Updated November 15, 2003 (first published November 14, 2003) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, the “Ten Commandments Judge,” was fired from his post on November 13, 2003. The nine members of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary apparently had their minds made up before the “trial.” Chuck Baldwin, who attended the proceedings, called it an “inquisition.” The justices did not allow Moore’s attorneys to call important witnesses or to present some 20 pieces of evidentiary material.

Moore had served only half of his six-year elected term.

In July 2001, Moore had a two and a half ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments installed prominently in the state courthouse. In November 2002, federal judge Myron Thompson ordered it removed. Moore appealed, but the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Thompson’s decision and the Supreme Court refused to intervene. Thus on August 5, 2003, Thompson again ordered the monument to be removed, with a final deadline of August 20. Moore, a Southern Baptist, still refused to obey the order, saying that his “oath of office to the Constitution requires an acknowledgment of God.” Moore was suspended by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission and the monument was finally removed on August 28.

In the November 13 decision removing Moore from his office, the court “found that Chief Justice Moore not only willfully and publicly defied the orders of a United States district court, but upon direct questioning by the court, he also gave the court no assurances that he would follow that order or any similar order in the future.”

Chief Justice Moore testified that he did not believe the federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments monument was lawful and that it was contrary to the Alabama state constitution. Moore summarized his view of the proceedings with these words: “It’s about whether or not we can acknowledge God as the source of our law and our liberty. That’s all I’ve done. I’ve been found guilty.”

Moore remains popular in Alabama, with a recent poll showing that 79% want him to complete his term as chief justice.

Crowds have often gathered at the state courthouse in support of Judge Moore. One who came out in support of Moore last week was Flip Benham, head of Operation Rescue and Operation Save America. Benham praised Moore, saying, “He is turning America right side up again in Jesus’ Name. We will stand with him!” (Alabama ousts Justice Moore,” WorldNetDaily, Nov. 13).

I will explain why I do not agree with this assessment.

First of all, I do believe the federal judges are wrong in determining that the display of the Ten Commandments is an infringement of the U.S. Constitution. It neither establishes a state religion nor hinders the free exercise thereof, but the revisionist view of constitutional law holds sway in the U.S. judicial system today and it is not surprising that it prevailed in this case.

It is very sad that Judge Moore is no longer on the Alabama bench. His rulings were wise and just, and it is a sad day for Alabama and the nation that such a man has been fired. The powers that be in Alabama should have stood by the man and stood up to the power hungry federal courts who rule today by their own humanistic thinking and by judicial fiat rather than the U.S. Constitution they are sworn to uphold. These judges would do well to know that there is a Higher Judge and they have a lot to answer for when they appear in That Court and give account for their actions.

As I have said in previous articles on this issue, I have a great admiration for Judge Moore. He has stood by his convictions and resisted the out-of-control federal judiciary even though he knew that it would likely result in the loss of his position, pension, etc.

TO LOOK AT THE COURTS IS TO LOOK AT THE SYMPTOM RATHER THAN THE ROOT CAUSE

We must understand, though, that all of this is a symptom of the deeper problem in America, and that is the apostasy and compromise and worldliness that permeates the churches. There is no fear of God in society because the fear of God is no longer preached from most pulpits. If the law of God were honored in the churches, it would probably be honored in the courts.

All of the marching and demonstrations and frustration on the part of those who are trying to “bring America back to God” will have little or no effect unless there is a great spiritual revival in the churches. Most of those who are on this bandwagon are members of worldly, ecumenical, compromised, if not outright heretical and apostate, churches. Instead of worrying about court decisions, they need to be on their knees in repentance. Instead of trying to bring America back to God, they need to bring their churches back to God.

Jeremiah faced the same type of wickedness in his day that we find in America today, and he identified the root of the problem. “Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land” (Jer. 23:15). The profaneness which had spread across the land originated with the apostasy of the Lord’s prophets, and that is precisely the situation that we find in America.

SHALL THE GOVERNMENT ENFORCE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?

Furthermore, does Judge Moore really want America to obey the Ten Commandments?

What about the fourth commandment? Are we to keep the sabbath, even though it was a sign to the nation Israel (Ex. 31:13) and even though, according to the apostles, it has been done away in Christ (Col. 2:16)?

And what about the very first commandment? “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). Is the government to formulate an official declaration of who the true God is and which God we can or cannot worship? It was that very type of thing that resulted in state churches and bitter persecutions throughout the Dark Ages and even during the Protestant Reformation. The Roman Catholic state church was replaced in many lands by the Protestant state churches, but they were only slightly less vicious toward dissenters than their Catholic brethren had been toward them. They felt that they had to defend the first table of the Ten Commandments at the point of secular law; thus they drew up their definitions of theological truth and persecuted anyone who veered from the official position. I am sure that Judge Moore does not want anything like this for America, but that is the implication of wanting the government to require obedience to the Ten Commandments in this church age.

American law does acknowledge God and has, in the past at least, even acknowledged Jesus Christ and the God of the Bible; but it was never based on the Ten Commandments.

A TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT

I see all of this as somewhat of a “tempest in a teapot.” On the one hand it is very sad to see what has happened to our nation in the past 50 years. On the other hand, the recent event in Alabama has little significance. The battle was lost long before this and it was not lost in the courtrooms.

The Alabama Ten Commandments issue is similar to the brouhaha that was raised because of the recent ordination of a homosexual as a bishop in the Episcopal Church in America. Christian publications fumed about how terrible it was and what a turning point it was. In reality, it had little significance. The Episcopal Church in America has been ordaining homosexuals for decades. It has been utterly apostate for a long, long time.

Why get up in arms at this point when the battle was lost so long ago?

And if we are going to get up in arms, we would be wise to know the real enemy.

IS SOCIAL-POLITICAL ACTION THE ANSWER?

Further, the New Testament does not instruct the believer to join hands with heretics and unbelievers in their social and political protests. Flip Benham’s Operation Rescue and Operation Save America, for example, are ecumenical ventures that yoke together believers with unbelievers, but this is strictly contrary to the Word of God (2 Cor. 6:14-18). How can we think that we can “bring America back to God” when we openly and callously disobey His Word in such simple matters?

Jerry Falwell, with his Moral Majority and other efforts, has been trying to “bring America back to God” for decades, but there has been no observable effect. The courts are more foolish; the entertainment media is more vile; the politicians are more grossly compromising (even the alleged conservatives) than ever. Falwell has not brought America back to God, but by his compromise he has brought his church closer and closer to the world.

If we really want to do something for America, we would do well to be on our knees, to fast and pray, to live pure and holy and separated lives, to be strong for the Word of God, to be faithful members of sound Bible-believing churches, to stand against compromise and ecumenism and heresies -- and to give ourselves to the fulfillment of the Great Commission, which is much more the heartbeat of Jesus Christ than what happens to a monument in Alabama (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Lk. 24:46-48; Acts 1:8).