason Gaston When he took his oath to become a judge, Roy Moore solemnly swore to "support the Constitution of the United States" and "honestly discharge the duties of the office upon which he's about to enter." They're serious words for a serious job. We showed the oath to people in the Heart of the Valley. We wanted to know whether they thought Judge Moore has upheld it. "I certainly think he violated this by going too far on this Ten Commandments thing. He's supposed to uphold this (oath of office)," Breanie Jacobs...

LAW OF THE LAND Decalogue dismantled Workers move Alabama monument to non-public part of judicial building Posted: August 27, 2003 10:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The fight over the Ten Commandments monument ordered removed from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building by a federal judge has come to a head as workers moved the two-ton Decalogue from its display area. It took little more than an hour for three workers and a security guard to hoist the washing machine-sized granite cube onto a dolly and scoot it out of view of television cameras to an undisclosed location. Seeking...

Commandments fray goes beyond Alabama Christian proponents have been on the losing end of legal battles, but many now feel energized by a new cause. By Glynn Wilson | Special to The Christian Science Monitor MONTGOMERY, ALA. - Jesse Truax, wearing a crown of thorns, is grimacing from the prickle as sweat wends down his cheeks in the sweltering heat. After a daylong bus ride, he's here all the way from Eustis, Fla., with a group of 33 from his Baptist church, vowing to "stay as long as it takes" to keep the sacred Ten Commandments monument here in the...

<p>Let's say the Supreme Court of the United States allows the chief justice of the great state of Alabama to keep his 2-ton monument to the Ten Commandments in his office building in Montgomery.</p> <p>Which Ten Commandments?</p> <p>You've got your Jewish Ten Commandments, your Catholic Ten Commandments, your Lutheran Ten Commandments, your Charlton Heston Ten Commandments, your King James Bible Ten Commandments, your New Revised Standard Version Ten Commandments, and they don't all agree as to which commandment is which -- or what they really mean.</p>

BREAKING NEWS From Doug Phillips and the Vision Forum, Inc. A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 0 3 Stealth Move Against the Chief Justice Opponents of Moore Change His Locks and Bar Him Access to Supreme Court Office - The Chief Justice to hold national press conference at 3:00 p.m. (CDT) - The Chief Justice on Focus on the Family today - Alan Keyes explains why the Chief Justice is upholding the rule of law - Concerned citizens urged to call and protest stealth move against the Chief Justice In a series of stealth moves...

Alabama residents are wreaking a nasty revenge on the woman who took their state’s chief justice to court over his religious monument Aug. 22 — By stubbornly refusing a federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments monument in his courthouse, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has been hailed by Christian fundamentalists as a man of great courage. Lesser known, but no less courageous is the woman who dared stand up to Justice Moore. FOR HIS DEFIANCE, Moore has become a home-state hero, paving the way for a future run for a U.S. Senate seat. For her brave...

Civil Disobedience Is Consistent With Christian Conduct And With American History By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon August 26, 2003 While Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore's refusal to remove a Ten Commandments display from the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery is not, in strict terms, civil disobedience, many people see it that way. Actually, the federal judge who ordered the monument's removal, Myron Thompson, and those who support him are guilty of breaking the law! The U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal government from interfering with the state's or the individual's right to express or...

Beyond the fight-or-flight reactions to the Alabama Ten Commandments controversy, questions about strategy have gone undebated-here's a start ... Deadline day in Montgomery, Ala., was polarizing: Federal judges on Thursday, Aug. 21, were persisting in their order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building. Police were handcuffing and leading away demonstrators defending the monument. Eight of the nine Alabama Supreme Court justices agreed to comply with the federal order. They directed the building manager to "take all steps necessary to comply ... as soon as practicable." But on one sentiment many from all...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Alabama's chief justice was suspended Friday for his refusal to obey a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of his courthouse. Roy Moore was automatically suspended with pay when the nine-member Judicial Inquiry Commission referred an ethics complaint against him to the Court of the Judiciary, which holds trial-like proceedings and can discipline and remove judges. Ruby Crowe, an assistant clerk working with the court, said Moore will have 30 days to respond. Moore met with the commission earlier Friday as about 100 of his supporters, several blocks away at the...

FEDERALIST PERSPECTIVE Top of the fold... Two weeks ago, The Federalist noted the remarkable parallel between bishops in the Episcopal Church who "interpret" Scripture to comport with their political and social agendas in violation of their ordinal vows, and judges who "interpret" the Constitution to comport with their political and social agendas, in violation of their oath to uphold our nation's legal foundation. Neither interpretation does not honor the original word and intent of those founding texts. Instead, they offer nothing more than a reflection of themselves as if they authored those venerable words. Regarding the word of law, our...

Showdown in Montgomery By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon August 22, 2003 I was privileged to be in attendance at a rally in front of the Alabama Supreme Court building Wednesday evening where hundreds of concerned citizens had gathered to express their support for Judge Roy Moore's decision to ignore a federal judge's order to remove a display of the Ten Commandments from the building. Speakers included Alan Keyes, Rick Scarborough, and Patrick Mahoney. This case is just now beginning to draw media attention and, unfortunately, has yet to draw the attention and, yes, outrage, of...

The people's judge Posted: August 22, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments." – James Madison Alabama's Chief Justice Roy Moore is a national hero. He became one in 1995 when, as a circuit-court judge in the state, he placed a hand-carved...

<p>MONTGOMERY, Ala. — State Supreme Court justices overruled Chief Justice Roy Moore (search) on Thursday and directed that his Ten Commandments (search) monument be removed from its public site in the Alabama Judicial Building.</p> <p>The senior associate justice, Gorman Houston, said the eight associate justices instructed the building's manager to "take all steps necessary to comply ... as soon as practicable."</p>

Amendment I (Religion) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The Supremes refused to support Judge Moore in his quest to defend the moral foundations of American Law - the Ten Commandments. It's been reported that the state of Alabama will be fined $5,000 for each day that Alabama keeps the commandments monument. That adds up to just over $1.8m a year. Would it be legal and proper, if Christians all over America, donated the $1.8m a year to the State of Alabama, required to keep the monument up, so that no social services are cut by Alabama's expense in paying for the cost of keeping up the monument?

Alan Keyes on the Sean Hannity Show ~~~ August 19, 2003 HANNITY: It's an honor, a privilege, and a pleasure to invite back to our microphones--it's been a while--former Ambassador to the United Nations Alan Keyes. You were U.N. Ambassador, correct? KEYES: I was Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. I worked with Jeane Kirkpatrick. HANNITY: How are you doing? It's been forever now. How are you doing? It's been a while. KEYES: Oh, I'm doing pretty well. HANNITY: I understand you're out doing a lot of speaking around the country--or? KEYES: I've been doing a...

The Blackout of 2003 Is In Montgomery, Not In New York And Cleveland By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon August 19, 2003 All weekend, the major media saturated America's news outlets with the story of the massive power outage in parts of New England and the Midwest. While this is a major story, it pales into insignificance when compared to those events currently unfolding in Montgomery, Alabama. What is happening at the Alabama capitol will literally determine the future of this country for the foreseeable future. Yet, the establishment press has virtually blacked out the story....