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Time has come for the monument to come down
Published August 16, 2003
Chief Justice Roy Moore has until Aug. 20 to comply with a federal court order to remove his “washing machine size” Ten Commandments monument from the state Judicial Building. If Moore continues to leave the monument there past his deadline, the state will be fined thousands of dollars daily for Moore’s act of defiance.
Listening to the “Rick and Bubba Show” Thursday morning, I heard the hosts, and many callers, say they support Moore’s stance on the Ten Commandments monument. Most all Christians in Alabama support him as well and believe the separation of church and state to be a ridiculous concept. I find it astonishing that people believe if they say they do not support Moore, then they think others will look at them as nonbelievers. However, this could not be further from the truth. People, especially Christians, need to educate themselves on what could happen if Moore is allowed to keep his monument in the state building.
Let’s work with some hypotheticals: Say the next Chief Justice Alabamians elect is a Muslim. This Muslim official wants to put a large statue of Mohammed or a monument depicting scriptures from the Quran. Would Alabama Christians, especially Alabama’s staunch Southern Baptists, allow this to happen? Of course not. The revolt against this hypothetically elected individual would begin.
Then let’s say we have a Hindu elected to public office who decides he wants to turn the building in which his office is housed into a Hindu temple. Can you imagine the kind of controversy this would cause with Alabamians all across the state? Very, very few in this state would agree to allow a monument celebrating Hinduism to be placed inside a county courthouse or state office.
Because of the separation of church and state clause, we do not have to worry about a particular religious denomination taking over our public offices and state and federal buildings. However, because of Roy Moore’s stance against a federal court ruling to remove the monument from the Judicial Building, the idea of separation of church and state has become flawed.
For some reason, a large majority of Christians in Alabama believe Moore should be allowed to keep his monument because it is the Ten Commandments. It is the law handed down from God to Moses in the Old Testament. It has been the foundation of many of our governments and societies for centuries. However, not everyone in this state, this country or this world believes in the God many of us worship. There are thousands who believe in other gods, deities and higher powers, some of which you and I may consider nonsense. However, to those people who are Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim, their gods, scriptures and beliefs are felt just as strongly as mine that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind and the Bible is our most holy book, given to us by God. Should my belief in Christianity be placed above all others’ beliefs simply because it is, in Alabama at least, considered “the right way?” Of course not.
Think about what separation of church and state really means: keeping religion out of government so that government can truly be for the people. The United States is a wonderful place, known worldwide for the freedoms and abilities it guarantees to those who reside within its borders. However, if we push one religious doctrine upon all people, are we really a melting pot? Are we really encouraging all to go forth in their pursuit of happiness?
If we continue to support Roy Moore on his “stand in the judicial building door,” we can throw all of our rights out the window. We can sit idly by as separation of church and state is infringed upon by a man we elected to be the chief justice of Alabama, not the chief pastor. I hope it does not come to this, but maybe 10 or 20 years from now when a Muslim sits up his “washing machine-size” copy of the Quran, I can only tell Moore supporters, “I told you so.”
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