'Take back our land,' Alabama's Judge Moore urges Christian rally

The United States was founded to be a Christian nation, and it's time Christians "take back our land," Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore told a crowd of 3,000 supporters in Chattanooga, Tenn., recently.

Speaking at a Dec. 2 rally organized by a group called Ten Commandments Tennessee, Moore declared, "Since September 11, we have been at war. I submit to you there is another war raging - a war between good and evil, between right and wrong."

Moore insisted there is no such thing as church-state separation in the Constitution and blasted federal courts for upholding that principle. "For 40 years we have wandered like the children of Israel," Moore said. "In homes and schools across our land, it's time for Christians to take a stand."

Moore said government is under no obligation to recognize the documents of other faiths, asserting, "This is not a nation established on the principles of Buddha or Hinduism. Our faith is not Islam. What we follow is not the Koran but the Bible. This is a Christian nation."

Earlier this year, Moore arranged for a two-ton sculpture of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court in Montgomery. On Oct. 30, Americans United and the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama filed suit against the display in federal court. (See "Monumental Mistake," December 2001 Church & State.)

Moore's chief ally in the crusade is Florida televangelist D. James Kennedy. Kennedy, who has been raising money for Moore's legal defense, recently announced that he is selling a video showing Moore and some workers bringing the monument into the court building.

John Aman, a spokesman for Coral Ridge, told the Associated Press, "We [Moore and the ministry] have a longstanding relationship. We were informed and were happy to cover it for obvious reasons."

Coral Ridge is selling the video for a suggested donation of $19.

Copyright Americans United for Separation of Church and State Jan 2002
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