Supporters rally for monument

MONTGOMERY - Illinois farmer Chris Miller had been in Tennessee and Indiana on business, but on a whim, he, his wife and six children decided early Saturday to travel to Montgomery to back Chief Justice Roy Moore's Ten Commandments monument fight.

"Laws are based on the Ten Commandments,'' said one of the Millers' daughters, 13-year-old Therese. "He should be allowed to keep it there.''

The Oakland, Ill., family is concerned where the country "is going,'' said Therese's mother, Mary Miller, and wanted to attend the rally and see the monument.

Like Christian soldiers, the Millers weren't the only people to travel to Montgomery on a hot, nearly 90-degree-day, to urge Moore to keep the monument in the state Judicial Building despite a federal judge's order to remove it.

"I believe the monument should stay there no matter what the Supreme Court says if that judicial order does not agree with the word of God,'' said Jason Smith of Hendersonville, N.C.

A common belief among people interviewed at the rally was that Moore has a right to civilly disobey a federal judge's order if they believe God's law is supreme.

"They should when (a judge) violates a higher law,'' said Chris Miller.

Lewis Branscomb of Sheffield said "God is sovereign'' and displaying the Ten Commandments acknowledges God's glory.

He said Moore has a right to appeal his case to the Supreme Court and keep the monument where it is if he believes a federal judge's order to remove it is wrong.

Pam and Mike Tomberlin of Florence wanted to attend the rally, because they believe they're witnessing history in the making.

"There are times when we have to stand up and I'm not talking about rebellion or military uprising, but sometimes you have to take a stand,'' said Pam Tomberlin.

She questioned whether a federal judge has the right to threaten the state with fines if the monument remains in the judicial building.

The state could be fined $5,000 a day, an amount which could double each week the monument isn't removed.

Mike and Shirley Hughes, of Tuscaloosa, said they're concerned about the decline in social values as religion's influence is removed from government. "Our laws are built on the Ten Commandments, and, whether people admit it or not, our forefathers fought for it,'' Mike Hughes said.

Shirley Hughes questioned why it's all right to recognize and pledge allegiance to the flag as a symbol of the United States but it's not all right to observe Christian values by displaying the Ten Commandments.

Darlene Beasley of Tuscaloosa brought her 14-year-old son, Jeremy, to the rally to learn about civics and history for his home school lessons. Jeremy said he believes Moore has the right to display the monument.

"This is the time to take a stand,'' said Darlene Beasley.

She said Moore's action to defy a federal judicial order to remove the monument is one of those times when "things sometimes conflict'' with God's law.

Kerry Hicks of Ivalee said Moore's actions are correct. "I believe this country has lost God, and I believe we can acknowledge God and keep the Ten Commandments or forget (God) and that would tear us apart,'' she said.

"God is the ultimate judge, and since we were founded as a Christian nation, I don't believe he has broken the law,'' she said of Moore.

Moore, the elected head of Alabama's court system, is choosing to defy U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson's order to remove the 5,280-pound monument in the rotunda of the Judicial Building from public view byWednesday.

Moore made a surprise appearance at the rally that was attended by several thousand people. He said the monument isn't about him but about whether the state and federal constitutions give him the right to acknowledge God as the moral foundation of the state's and nation's laws.

"The issue is, can a state acknowledge God?'' Moore said.

He called those at the rally soldiers who are in a struggle, a "spiritual warfare.''

"It's time for Christians to take a stand,'' he said. "I would consider myself guilty of treason if I failed to take a stand.''

Nationally prominent speakers urged Moore to stay the course.

"We need a spiritual renaissance and we need it now,'' said the Rev. Jerry Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

"When God gives you a champion, get behind him,'' Falwell said.

Thompson ruled the monument containing the Ten Commandments is unconstitutionally on display because it violates the doctrine of separation of church and state.

His ruling was upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Thompson gave Moore until Wednesday to remove it from public areas of the judicial building.

Moore last week said he wouldn't remove the monument and filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to block Thompson's action.

Thompson said among his tools to force Moore to remove the monument is a daily fine of $5,000 that could double each week.

Speakers at the rally excoriated officials for not backing Moore and urged, depending on who was speaking, putting Moore on the U.S. Supreme Court, removing Judge Thompson from office or simply ignoring him and challenging him to collect the fines he said he could impose.

Howard Phillips, a presidential candidate in 1996 and founder and chairman of the Conservative Caucus, said President Bush should nominate Moore to the next vacancy of the U.S. Supreme Court. He also said Thompson should resign from office.

"Judge Thompson has violated his oath of office by disregarding the constitution by attempting to usurp an elected judge of the state of Alabama,'' Phillips said.

"That's why we hold them in contempt.''

Former presidential candidate and talk show host Alan Keyes said people have a right to live in communities that reflect their beliefs, not communities where standards are dictated by federal judges.

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Fund said he is organizing a "peaceful civil disobedience'' action Wednesday should anyone try to remove the monument.

He said he was disappointed that Attorney General Bill Pryor and Gov. Bob Riley didn't take Moore's side or, in the least, say the state wouldn't pay a fine.

"Riley and Pryor have missed a chance for a great constitutional debate by folding so early,'' he said.

Falwell likened Moore's actions to those of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights workers who defied federal or state segregation laws that kept blacks from their rightful place in society.

Atheists organized a small rally across from the judicial building.

Greg McDowell, director of the Florida chapter of American Atheists Inc., said Moore doesn't have a right to defy Thompson's order.

"How would he like it if people disobeyed his orders?'' McDowell asked of Moore.

"When it comes to this country's laws, no man's ego and nobody's religion should come above the constitution,'' McDowell said.

Countered Phillips, "As God's creatures, we must hold the federal government accountable so we can be held accountable to God.''

The rally's organizer, the Rev. Rick Scarborough of Vision America, urged rally attendees to write their elected officials and donate to Moore's defense fund.

He called Moore's fight a battle to reverse what he said has been 40 years of moral decline since the 1962 Supreme Court decision removing prayer from public schools.

Capitol and Montgomery police declined to estimate the crowd but observers believe that at least 3,500 spread out in the street in front of the Capitol and hundreds listened from under shade trees adjacent to the Capitol steps.

Dana Beyerle can be reached at (334) 264-6605 or dtb 12345@-aol.com.