Let’s have a little perspective here, folks. Justice Moore may be a sincere, albeit deluded Christian or a shrewd demagogue expoliting deeply held religious beliefs for political gain, or maybe a mixture of the two. But however harmful his acts may be to the curtain of SOCAS, he is not harming any person directly or indirectly. He’s not advocating the death penalty for gay people or proposing that death camps be set up for atheists, so wishing death on the man is way, way uncalled for.
One would think that cheap shots and derisive laughter would be the most condign response to his antics.
While I agree with you that death is an overreaction to the actions of Justice Moore, I disagree on the “harming any person directly or indirectly” bit. In fact, so does the court he was first tried in, and the 11th circuit court(amusingly enough, the court his attorney general, Bill Pryor, the 11th circuit opinion(PDF)(which poor Hamlet has been trying and trying to get people to read, without much success as far as I can tell. Cites snipped and emphasis mine)
I guess we could hand-wave the complaints of these lawyers and call them whiny bitches for getting upset at having to walk around a hunk of rock occasionally, but that would tend into the area of deciding who can be offended at what and that’s too close to thought policeville for my tastes.
Given that he clearly puts his version of Christian law ahead of mere statutory law, would YOU want to be on trial before him? I think he is harming everyone who comes before him on the bench.
Roy’s been in the news for things besides the ten commandments. Such as, I don’t know, putting his version of Christian law before mere statutory law. I thought I remembered this case.
He is known for his conservative Christian views in rendering decisions. In February 2002 when the state supreme court ruled against a lesbian mother who was seeking custody of her three daughters Moore used a litany of homophobic adjectives that had gay rights advocates calling for his removal from the bench.
Moore said that homosexuality is “an inherent evil” that should not be tolerated.
His decision went on to say that the mother’s relationship made her an unfit parent and that homosexuality is “abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature.”
The company who originally put the monument there won’t take it down.
According to a radio spot I heard this morning, they are having a hard time finding ANY company to do it because the protesters have vowed to boycott any company that helps.
How much longer is this going to drag on and make our state look ridiculous?
Why not just start bringing in the statues (like Beagle mentioned) of Vishnu and Buddah and momuments to Allah? Of course, the momument to the IPU has already been there for so long…
Would plurality solve this issue, or just piss off EVERYBODY?
How many statues would reasonably be required to represent everyone? What statue would you place for atheists? What about agnostics? SInce the T.C. are drawn from a Jewish book, does that count for the Jews, the Christians, or both? What if someone getrs upset at the placement of their statue, claiming that having it next to another statue or not placed in the exact center of the room violates her religious freedom?
Plurality solves nothing. Getting the fucking statue out of the courthouse solves everything. “Freedom of religion” does not guarantee anyone the right to a 2.5 ton slab of rock in the middle of a courthouse.
That’s like my idea…the irony would be delicious if the courthouse burned to the ground, monument destroyed, etc. and it was determined that the cause of the fire was 'an act of god", i.e. lightning. What sort of signal would that send?
Thanks, wring. It was that or propose changing it to a golden calf. I mean, everyone likes cute little moo-cows, right? Nothing wrong with a golden calf in a place of honor, is there?
Sidenote to this story based completely on a conversation I just had at lunch…I have no cite for this and I’m not stating it as a fact, but what I was told.
I had lunch with a business associate/friend of mine who is also friends with the president of the company that made and installed the monument. He relayed a conversation to me that he had with the president yesterday.
Apparently the guy got a call a while back from a guy in Huntsville who asked him if they could make the monument. The guy says he had no idea it had anything to do with Judge Moore…he just thought it was for a church or something. They discussed the details and agreed on a price. A little while later when it is finished the guy says he is going to come out and look at it before they deliver it. He shows up with Judge Roy Moore.
Now the president of this company told my friend he couldn’t give a rats ass about moving it in or out because it was just a job to him but he doesn’t want his trucks or his company named flashed all over the news now if he goes back in there to remove it. That is why he has refused to accept the job.
Apparently the guy thinks Moore is an idiot but he wants to stay out of the spotlight as much as he possibly can.
Again…I have no cite for this…just passing on a story from a reliable source.