The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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November 21, 2002
It's a free-for-all! Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court has been raising much hell by his insistence on having a two and a half ton monument in the rotunda of the judicial building with the Ten Commandments engraved. He refuses to have the thing removed, despite an order from a federal judge.
This makes great theater. It might well result in Attorney General John Ashcroft -Mr. Christian Right- having to send federal agents in to bodily remove the silly hunk of rock. It'd make for a fun diversion from war and terrorists and such.
By rights though, I think Judge Moore's opponents should take another tact. Many good libertarians seem to get their panties all up in a bunch about any expression of religious ideas anywhere near a government function. I tend to support freedom of expression, even in public places. If he and others really want a copy of the Ten Commandments in the courthouse or out on the lawn, fine.
The First Ammendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." If Judge Moore starts using the Bible as actual LAW, then we've got a problem. A statue or a plaque is not a law, however, and saying that this display violates the constitution really seems overly sensitive. The freedom for people, and even judges, to say what they want seems like a more important issue than the freedom not to be offended- which I don't find anywhere in the constitution. I may be looking at an out of date copy, though.
If this simple display hurts your itty bitty feelings, get over it. Tolerating speech that you don't like is a basic tenet of the country. THAT is the American way.
Of course, everyone else has EQUAL rights to express their beliefs- that is also a basic American tenet: I'll invoke the 14th Ammendment and equal protection under the law. Therefore, the Christians will have no valid complaint when some Wiccans insist on sponsoring a plaque on the walls with their special beliefs. And of course some clever college boys with an interest in the tenets of Anton Levey's Satanist movement will want to put up a little statue with THEIR tenets.
If Judge Moore will accept these other equal expressions as they come up, I say let him have his little monument.
