Many moons ago I was a Boy Scout. Feel free to poke fun.
As a Boy Scout, I was forced to pray at the end of meetings and before meals. It wasn't a big deal, but Scout leaders who were intoxicated with the spirit of God thought it was. On one occasion, a Scout leader said gays were evil, and there was nothing wrong with teaching Christian values in public schools.
It's thinking like this that led to the ousting of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore last week.
Moore was thrown off the bench for refusing to remove his 2.5-ton granite Ten Commandments monument from the state courthouse. According to The Associated Press, "Moore spent eight months designing the monument and helped move it into the building one night in 2001."
In spite of it being insane to think that this kind of monument would be accepted, Moore argued that all he was doing was recognizing God as a source of our law and liberty. If Moore really believes that, then that's his problem. But when he planted it in a government building, it became the nation's problem.
In a country where we brag about our freedom of religion as if it were a blue-ribbon goat at the county fair, monuments like that will make the whole nation look like nothing but an old tin can.
It's true that this country was founded by God-loving and God-fearing people, and now their ancestors won't let us forget it. The Moore argument that this country was founded under God is valid: Our founding fathers were Christians - fat, white Christians. However, the argument that our laws are modeled after the Ten Commandments is a flawed one.
Out of the Ten Commandments, there are only two that are really laws now: murdering and stealing. But then again, you're not allowed to murder or steal in any country full of religious fanatics.
The rest of the commandments are Christian beliefs that have no bearing on our American legal tradition. There are commandments against adultery and not honoring your parents. In America, you can cheat on your wife and call your Dad a jerk all you want. You'll never be jailed for betraying anyone or being a bad son.
According to the commandments, you're not supposed to use the Lord's name in vain or work on Sunday. Well, this goddamn column is being written in the middle of an NFL football game while a huge sale is going on at Guitar Center. Sheriff Joe isn't going to build a tent city for the Arizona Cardinals (if you can even consider their efforts work or me) Under the commandments, you're not supposed to covet anyone else's possessions. But come on, we're a capitalist country - every American's reason for existence is to get bigger and better possessions.
The first commandment is the most un-American of all. This is the commandment that forbids people from having any other gods. If this influenced our laws, then any citizen who wasn't a Christian would be in a federal penitentiary. It may work for Christians, and that's fine - it's their religion. But in a country that promotes religious freedom, the first commandment cannot influence the legal system.
A lot of people will ask what the big deal is with having the monument in the courthouse; it isn't hurting anybody, and it is just a piece of rock. Well, if that's the case, then Satan-worshippers should be able to put up their equally pointless and harmless images of an upside-down cross and a pentagram in the courthouse. They don't have anything to do with our legal system, and neither do the Ten Commandments.
As for Chief Justice Moore, The Associated Press reported that "he would consult with his lawyers and with political and religious leaders as to whether to appeal, and would make an announcement next week that could 'alter the course of this country.' [Moore] did not elaborate." I guess only time will tell how many more outrageous statements this religious lunatic can make.
Chris Fanning is a journalism junior. Reach him at christopher.fanning@asu.edu.
