Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
|
posted
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021018_404.html
Ala. Chief Justice Testifies He Installed 10 Commandments Monument Due to Concern for Moral Decline
The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. Oct. 18 — The chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court says he installed a 5,300-pound monument to the Ten Commandments in the state Judicial Building because he was concerned about the nation's moral decline.
Chief Justice Roy Moore testified for a second day Thursday in the trial of a federal lawsuit seeking to remove the monument he had installed in the building's rotunda in the middle of the night.
"The basic issue is whether we will still be able to acknowledge God under the First Amendment, or whether we will not be able to acknowledge God," Moore said.
The lawsuit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State on behalf of three Alabama attorneys. They contend the monument promotes Moore's religion in violation of the Constitution.
Testimony is expected to continue into next week.
After Moore's testimony, the plaintiffs rested their case and attorneys for Moore asked Thompson to rule in favor of the chief justice.
When Thompson refused, the defense called its first witness, Rabbi David Novak, a professor of Philosophy and the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. Moore is expected to be called back to the stand by his attorneys Friday.
"You don't have to be part of any religion to recognize their moral weight," Novak said of the Ten Commandments.
Moore, a conservative Christian, said earlier Thursday he decided to locate a monument to the Ten Commandments in the building shortly after he was elected chief justice in November 2000.
It is one of the first things visitors see upon entering the building.
The monument features the King James Bible version of the Ten Commandments sitting on top of a granite block. Around the monument are quotes from historical figures and documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, which Moore said support his belief that the Ten Commandments are the moral foundation of law.
--------------------
God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged | 
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
