An Alabama County Judge’s practice of opening court with Baptist invocation and posting the Ten Commandments above his dais has ignoted a belligerent, mean-spirited attack on the First Amendment by religious groups.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men... But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret... 

In 1995, these practices were challenged by a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Alabama Freethought Association. Another circuit judge, Charles Price, reviewed the courtroom prayer and Commandments plaque and, in two decisions, ruled that both the prayer and Decalogue display were violations of the constitutional principle of separation of state and church. Those rulings and other events associated with the case promptly  ignited a firestorm of protest from religious and political groups. The controversy has swept over the Etowah County line and involved even the US Congress – which passed a non-binding resolution supporting Judge Moore.  This has not only fueled the debate over prayer and religion in government institutions, but reactivated even deeper Angst linked to  issues such as race, history, and regional identity.

Along with Judge Moore, Alabama Governor Fob James has become not only a vocal defender of  the courtroom prayer and Ten Commandments display, but a political figure employing belligerent rhetoric and, according to critics, the tactics of a demagogue. James quickly positioned himself in the controversy, saying that he would resist any federal rulings to stop Moore’s courtroom antics and, if necessary, he would call out the Alabama national guard, the state police, and even the University of Alabama football squad to do so. Fundamentalist religious groups  proved to be a receptive audience for such posturing; and following  a “call out the guard” pep-talk to a legislative prayer lunch in Montgomery, James dared President Clinton to federalize Alabama troops in order to stop Judge Moore’s invocations and remove the Ten Commandments plaque. 

That conjured up other images in Southern history and regional consciousness, a  point raised by the governor and not ignored by media reporting the prayer story in Alabama. James began to cast himself as a modern-day George Wallace, another feisty Alabama governor who stood in the entrance to the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963, while trying to prevent two black students from entering the all-white school under a federal court order. But James skillfully avoided any overt identification with the old segregationist cause, and instead told the Mobile Register that just as Wallace’s actions strengthened the civil rights effort, he hoped that his own actions in defense of Judge Moore would galvanize a wider movement on behalf of school prayer and a greater role for religion in government. But powerful memories of a decades-old cause, state’s rights, succeeded in introducing a new element in the debate over prayer in schools and other public places. Pat Buchanan had tapped this same sentiment during his 1996 campaign for the Presidency, when he became a defender of  Southern  symbols and practices such as flying the Confederate flag over capitol buildings. Indeed, Southern nostalgia for the “Lost Cause” and even secessionism have become culture-war components in the Alabama prayer controversy. And Mr. Buchanan  carried this issue even further, praising Governor James for his audacity in promising to defy any federal judicial order against prayer and the Ten Commandments. 

Others who announced support for Judge Moore expressed extreme views as well, in increasingly combative tones. Last September, a rally which attracted hundreds of prayer supporters to the front of the Etowah County courthouse heard Rev. Mickey Kirkland of the Lighthouse Baptist Church declare that Christians should hate the American Civil Liberties Union. Kirkland told the excited crowd that, “The ACLU hates Christianity, the Christ of the Bible, and we hate the ACLU!” Rev. Kirkland also labeled attorneys representing the Alabama Freethought Association “blood sucking” parasites. 

   Meanwhile, Governor James continued to set his own belligerent themes concerning prayer and other social issues. In November he addressed a group of ministers and church officials, declaring that “A good butt-whipping and then a prayer is a wonderful remedy” to the problem of juvenile crime.  Standing beneath a banner which read “Righteousness Exalts A Nation,” the governor told the assembled pastors that he supported “Operation Shepherd,” a controversial scheme proposed by a state panel that called for church involvement in social welfare activities, including tutoring programs and religious instruction for children. It also proposed a 30-second period of “silent, voluntary prayer” in all Alabama public school classrooms. “Let us have a battle cry,” added the governor, asking: “What should it be? How about Hallelujah?” 

Judge Moore was not absent from the public spotlight, either. In late November, Judge Charles Price ruled that prayer rituals in Moore’s courtroom must “immediately cease and desist.” He also ordered copies of his ruling distributed to all court clerks and judges throughout Alabama. But Moore was unrepentant, and told the Birmingham News, “I consider it my duty to acknowledge God. To take down the Ten Commandments and stop holding prayer would be a violation of that duty. I will not take down the Ten Commandments, and I will not stop holding prayer.”

Moore’s defiance of constitutional guarantees of state-church separation, and the vocal support of Governor James, attracted a wave of support from religious groups across the country. The “Alabama Prayer War” also became increasingly heated, attracting the participation of extremist groups and marking the emergence of what might be termed “right-wing religious populism.” Indeed, religious groups like the Christian Coalition have assumed a more strident tone in their support for Moore and the courtroom prayer issue. The CC and its allies in the Alabama cause increasingly have styled themselves as being the political “outs” and have cast themselves as neopopulist revolutionaries – storming an entrenched establishment controlled by secularists and “judicial activist” judges who are intent on ignoring the majority will of the people. 

Moore has attracted considerable support from groups such as the Christian Family Association, a group headed by Dean Young. The CFA launched a petition drive supporting prayer in the courtroom and other public venues, and presented its signatures to the Alabama State Supreme Court. Young told radio station WDJC in Birmingham last February  that “In the 1960s, Christians stood idly by as prayer and Bible reading were taken out of our schools. In 1980, the Ten Commandments were taken off the walls of our schools also, and we’ve seen the result of that.” Young encouraged listeners to sign the petition and “send a message to the Supreme Court Justices of Alabama that we Christians do believe in the Ten Commandments and prayer.” 

Other groups have signed on with the Moore-James prayer crusade. Legal assistance is being provided by Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice. James Dobson of Focus on the Family publicized the Alabama case over his daily radio program airing on hundreds of stations across the country.  Others groups lending their support include Phyllis Schlafley’s Eagle Forum, the Rutherford Institute, Concerned Women for America, and the American Family Association.

Government orchestration of prayer became an important issue for political interests throughout the state. In late February, Democratic state senators in Alabama called for a constitutional amendment that would have sneaked prayer back into public schools by incorporating religion as a curriculum unit on American history and government. Lt. Governor Don Siegelman and eighteen Democrats sponsored a measure which would have required schools to begin the day by having a student read a prayer, followed by a fifteen-minute discussion period on “the relationship of the Ten Commandments to America’s civil and criminal laws, and why references to God are on American coins and in the Declaration of Independence and ‘The Star Spangled Banner’” (Associated Press).  The Lt. Governor said that the legislation was a response to the fact that the controversy over Judge Moore had become “an issue which has reached national attention.” 

“It’s a way to get children to think about our heritage and the relationship God has to our forefathers,” he added. 

From Alabama, the prayer-bully movement – or at least the Ten Commandments brigade thereof – spread to Washington. Alabama freshman Rep. Robert Aderholt, a Republican, introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives in support of Judge Moore, extolling the social and legal importance of the Ten Commandments (see sidebar for text of resolution). On 5 March 1997 the House (with the alleged concurrence of the Senate) passed the resolution by a stunning 295 to 125. Whether it was the Catholic or Protestant version of the commandments that should be displayed was not specified.

Along with the petition drive, Moore supporters formed a “Save Our Commandments” coalition which quickly organized a series of meetings and rallies throughout the state. At one event, held at the Gadsden State Community College, Judge Moore was the featured speaker; the Birmingham Post-Herald said that Moore was “working the evangelical crowd into a frenzy,” declaring “This isn’t about me. This is about something far more important... This is about the laws of God.” Dean Young of the Christian Family Association criticized those “who say that this nation was founded by a bunch of deists.” He lambasted his fellow Christians for “sleeping” while prayer and other religious ritual was removed from government institutions, including public school classrooms. 

On sale at many of the rallies organized by the “Save Our Commandments” committee have been books and other materials produced by David Barton of the “WallBuilders” organization. Barton has maintained that separation of church and state has no legal or moral foundation in American history; and he has been exposed for distorting quotations, and using questionable “evidence.” Barton’s The Myth of Separation has been available in both book and video form, and is a popular seller through religious bookstores. (i) 

In media interviews and public appearances, Judge Moore continued to assert that he would not obey any order to cease prayer or remove the Ten Commandments plaque from his courtroom. By that time, the ruling striking down the practices, made by Judge Price, was being appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court. 

The “Save Our Commandments” group called for a mass rally to take place in front of the state capitol on April 12. A spokesman for the governor’s office claimed that a “flood” of supportive mail had poured in. “We’ve even had people volunteering to help the National Guard if necessary,” said one official. 

The rally attracted a slew of prominent religious-right leaders, as well as even more extreme groups. Estimates of the crowd range from 6,000 to 25,000. The event was aired nationwide through satellite hook-up by religious radio stations and networks. 

Governor Fob James(ii) told the enthusiastic prayer supporters that the phrase “separation of church and state... does not appear in the U.S. Constitution.” Standing before a sea of Confederate flags and cardboard Ten Commandments tablets, he reaffirmed earlier statements that he “would use my office to the maximum to demonstrate total resistance” to any federal order removing prayer or religious displays from government, then added, “Behind this judicial wall of separation (of church and state) there is a tyranny of lies that will fall as surely as the wall in Berlin fell. I say to you, my friends, let it fall!” 

James’s rhetorical bluster was only the opening in what the Associated Press described as “a litany against liberal courts, abortion, television and civil libertarians.” The governor told the crowd, “The greatest domestic need in the American political system today is a US President who would refuse to enforce US Supreme Court decisions based on judicial fraud... and a US Congress to impeach judges for subverting the constitution.”

Another speaker was Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed. The Alabama CC chapter had distributed thousands of pamphlets as part of its effort to boost the “Save Our Commandments” rally, although the participation of extremist groups clashed with the Coalition’s public facade of simply “wanting a seat at the table in the great discussion called democracy.” Reed gushed to the crowd that “there are many more of your brothers and sisters who stand with you.”

“We say to the federal court, we say to the liberal media, we say to the ACLU, you have gone this far, you will go no further. You will not, you will not drive faith in God out of our homes, out of our churches, out of our synagogues, out of courtrooms and out of public schools ever again.” Reed also declared that “Christians have no alternative left but to amend the constitution of the United States so we may exercise our faith in the public square,” and – amidst chants from the crowd of “Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall!” – called for support of the Religious Freedom Amendment. He also encouraged support for Judge Moore: “You do not stand alone... As long as there’s breath in our bodies, the Ten Commandments will never come down from this courtroom.”

A similarly defiant attitude was voiced by Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, who argued the original case in defense of Judge Moore. He told the Montgomery rally that he became a lawyer so that he could combat the American Civil Liberties Union, and he used his time at the rostrum to condemn evils such as secularism and abortion. The top law-enforcement officer in Alabama told the crowd that “God has chosen, through his son Jesus Christ, this time and this place for all Christians... to save our country and save our courts.”

Judge Roy Moore also addressed the crowd, and called the idea of a wall of separation between church and state “a misleading metaphor.” As with other speakers, Moore lambasted abortion and even the teaching of evolution.  “A nation founded upon the principle that we were created by an almighty God,” the judge declared, “we teach our children that they evolved from reptiles and animals, and then we wonder why they act like animals.” And Moore echoed the confrontational tone of the rally, warning, “The ACLU began this controversy.  With God’s help, we will finish it.”

One significant development in the “Alabama prayer war” has been the role played by extremist groups and the linkage of the prayer issue to other agendas.  While prayer advocates often suggest that the majority of Americans support the practice in public schools and other venues, their efforts in Alabama attracted the participation of extreme and even bizarre organizations which most people find repulsive and offensive. The belligerent rhetoric of Moore, Pryor, James and other officials had already created a welcome climate for racists, militia groups, and even partitionist-secessionist organizations.

In the days leading up to the April 12 rally, Judge Moore told reporters that America was based  on the belief in a specific deity, and was “not a nation founded upon the Hindu god or Buddha.” That point came up when Moore was later interviewed on a short-wave radio program called Scripture for America, operated by Rev. Pete Peters who broadcasts out of Laporte, Colorado. Peters is one of the leading exponents of a theopolitical movement known as Christian Identity, which preaches that blacks, Jews, and others are descendants of the devil. The show’s page on the World-Wide-Web states that Peters and his movement are “dedicated to preaching of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and revealing to the Anglo-Saxon, German and kindred (white) Americans their true Biblical Identity.”

Peters is also known for his links with violent fringe groups such as Aryan Nations and the Idaho-based Church of Jesus Christ Christian, a nexus for Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi movements. Each summer, Rev. Peters has hosted a “family style” Bible encampment which attracts Christian rock groups, militia types, and Identity believers. During his stint on “Scriptures for America,” Judge Moore outlined his case and maintained that the Ten Commandments were the foundation of American government.

Racist and partitionist involvement in the “Save Our Commandments” crusade included the Southern League and the Council of Conservative Citizens.  CCC’s website was quickly altered to reflect a less radical appearance. “Is it racist,” asked the Council, “to say that it is legally and morally wrong for government to force a mixing of the races to produce a mongrel race?” Among the Missouri-based group’s activities is a protest against the US Civil War Center at Louisiana State University and a planned sesquicentennial celebration (which CCC terms a project by “liberal Senator John Breaux and signed by President Clinton, the ‘Arkansas Scalawag’.”) Links from the CCC website lead to other “heritage” and secessionist groups or publications. American Renaissance magazine, for instance, carries claims about “the superiority of...the European-derived way of life,” along with articles like “Why We Revere Our Confederate Ancestors.” Even more disturbing is another link oddly titled the American Civil Rights Review which extols the alleged idyllic and self-esteem building property of the institution of slavery.

Other extremist groups and individuals hopped on the “Alabama Prayer Bandwagon” as well, actively supporting Judge Moore and Gov. James, or joining the “Save Our Commandments” effort. Randall Terry,(iii) anti-abortion activist and founder of “Operation Rescue,” was a featured speaker, and a close associate, Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition,(iv) was a coordinator along with Keith Tucci of Life Coalition International. Evangelist George Grant, a Christian Reconstructionist, told rally participants that the Ten Commandments were a “cornerstone against which the Bill of Rights is secured.” Grant has been associated with the cultish Shepherding movement, and declared in his book Legislating Immorality (1993) that the death penalty should be used to punish homosexuals. “Sadly the 20th century saw this remarkable 2,000 year-old commitment suddenly dissipate.”

Following the Montgomery rally, a lieutenant for Gov. James gushed that a “spiritual crisis” had come over the nation, and could be addressed only when people chose to “return to God.” Ralph Reed and the Christian Coalition, however, had their own solution for the “crisis” in the form of a Religious Freedom Amendment which was formally introduced in Congress on May 9 by Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) and 116 cosponsors.  It reads:

To secure the people’s right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: The people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage or tradition on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed. The government shall not require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, initiate or designate school prayers, discriminate against religion, or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion.

Speaking at the Alabama rally, Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed declared that “no expense” would be spared in promoting the RFA in Congress, and building a grass roots pressure movement throughout the country in support of the legislation. The Coalition has already budgeted over $2,000,000 to be targeted in about a hundred congressional districts.

Clearly, there are some ominous lessons in the “Alabama prayer war” for state-church separationists. With threats of “total resistance” and more  belligerent rhetoric, those promoting an agenda for public prayer and other violations of the First Amendment will continue to link that issue with other “culture war” themes such as gay rights, abortion, and even teaching evolution in schools. Orchestrated prayer of some form, whether initiated by students in classrooms, or judges and ministers in courthouses, will continue to be promoted by sectarian interests as a “solution” to a wide range of social problems, from juvenile delinquency to drug abuse.

Another theme being linked to the call for public prayer is a revolt against so-called “judicial activism.” Congressman Istook defends his Religious Freedom Amendment by saying, “This is to restore the protection of our precious religious freedoms and liberties which have been eroded by a steady onslaught of court decisions.” Istook added that “Courts have gone far beyond outlawing prayer in many public school settings. They have aided a systematic campaign into stripping religious symbols, references and heritage from the public stage... This is our peaceful answer to that assault.”

If the abortion issue is any indication, though, Istook’s “peaceful answer” may not satisfy those religious militants who represent extreme social agendas and consider themselves justified in resorting to violence in the tradition of Phinehas and Paul Hill. Either way, the call for legislation such as the mis-named Religious Freedom Amendment threatens the First Amendment separation of government and religion, violates our freedom from religion and transforms government into a prayer bully.

HCON 31 IH, 105th CONGRESS, 1st Session, H. CON. RES. 31

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the display of the Ten Commandments by Judge Roy S. Moore, a judge on the circuit court of the State of Alabama.

Mr. ADERHOLT (for himself, Mr. RILEY, Mr. CANADY of Florida, and Mr. BARR of Georgia) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned CONCURRENT RESOLUTION expressing the sense of Congress regarding the display of the Ten Commandments by Judge Roy S. Moore, a judge on the circuit court of the State of Alabama.

Whereas Judge Roy s. Moore, a lifelong resident of Etowah County, Alabama, graduate of the United States Military Academy with distinguished service to his country in Vietnam, and graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law, has served his country and his community with uncommon distinction;

Whereas another circuit judge in Alabama, has ordered Judge Moore to remove a copy of the Ten Commandments posted in his courtroom and the Alabama Supreme Court has granted a stay to review the matter;

Whereas the Ten Commandments have had a significant impact on the development of the fundamental legal principles of Western Civilization; and

Whereas the Ten Commandments set forth a code of moral conduct, observance of which is universally acknowledged to promote respect for our system of laws and the good of society:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—(1) the Ten Commandments are a declaration of fundamental principles that are the cornerstones of a fair and just society; and (2) the public display, including display in government offices and courthouses, of the Ten Commandments should be permitted.

Footnotes: 
(i) Some Barton materials have been revised, but others continue to make claims that have little or no basis of fact in history. One such assertion is that Thomas Jefferson described his “wall of separation” as “a one-directional wall. It keeps the government from running the church but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.” In fact, Jefferson made no such claim. He did refer to a “wall of separation” in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, but that letter says nothing about the wall being “one directional.” 
    Another disingenuous Barton claim is that 52 of the 55 founders of the Republic were “orthodox, evangelical Christians.” The evangelical tradition did not begin in America until the late 1800s; and while many of the founders were members of the Church of England (a common practice), many held to a kind of deism which emphasized “nature, and nature’s god.” Some were distrustful of organized Christianity.  

(ii) Is James just a religious zealot, an expedient politician, or a combination of both? In addition to making belligerent statements about corporal punishment and “total resistance” to legal orders, James and his wife are considered extreme fundamentalist Christians.  

Mrs. James believes that the Governor’s Mansion is haunted, after being told by her “spiritual advisor” that portraits and other items in the residence are “possessed.” She also believes that nearly $580 million in revenues generated by oil leases in Alabama are a reward for her husband’s official recognition of Israeli Independence Day. Mrs. James organized an official reception for several rally speakers, and told a writer for the Mobile Register that “It’s always so much fun to feed God’s people with taxpayer’s money.” (Church & State, May, 1997). She also boasted that a copy of the Decalogue engraved onto deer hide hangs in the Governor’s mansion, saying “We take the Ten Commandments seriously in this house.” 

Governor Fob James has gotten in trouble for some of his own religious excess. He and Mrs. James used a state airplane to attend a meeting of the Religious Roundtable group in Washington, D.C. The governor has enthusiastically supported a program which would require all textbooks in the state school system to carry an official warning sticker informing students that evolution is merely a “controversial theory” among competing accounts of how life and the universe arose.  

(iii) Terry has openly declared, “We must have a Christian nation built on God’s law, or the Ten Commandments. No apologies,” a  statement  which clearly reflects Terry’s recent adoption of Christian Reconstructionism. His involvement in the Alabama prayer war is noteworthy on a number of points. Terry and Operation Rescue, the militant antiabortion group he founded, raised the fight against abortion rights to a new level reflected in civil disobedience, sit-ins, and other tactics borrowed from the civil-rights movement. Terry’s participation in “Save Our Commandments,” when coupled with the already belligerent rhetoric and atmosphere fostered by Moore, James, and others, suggests that the effort to return prayer to the classroom and other public venues may be assuming a more militant, confrontational posture. 

(iv) CDC and Life Coalition have both spoken out in defense of individuals and groups which have been linked to violence (and even murder) against abortion clinics and providers, citing the biblical tale of Phinehas as a moral justification.  One CDC hero is Paul Hill, the Pensacola Florida minister convicted of murder in the 29 July 1994 killings of an abortion provider and escort. This “total resistance” to abortion is justified upon Biblical principles, specifically the Old Testament narrative of Phinehas, a vigilante upholder of “God’s Law” from whom Hill drew inspiration when he wrote a tract that asked:

Are there any heinous sins being committed today that could again fan the flames of God’s righteous anger to the scorching point? Is there any need in today’s world for men of the stamp of Phinehas? [“Should We Defend Born And Unborn Children With Force?” (Defensive Action, Pensacola, FL, 1993)]