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2:43:00 PM EDT
Hearing Why Do I Lie -- Luscious Jackson
Alabama and the Commandments
Eight justices of the Alabama Supreme Court have overruled their Chief Justice Roy Moore and ordered the Ten Commandments display he put in the court's rotunda removed. Their take on the matter is, I think, exactly on point:
"The refusal of officers of this court to obey a binding order of a federal court of competent jurisdiction would impair the authority and ability of all of the courts of this state to enforce their judgments," the eight associate justices ruled.
The associate justices wrote that they are "bound by solemn oath to follow the law, whether they agree or disagree with it."
It's worth noting that seven of the eight justices writing this are Republicans, so this isn't a conservative-vs-liberal thing. And at a certain point one does have to ask whether this is about recognition of God's role in law ("This is an example of what is happening in this country: the acknowledgment of God as the moral foundation of law in this nation is being hidden from us," wrote Moore), or simple intransigence. Justice Moore believes what he believes, but there are millions of devoutly religious Americans, many of whom believe differently than Moore, regardless of political affiliation. The diversity of religious Americans is as expansive as the diversity of Americans.
I'm not at all religious, but then again, neither am I particularly put off by Ten Commandment displays: There's one at the county courthouse near where I live (one of those big plaques donated by the Eagles) and I don't feel the quality of justice therein is influenced by its presence one way or another. On the other hand, were the plaque ordered removed by every relevant judicial body up to the US Supreme Court, and the local judge refused to do so, then I might be a little concerned. One can argue whether law ultimately comes from God, but its administration is a secular affair, and if that's compromised, that's big trouble.
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I feel that it really is sad that a nation founded upon certain priciples can change and that its citizens accept it. Life is not a game, and many do not contemplate the seriousness of death. Which is why many will end up in Hell. My motto is "You must be born again" and a lot of people disagree. Though others could never change the good in me (which is only my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), it is a shame that the bad is not changing. It is time we stopped taking God for granted, and then when He allows something bad to happen, we pray. But only for about a week, if that long. No wonder Sodom and Gomorrah burned, and so will the US. Read Revalations, in the Holy Bible. And I will continue to pray for revival.
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I just learned on another journal that the US Supreme Court has the Ten Commandments as well. It doesn't stop there, he wrote that the Koran and statues of Confucius, Muhammad (sp?), and Hammurabi are in the US Supreme Court.
Don't take my word for it. I didn't know those things were there. Check for yourself at http://journals.aol.com/airassault96b/Rants.
Does anyone know if this is true? -
The Judge in question has every right to display the 10 commandments in his life as a private citizen, and every right to believe in the principles therein. However, as a representative of a secular institution, especially one that by its nature passes binding judgement on citizens of all races and creeds, it is not appropriate for him to feature the symbolism of a particulr religion in his courthouse. And I agree, if this is allowed to be compromised, it is big trouble indeed.
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<i>There's one at the county courthouse near where I live ... and I don't feel the quality of justice therein is influenced by its presence one way or another.</i>
However, many of us <i>do</i> feel unwelcome in a courthouse upon which a decalogue is posted, as we would if it were any explicitly and unambiguously religious text, standing alone.
Where is the courthouse you're referring to?
10/8/07 6:26 PM