On the brouhaha over the altar erected in the Alabama Supreme Court.
Right-wingers have recently become enraged by how the First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the erection of an altar to the Lord in the Alabama Supreme Court. In the dead of night 31 July 2001, the recently elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore, invited a film crew from the fundamentalist “mega-church” Coral Ridge Ministries to record him installing into the rotunda of the courthouse a 5,280 pound granite monument engraved with the Ten Commandments and many other godly references. Later, videocassette copies produced from the shots would go on sale for $19 each. Many Christians have prayed before the courthouse altar. (*) (†) (‡) The War Liberal is on the case, stinging as usual. (§) I am not a lawyer, but I believe it is sad that this flagrant violation of the Establishment Clause was committed by someone sworn to not only uphold, but to protect the law of the land. Fortunately, a federal judge viewed the altar, artfully termed a “monument,” in its whole context, which is deeply religious. (** PDF) This is not a theocracy, and yes, we can thank God for that.
