Ten Commandments Watch Continues

56+ new articles on Roy Moore’s ‘bama battle

Christianity Today August 1, 2003

The Ten Commandments still stand in the Alabama judicial building. Yesterday, a federal court accepted a lawsuit to block its removal, and has set a hearing for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson is calling for Christians to travel to Montgomery and engage in civil disobedience to keep the monument where it is. “If the American people, Christians and others, don’t stand up now, they won’t be able to protect these freedoms in the future,” said new Focus president Don Hodel. “It will be too late.” But other evangelicals disagree. Southern Baptist leader Richard Land says Moore should not support rebellion against this government while remaining an official of that government.

As a result of all this heating up without resolution, there are dozens of fascinating articles on the subject. No time to critique them all—or even to summarize. The links are below in convenient categories.

Commandments supporters sue to keep monument:

  • Commandments monument backers file suit | The lawsuit to block the monument’s removal was filed in federal court in Mobile on behalf of a Christian radio talk show host and a pastor. It says a forced removal would violate the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion (Associated Press)
  • Moore backers plan suit (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Suit takes new tack in Decalogue fight | Removing a Ten Commandments monument from the state Judicial Building in Montgomery, Ala., would violate citizens’ First Amendment rights, lawyers said in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday (The Washington Times)

Roy Moore’s suspension:

  • Ala. judge relents on monument | Chief justice is suspended for defying federal order (The Washington Post)
  • Judge suspended for defying court on Ten Commandments | Moore will face a trial by the Court of the Judiciary of Alabama, which will rule if he should lose his job permanently (The New York Times)
  • Alabama chief justice is suspended | An ethics inquiry will review the judge’s refusal to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state Judicial Building (Los Angeles Times)
  • Moore suspended | Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended with pay after a judicial ethics commission ruled he brought his office “into disrepute” for defying a federal court order (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Moore barred from duties | Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was disqualified from performing the duties of his office Friday when the state Judicial Inquiry Commission formally accused him of violating state judicial ethics (The Birmingham News)
  • Supreme Court ‘coup’ feared by Moore allies | Moore said he has done nothing wrong but only followed his oath of office by acknowledging God as the moral foundation of law (The Mobile Register)
  • Standoff at Roy’s rock | Alabama’s “Ten Commandments judge” finally pushes his cause to the brink. Has he gone too far? (Time)

Roy Moore speaks:

  • Moore blasts state’s leaders | In a victory for the beleaguered chief justice and his supporters, a federal judge accepted a lawsuit against the other eight justices for ordering removal of the controversial rock symbol from public view (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • In God I trust | Why I’m standing up for the Ten Commandments in Alabama (Roy S. Moore, The Wall Street Journal)
  • Moore: ‘I’ve kept my oath’ | “It’s not about a monument It’s not about religion. It’s about the acknowledgment of almighty God,” he says (CNN)

The rallying supporters:

  • Thousands drawn to Ala. standoff | For supporters, the Alabama battle is part of a broader cultural war to prevent the removal of all vestiges of religion from public life (USA Today)
  • Commandments feud turns to siege | It is week two at the Alabama Judicial Building—suddenly the nation’s battlefront over separation of church and state—and everyone seems to know their place (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  • Monument fans keep the faith | The anticipation that “something was bound to happen” grew throughout the day Monday outside the state Judicial Building (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Ten Commandments supporters rally on | Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama is on the ropes — but his support is only growing (The New York Times)
  • Protests remain peaceful | About 60 Montgomery police officers were at the Frank M. Johnson Federal Building and Courthouse on Friday in case a rally supporting the Ten Commandments monument got out of hand (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Moore supporters split into dueling protests | As Moore’s chief defenders stood in front of a microphone to sing his praises, others stood on a ledge not far away and began shouting at the top of their lungs (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Exit watchers maintain post | Their only job while in Montgomery is to keep authorities from removing the monument (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Climber disrupts Sunday service | A day that began with the showing of faith at Sunday church services at the state Judicial Building, drew to a close with the spectacle of a man climbing the side of the building (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Barricade protects, protesters are told | Officials were concerned about crowd control at the front door entrance, which is made of glass (Montgomery Advertiser)
  • Also: Guards brace for protest | Court security officers lined a path in front of the heavy glass doors of the state judicial building with metal barricades Monday, bracing for crowds willing to be arrested to prevent removal of a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda (The Birmingham News)
  • Alabama’s religious right enlists image of King | The leaders of the Ten Commandments rally have for days been trying to associate Roy Moore’s cause with that of King (Financial Times)
  • Protesters not going away | Everyone—the Christians, the casual observers, the TV crews, two toddlers in a playpen—endured the blazing sun Saturday on the fourth day of a protest of a court order to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court building (Mobile Register)
  • Hotels, eateries cash in on rally | Montgomery area businesses have enjoyed a financial lift from the hundreds of protesters who descended on the Capital City in support of the Ten Commandments monument (Montgomery Advertiser)

Reaction from Christian community:

Reaction from Alabamans:

  • Evangelicals push linchpin issue | To Alabama’s dominant evangelical Christian population, the Ten Commandments stand as a powerful symbol of the sacred, not a quaint myth about the origins of law (The Birmingham News)
  • Alabamans quiet in commandments clamor | Most locals have steered clear of the plaza, though not of the water-cooler debate over what should be done with the 2½-ton monument (Los Angeles Times)
  • Lack of support stuns visitors | Of the estimated 100 demonstrators who gathered outside the Judicial Building at 1 p.m., only a few were from Montgomery (Montgomery Advertiser)

Opinion: Moore’s quest is just:

Opinion: Moore is misguided:

  • Commandments controversy: two issues, not one | Do evangelical Christians really want to say that this United States government is no longer a legitimate government and that we are no longer obligated to obey its courts when we disagree with their rulings? (Richard Land, Baptist Press)
  • The public square: Should it be naked or sacred? | The standoff between a federal appeals court and Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore over the public display of the 10 Commandments illustrates two extremes in the ongoing struggle to define America. Unfortunately, neither will serve the cause of religion in public life (Joseph Loconte, Chicago Tribune)
  • Moore’s commandments | Grandstanding isn’t helping (Editorial, The Wall Street Journal)
  • Separating church and state | Removing Ten Commandments from a judicial building is the right thing to do (Editorial, The Orlando Sentinel)
  • Not a good place for judge to sit in judgment | To acknowledge God, we don’t need to put commandments in a government building. We need to put those commandments in our hearts (Myriam Marquez, The Orlando Sentinel)
  • No more Moore | This Commandments case is wrong Pryority for conservatives (Quin Hillyer, National Review Online)
  • Standing alone, commandments fail secular test | The fight over where the Ten Commandments can be displayed is far from over. (Courtland Milloy, The Washington Post)

Opinion: Moore is a bad man:

  • The choice | Moore must decide: Will he lead a cause or be a judge? (Editorial, The Birmingham News)
  • Thou shalt not show off | On their report cards, under “works well with others,” check “unsatisfactory” for Roy Moore and Michael Newdow. Each seeks always to be a hero or a martyr but never to be useful to fellow citizens (Editorial, Palm Beach Post)
  • His grandstanding on religious matters shows Ala. judge unfit to serve | Not only does the Alabama display serve no secular purpose, there can be little doubt, based on his own comments, that Moore’s intent is to advance his religious beliefs and that his actions foster excessive government entanglement with religion (Asheville Citizen-Times, N.C.)
  • Just which commandments are the 10 Commandments? | Different denominations use various numbering systems because they differ on what to include in the First and Tenth Commandments (Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle)
  • Free to worship, while free of state | The sort of theocracy some of the protesters seem to espouse would have little patience with any who dared protest that government’s disposition of a religious monument (Editorial, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
  • God help America | U.S. law insists on the separation of church and state. So why does religion now govern? (Gary Younge, The Guardian, London)

More opinion:

Moving the monument:

Spillover outside Alabama:

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