Moore#039;s loss should be final straw
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 5, 2004
The recent decision by the "Special" Alabama Supreme Court to overturn ousted Chief Justice Roy Moore's removal from office before the state's Court of the Judiciary was the right one under the rule of law.
We believe that as a free society, we should be allowed to display the Ten Commandments in buildings we pay for with our taxes.
However, that is not the law of the land, and until the law is changed to allow display of the Ten Commandments, then we all must obey the rule of law.
That is the issue here. The Ten Commandments are no longer the bone of contention.
Everyone from the governor on down have said they would like to display the Commandments, but know they would break federal law to do so.
Why should we, the common private citizens, follow the laws of the land if those we elect do not?
Now, Moore is crying foul again and labeling these men as cowards, saying they should not sit in judgment of him.
What does he want?
Would a court of Terry Butts clones satisfy him?
Would a court of his supporters who don't even live here make him happy?
Nothing will make him happy because his pride has been hurt and as all know, pride is one of the seven deadly sins we're warned about.
The disrespect that this grandstanding man has shown the U.S. Constitution and the American judicial system has become an embarrassment to us all.
Moore defied the federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the judicial building rotunda.
His request that the U.S. Supreme Court stop the removal order was a waste of time and our money – as were two earlier pleas to an appeals court. All of these requests have been rejected.
How many times will he ask to be judged or ask that Alabama's taxpayers pay for him to possibly launch his national political career?
The Ten Commandments serve as the foundation for the religious beliefs for many Americans. But placing them in a court building that serves everyone is a clear violation of the constitutional ban on government championing specific religious beliefs.
This ban has served our country well, sparing us much of the terrible religious strife that has plagued other societies throughout history.
Moore had the 5,300-pound monument installed in 2001 without the knowledge of other judges. He refuses to acknowledge that such displays of religious material in government buildings violate the U.S. Constitution.
Moore's stance is being characterized as akin to Gov. George Wallace's stand in the University of Alabama doorway.
That was over a generation ago, and to this day, that moment in the national spotlight continues to be a stigma on the people of Alabama
Moore abused his high state office, squandered tax dollars, encouraged public ignorance about the Constitution, insulted the federal judicial system and held our beloved state up to ridicule. It's time for him to start showing the respect for the law that he no doubt expects from those who appeared before him.
And it's time he shows respect for the people of Alabama.