Thursday, December 15, 2005

Can I get an Amen.

Those who personally know me, will say I am not a very religious man. That is true to some degree. However, I have a great respect for those who do and as such, I believe that religion has a place in our public facilities.

My opinion on the matter was stated here:

http://anchoragedailyruse.blogspot.com/2004/06/just-recently-anchorage-daily-news.html


Just recently the Anchorage Daily News editorial staff published an opinion on Judge Roy Moore and the Ten Commandments.

First, to back up Judge Moore's opinion on the matter, the editorial staff should read the Affidavit in Support of the Ten Commandments

Then the editorial staff should familiarize itself with the opinion from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The idea that displaying the Ten Commandments violates the separation of church and state, ignores the historical relevance the Commandments played in law, both good and bad.

It would have been an entertaining argument to hear the ACLU argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that the tablets being displayed in a public building violates the separation of church and state, when Moses and/or the 10 Commandments appear three times in the architectural embellishment of the U.S. Supreme Court building.

There is no place in separating a part of our history by taking it away or hiding it from our knowledge. Moreover, the Ten Commandments where placed back in the Alabama Court rotunda.

In effect, Judge Roy Moore ( an elected Judge), was vindicated regardless of what those opposed to Judge Moore say.


Fast foward one year later to June of 2005 and the U.S. Supreme Court found the U.S. 5th Circuit's opinion to be correct.

Only one of the nine justices voted differently in the two cases. Justice Stephen Breyer, considered a moderate liberal, voted against the displays in Kentucky but in favor of the one in Texas.

The key difference, Breyer said, was that the Kentucky displays stemmed from a governmental effort "substantially to promote religion," and the Texas display served a "mixed but primarily non-religious purpose."


As stated, the editorial staff at the Anchorage Daily News should have familiarized itself with the ruling from the 5th Circuit.

Can I get an Amen?

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