NEWS STORY: Judge says Ten Commandments fight is about America acknowledging God

c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Judge Roy S. Moore, the Alabama circuit court judge who is in the midst of a legal struggle to keep his hand-crafted replica of the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall, said Wednesday (Sept. 10) he is at the center of a debate about Americans’ acknowledgment of God. […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Judge Roy S. Moore, the Alabama circuit court judge who is in the midst of a legal struggle to keep his hand-crafted replica of the Ten Commandments on his courtroom wall, said Wednesday (Sept. 10) he is at the center of a debate about Americans’ acknowledgment of God.

Moore made his comments in accepting the 1997 Christian Statesman of the Year Award from the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship.


In his speech, Moore made some of his closing remarks in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, but with a twist.”My God, my God, why have we forsaken thee?”he said, recasting the words of Jesus on the cross.”That should be the cry of America today as we stand at the foot of the cross.” The controversial 50-year-old judge is waiting for a hearing date from the Alabama Supreme Court in a suit that has been filed against him by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is seeking to end religious practices in Moore’s courtroom.

Moore, a circuit court judge in Etowah County, had a practice of opening his court with a prayer by a Protestant minister and had posted the Ten Commandments behind his bench.

The ACLU sued to eliminate the prayers and the Ten Commandments display, arguing both were unconstitutional. Alabama Gov. Fob James weighed in on the issue in February, declaring he would call out the National Guard to stop federal authorities from removing the Ten Commandments.

Moore’s Wyoming-based attorney, Steve Melchior, said Wednesday he expects the case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.”The issue is … ripe,”said Moore.”The issue of the acknowledgment of God in this country is at a point which … there must be a decision made. Are we still one nation under God? Do we still acknowledge a higher law?” The 18-inch-by-24-inch plaque at the center of the controversy weighs less than a pound and was carved by the judge in 1980 from a gift of redwood. It adorned walls in his home and his law office before he moved it to the courtroom when he was appointed circuit judge in his hometown of Gadsden in 1992.”It’s absolutely incredible to think that we could purport to be a nation under God and can’t acknowledge his providence,”said Moore in an interview before the award presentation.”I can say about the display of the Ten Commandments being constitutional, I feel more strongly today than I ever have that it is constitutional and certainly not against the law.” Frank Wright, the director of the Center for Christian Statesmanship, presented the award to Moore, standing in for Kennedy, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who was ill.

Wright said Moore was not being honored solely for the controversy that surrounds him.”I can assure you it is not a controversy of his own making,”Wright told the audience of more than 260, which included several members of Congress.”His character is why we are recognizing him tonight.” Phil Baum, executive director of the American Jewish Congress, declared Wednesday that the award honoring Moore was inappropriate because he has”made it clear that those who are not part of the `Judeo-Christian tradition’ are considered second-class citizens before his bench.” Moore responded by saying,”That’s completely false.” But Moore confirmed he would not invite a Buddhist or a Hindu or others who don’t believe in a”Judeo-Christian God”to open a court session with prayer.”It’s certainly not discriminatory because the United States Supreme Court does not open with `Buddha save the United States and this honorable court,’ the United States Congress doesn’t acknowledge the Hindu god, the president of the United States doesn’t place his hand on the Koran or on any other books of faith except the holy Bible,”he said.”If they’re not discriminatory, I’m not discriminatory.”What I’m doing is my duty under the Constitution to uphold and support that Constitution, which is to acknowledge the God from which this nation was founded.” (OPTIONAL TRIM _ STORY MAY END HERE.)

In his speech, Moore cited _ sometimes from memory _ instances when founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson acknowledged God in speeches and writings. He said the drafters of the First Amendment took time to thank God for the peaceful process that brought forth the amendment, which says in part,”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.””Today, we are told that that same First Amendment prevents the acknowledgment of God,”Moore said.

In addition to speaking of his own case, Moore used the recently announced guidelines concerning religious expression in the federal workplace as an example of the change in Americans’ views about recognizing God. While some Christian groups have hailed the guidelines that were issued in August, Moore said they sadden him.”I’m sad to think that this country has reached a point where we think government gives us the right to acknowledge God,”he said.


He cited the guidelines’ statements that federal workers can keep a Bible or Koran on their desk for use during breaks or can display a wreath at Christmas or wear a crucifix.”I didn’t know that was illegal,”he said.”But now, we’ve been given something we had all along.”

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