8/27/03 Washington, DC – The Supreme Court ruled today that a 5,300 pound stone carving of the Ten Commandments can stay in the rotunda of the Alabama State Judicial building where it was installed by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore two years ago. The monument recently sparked a growing nationwide debate over the separation of church and state when a federal court ruled it violated the First Amendment of the Constitution and ordered its removal. In a brief speech today, Moore told a cheering crowd of some 300 protestors that their prayers had been answered. “Today’s ruling is a victory for good people, for God-loving Christians all over the world, and for the almighty Lord himself,” Moore said as the crowd chanted “God is number one!” and waved banners.
But in what is being hailed by many as a far reaching resolution and criticized by others as extreme, the Court also called for the immediate removal of the entire state of Alabama. Shortly after the ruling was announced, federal agents blocked off Alabama state borders with metal barricades and all outgoing flights were temporarily suspended. Alabama Governor Bob Riley immediately issued a statement calling for calm, saying that the barricades were erected to prevent Alabama residents from falling off the edge of the state when it is airlifted out of the country later this week.
In a White House briefing, Secretary of State Colin Powell responded to questions about where the state will be taken. “We’re in talks with countries where religious freedom is less a matter of public debate,” he said, “including Saudia Arabia, Uzbekistan and China, but nothing’s written in stone yet.” He said it was too early to outline the logistics of the state’s removal, but said it would be swift and uncomplicated.
In the opinion on the ruling, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote, “Once the state is safely outside the borders of the United States, it will be perpetually free of the confines of Constitutional law. This court hopes that by allowing Alabama full sovereignty, questions about its religious freedom will be answered and the pejoration of our founding principles will cease.”
For more information, go to www.firstamendmentcenter.org.
Ha! That's funny!
Posted by: Mother | September 03, 2003 at 01:46 PM
The Ten Commandments display was removed from the Alabama Supreme Court building. It seems as if it may have been a good move after all because You can't post: Thou Shalt Not Steal, and Thou Shall Not Lie, in a building full of lawyers and politicians. It just don't make sense
Posted by: bristow | July 26, 2004 at 01:28 PM