Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore put a monument of the Ten Commandments in the foyer inside the building which houses Alabama’s highest court. U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson has ordered Moore to remove it. Most Alabama voters support Moore’s cause. After all, he was elected chief justice from a lowly position as a circuit court judge because of the publicity he garnered for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.
The reason for Thompson’s ruling is that the state is constitutionally barred from promoting a particular religion (or even group of religions) because of the U.S. Constitution’s anti-establishment clause.
Moore says establishing two tons of rock in the foyer of Alabama’s highest court isn’t establishing anything.
He argues that the Constitution’s free exercise clause and the First Amendment allow him to display the monument in the foyer of a government building. He says the Decalogue should be on display because our laws are founded on what Moses brought down the mountain.
In a way, Moore is correct. Most systems of laws have some remnant of the Ten Commandments somewhere in them. Most modern civilizations frown upon things like stealing. However, most Constitutional scholars agree that the writings of John Locke and John Stuart Mill influenced the framers of the Constitution more than the Ten Commandments.
Constitutional history aside, the difference between Moore’s arguments and his actions strike me as ridiculous and bordering on hypocritical.
Moore argues that he isn’t promoting a particular religion. Then he says the First Amendment gives him the right to promote a particular religion.
The First Amendment gives Moore the right to express his religious views as a private citizen. If he wants to put a monument of the Ten Commandments in his front yard, more power to him.
However, Moore is a public employee. The Alabama Supreme Court building is paid for by taxpayers. Putting a display of the Ten Commandments in that building implies governmental endorsement of religion. It’s hard to say, “You shall have no other gods before me,” doesn’t make some sort of religious endorsement.
Moore has popular support in Alabama because most Alabama citizens subscribe to the Judeo-Christian ethic in some form. However, I’m sure enough atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists live in Alabama to constitute a significant minority whose views must be respected.
Let’s be honest. Moore’s past indicates that his purpose for displaying the Ten Commandments is purely evangelical. He has appeared on numerous evangelical TV shows and written extensively about the need to “put God back in the courtroom.”
I have no problem with Moore being an evangelical. That is his right. He can appear on all the TV shows he wants to.
My problem is with Moore using his position as leader of Alabama’s judiciary to evangelize. He put up the monument because he knew it would draw lots of attention to himself, and he could use that platform to promote his religious views. He even let an evangelical Christian group-Coral Gables Ministries-videotape him putting up the monument. Coral Gables then sold copies of the videotape to help them raise $4 million.
The taxpayers of Alabama should not have to subsidize Moore using his office to promote his religion. That is the sort of behavior the Constitution’s anti-establishment clause prohibits.
Moore’s actions may be popular with most Alabama citizens. However, he should remember the aphorism, “What is right is not always popular. What is popular is not always right.”
Wilson Boyd is a senior economics major.