Moore-ily Ethical
A few thousand years ago on Mount Sinai, Moses was given the Ten Commandments, carved in stone, and proclaimed them as laws of God which were to rule supreme over the Israelites. In August of 2001, a monument of the Ten Commandments, also carved in stone, was mounted in the rotunda of the State Judicial Building by Judge Roy Moore. However, people are questioning Roy Moore’s intentions when he used a governmental position and building to impose his particular preference of religion. Alabama citizens cannot help but wonder if our government will be in jeopardy if Moore is elected into office. Will he impose his personal religious agenda over what is laid out in the Alabama constitution or will he set aside his beliefs and serve as a non-partial governing body?
Two years after the installation of the Ten Commandments, Judge Roy Moore was ordered by Federal Court Judge Myron Thompson to remove the monument from the state building declaring that the display was unconstitutional (Dyer). Judge Thompson is not telling Moore that he cannot be a Christian, he is only saying that it is unconstitutional to impose, with the use of law in judicial rulings, Moore’s own preference of religion. Unfortunately, Moore’s adversaries have focused too much on the monument and not enough on how he is trying to use it. The problem is not the monument itself; the problem is how Judge Moore plans to use the monument to justify his rulings and beliefs. Now one of Moore’s lawyers accurately points out that putting the Ten Commandments on display is not the same as making a law or establishing a religion, but Moore repeatedly presents the monument as the moral basis of law (Wingfield). So Judge Moore’s use of the Ten Commandments display is to establish American law in terms of Christian principles.
Another issue that Judge Roy Moore can not understand is that freedom of religion does not mean freedom to inflict one’s religion on others as a function of any state office or job. According to Rick Garlikov, “What is important is that people’s position in office should not be used to impose their beliefs on others, particularly since that imposition goes against the stated law” (Garlikov). Therefore, a judge cannot ignore the law so that his own ethical views can be enforced. Judge Moore is using the Ten Comman...
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...dge Moore is in no way violating the law of separation of church and state (Schneider). He is merely displaying the statue of what he believes is the basis of the American government. One of Moore’s biggest defenders, the previous governor of Alabama Fob James, has gone on record saying that he would line the outside of the court house with the National Guard and Alabama State Troopers to prevent the removal of the Commandments (Fob James Weighs). Moore has gained a strong following in his fight for the right to display the Ten Commandments, but will it be enough to win the majority vote?
Every American has their own opinion to form and will make their own decision on the Ten Commandments case. With all the beliefs and different angles that one person can look from, it is hard to determine whether Judge Moore would make a creditable governor. His strong moral compass and admiration for the law make him a formidable candidate for the job. Citizens have to question whether his passion for the Bible will cause him to stray from the written law. He has gained popularity from this debacle, but has truly become a peoples' choice for a possible governor.
This example of a Supreme Court case shows that the court is not above politics. Even though most Americans, including government officials, practiced some form of Christianity, the judges were not willing to compromise the information in the Constitution for the popular beliefs of individuals. I agree with the Supreme Court in its decision to ban the practice of prayer in public schools. Not only does it violate the Constitution, but it encroaches on our freedom of thought and action. Being excluded from a public classroom because of personal beliefs does not sound just.
From the book, Roger Williams stays on his belief and dissent position in truthfulness. Therefore, no citizen was physically abused for holding and committing dissenting views in religious substances finally by giving a concrete example of a free church in a free state. Roger Williams never gives up on his idea of separating the religious from the state, and eventually builds a new land where complete religious liberty is developed.
Not all agreed with the President’s choice of nominee. In fact, some referred to his choice as a judicial activist. (Baker, 2009) Yet, because Judge Sotomayor was replacing liberal Justice Souter, it was no surprise. As the hearings began, the conservative concerns were apparent among the hearing. Three issues that are listed above are believed to be the most relevant during the questioning. Impartiality was raised during a number of issues. Because of Judge Sotomayor’s bold opinions and previous speeches made, her ability as a judge to look at issues regarding the law impartially questioned many. For example, her belief regarding the deference to Congress’ intent was raised. The issue regarding her impartiality was seen in Senator Cardin’s (D-MD) questioning. Sotomayor responded by explaining how a judge’s job is to apply the law to the unique facts of the individual case. In addition, she repeatedly discussed the importa...
Moore does not devote much of his attention to religious ideas. Instead, he examines several different instances of the blending of the sacred and the profane in popular American culture. Moore narrates the direct and indirect effects of the public display of religion for both sacreds and seculars. History, lifestyle, work, education, government, music, sporting events, marketplace, literature, and womanhood influence people. He also brings up how religion can influence racial militancy and terrorism that threaten equality, domestic security, and national identity.
“ It remains to be noted that none of the great constitutional rights of conscience, however vital to a free society is absolute in character. Thus, while the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion goes a long way, it does not serve to protect acts judged to be morally licentious, such as poly amorous marriages. Children cannot be required to execute the flag salute which is forbidden by religious belief… Similarly freedom of speech, often defended by the courts, does not extend to the seditious utteran...
In a modern civilization, all three—religion, democracy and international good faith—complement and support each other” (Franklin D. Roosevelt: State of the Union message). This statement supported the idea that religion is associated with a well-functioning government. However, in the case of Everson v. Board of Education it was stated that, “The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach” (Hugo Black).
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. Constitution).
1. In the First Amendment, the clause that states “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion” is based on the Establishment Clauses that is incorporated in the amendment. This clauses prohibits the government to establish a state religion and then enforce it on its citizens to believe it. Without this clause, the government can force participation in this chosen religion, and then punish anyone who does not obey to the faith chosen. This clause was in issue in a court case mentioned in Gaustad’s reading “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land”. March v. Chambers was a court case that involved the establishment clause. Chambers was a member of the Nebraska state legislature who began each session with prayer by a chaplain who was being paid the state. The case stated that this violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. However, the court stated that the establishment clause was not breached by the prayer, but was violated because of the fact that the chaplain was being paid from public funds.
Rieff, Burt. "Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty: The School-Prayer Controversy in Alabama, 1962-1985." Alabama Review 3(2001):163. eLibrary. Web. 31 Aug. 2011.
As James Madison, the fourth President of the United States said, “The religion of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man, and it is right of every man to exercise it as they may dictate” (Haynes, C...
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (First Amendment Center, 2008)
Minersville provides a very interesting backdrop to subsequent cases with graver overtones of censorship. The Minersville case was brought by the father of Lillian and William Gobitis, on their behalf, against the public schools of Minersville, Pennsylvania. The Gobitis children, Jehovah's Witnesses, were brought up to believe that scripture forbade saluting a flag. They refused to observe the Pledge of Allegiance and were expelled from the public school system, forcing their father to enroll them in private schools (23-25).
In 1971 in Mobile County Alabama the School Board created a state statute that set aside time at the beginning of each day for silent ’meditation’ (statute 6-1-20), and in 1981 they added another statute 16-1-20.1 which set aside a minute for ‘silent prayer’ as well. In addition to these, in 1982 the Mobile County School Board enacted statute 16-1-20.2, which specified a prayer that teachers could lead ‘willing’ students in “From henceforth, any teacher or professor in any public educational institution within the State of Alabama, recognizing that the Lord God is one, at the beginning of any homeroom or any class, may pray, may lead willing students in prayer, or may lead the willing students in the following prayer to God… “ (Jaffree By and Through Jaffree v. James). Ishmael Jaffree was the father of three students, Jamael Aakki Jaffree, Makeba Green, and Chioke Saleem Jaffree, who attended a school in Mobile County Alabama. Jaffree complained that his children had been pressured into participating in religious activities by their teachers and their peers, and that he had requested that these activities stopped. When the school did nothing about Jaffree’s complaints he filed an official complaint with the Mobile County School Board through the United States District Courts. The original complaint never mentioned the three state statutes that involved school prayer. However, on June 4, 1982 Jaffree changed his complaint. He now wanted to challenge the constitutionality of statutes 16-1-20, 16-1-20.1 and 16-1-20.2, and motioned for a preliminary injunction. The argument against these state laws was that they were an infringement of the Establishment Clause within the First Amendment of the Constitution, which states that Congr...
Throughout the twentieth century, the United States Supreme Court has protected students’ rights to practice their religious beliefs, so long as they are not “disruptive, discriminatory, or coercive to peers who may not share those same beliefs” (Education Weekly, 2003, para. 3). In 1943, the Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette stated that students could not be “forced to salute the flag or say the pledge of allegiance if it violates the individual’s conscience” (First Amendment Cyber Tribune, 2002). The 1963 decision in Engel v. Vitale made school prayer unconstitutional, and similarly found school prayer at graduation ceremonies in its 1992 Lee v. Weisman decision (First Amendment Cyber Tribune, 2002). Student-led prayer at public school football games was found unconstitutional in 2000 with the Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (First Amendment C...
"The ACLU and Freedom of Religion and Belief." American Civil Liberties. (2013): n. page. Web. 2013.