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Why Judge Moore lost
On the Ten Commandments case, I’m not sure what can be done now. I hadn’t known that Judge Moore could be so easily suspended, but now that it has happened, we can see that we should have expected it. He is Alabama’s chief judge after all; how can a state judge openly defy a federal court order and keep his job? (He could keep it , of course, if the powers that be in the state backed him, which apparently they did not.) With Judge Moore suspended, and thus no longer in administrative control of the Alabama Judicial building where the monument is located, I don’t see what, in a practical sense, is left of this case. Is there anyone who sees a path forward from this point? It’s important to understand that while the judicial precedents under which the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found against the monument are outrageously off-base, those precedents have been accumulating for fifty and even a hundred years. The dilemma we face is the perennial dilemma of conservatives living in a radicalized society: We cannot effectively fight the dominant liberalism so long as we unconsciously accept all the previous victories of liberalism that led up to this point. If there is to be any long-range hope of successfully resisting the liberal juggernaut rather than our merely continuing our helpless retreat before it, we must identify and seek to overturn the ultimate source of this decision—the Incorporation Doctrine under which the federal courts have improperly applied First Amendment restrictions to the states and thus usurped more and more power over state and local governments.
But such a profound, some would say utopian, constitutional restoration is not the only hope we have. Even within the bounds of the existing Incorporation Doctrine, we could imagine a change in the wind, in which, for example, the current, extremely expansive definition of “establishment of religion” might be scaled back, allowing for appropriate state-endorsed expressive acts intended to promote an acknowledgement of God as the source of morality and government. Such a beneficent turnabout in the minds of our rulers, coming from mysterious sources, is an appropriate object of prayer, and would be in keeping with the spirit of Judge Moore’s crusade. Comments
I think it is only fair to have the e-mail, for which Mr. Auster posted this response, posted. “ When Judge Moore put up the 10 Commandments, he did so with the intention of showing the simple fact that our political tradition come from our Christian heritage. (I say our, as an American, not as a Jew who should be in shul right now.) Justice Moore rightly ignored an explicitly aConstitution and thus null ruling. In Marbury v Madison, the majority explained its ruliing thusly “All laws which are repugnant Justice Moore went further, noting that the 11th Circuit lacked standing to rule on the issue based on the seperation of powers between the Federal and State governments. In front of his supporters, Moore said: “Have we become so ignorant of our nation’s history that we The US House of Representatives stood along with Justice Moore against Judicially tyranny, when it voted 260-161 to bar funding for removal of the display. The American legal guild, from the leftist ABA to many of president Bush’s nominees, have built thier legal ideology on the premise of Judicial supremecy. They could not let Justice Moore’s defiance stand. Thus he has been suspended. To let this stand is another step in the direction of Judicial Tyranny and an oligarchy by the legal guild. I’m not sure a direct assault on the Incorporation Doctrine is possible at this time. We need to use public anger as a wedge to make them listen. The hemming and hawing of Church leaders is pointless. We need to re-educate the public to retake the republic. Posted by: Ron on August 23, 2003 12:42 AMA hearty welcome to Mr. Poe for his contribution here. Super, super. A fundamental error was created by Justice Marshall so very long ago in Marbury v. Madison. The error enacted was the Supreme Court can dictate what the other “co-equal” branches can do absent a Constitutional amendment, which is an extremely hard thing to obtain. No doubt he had sound reasons. But he failed to realize that courts interpret law as they see fit and not in a principled way, which is the only way that a society can function successfully. Napolean Bonaparte, NO LESS, upon seeing what his judges did to his Code, decried more or less, “Oh what have they done to my Code!” Napolean’s Code stretched far back to the Roman Justinian Code and, to a much lesser degree, a North African code. The law governing most of America is Anlgo-Saxon common law, which often respects existing law ad nauseum. This respect is helpful in many kinds of cases, but the respect is misguided in the political cases. Ron is correct, and I have added a third paragraph to the article mentioning the possibility of recourses other than the impossibly long-term project of dumping the Incorporation Doctrine. Posted by: Lawrence Auster on August 23, 2003 1:23 AMRon wrote, “In front of his supporters, Moore said: ‘Have we become so ignorant of our nation’s history that we have forgotten the reason for the adoption of the Bill of Rights? … The time has come to recover the valiant courage of our forefathers, who understood that faith and freedom are inseparable and that they are worth fighting for …’ “ Faith and freedom are inseparable. Yes. And they are worth something. They are worth fighting for. I just proudly, defiantly signed the petition Ron posted in support of Judge Moore. I wish I could do more at this point. I am ready to do what I can.
The precedents leading to this case have been accumulating for longer than 50 to 100 years. More like 150 years. Whatever your view of the Civil War, it is undeniable that Lincoln trampled on states’ rights and fatally damaged the sovereignty of the states. It is time to do something. Secession comes to mind. I’m hoping that someday very soon we will see modern-day Patrick Henrys, James Madisons, and George Whitefields begin to rise up. We need strong…very, very strong…men to lead us. I can’t do it. I’ve got some talents, but my virtues and my talents combined are no equal to even those of Judge Moore, let alone those of one of the Founders. Something needs to change. As Unadorned said, I’m ready to do what I can. Posted by: Pieter Friedrich on August 25, 2003 11:25 AMAn update on the Judge Moore situation: The acting Alabama chief justice, who took office following Moore’s suspension, has issued an order for the monument’s removal. Christian leader James Dobson has called for Christians nationwide to support Judge Moore. I believe that the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (Barry Lynn), the SPLC (Morris Dees) and the ADL (Abe Foxman) were three of the major leftist forces deployed in the attempt to destroy Judge Moore. I can’t help but wonder how many of Dr. Dobson’s supporters still don’t get it. How many still purchase products and services from corporations and individuals who are busily funding the leftist assault? Worse, how many churches and Christian organizations subscribe to the SPLC/ADL “anti-racism” agenda with no idea that these organizations are nothing less than the political expression of evil (as described so well by Mr. Auster)? Is James Dobson beginning to see that the ultimate goal of the left - exemplified so well by the three organizations listed above - is nothing less than the complete and utter destruction of Christianity and Western Civilization? Posted by: Carl on August 26, 2003 11:52 AM |