Don’t you dare say ‘Amen’!

On Nov. 13, a judicial panel banished Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore from the bench, rejecting his argument that he was upholding his oath to sustain the Constitution when he ignored a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama judicial building.

Justice Moore had designed the stone monument in question and helped move it into the building one night in 2001. He soon came under fire from those who claimed the tablets promoted religion in violation of the separation of church and state, a patently specious claim if one actually reads the First Amendment. A federal judge ordered the monument removed – which it was on Aug. 27, after Moore refused to do so.

The events of Nov. 13 followed. “Anything short of removal [of Moore] would only serve to set up another confrontation that would ultimately bring us back to where we are today,” the panel of judges who removed him said.

On the same day, it was announced that a British bishop is being accused of a hate crime for remarks he made relative to homosexuality. Peter Forster, the Bishop of Chester, England, told a local newspaper that he believed it was possible for homosexuals to “reorient themselves,” a claim that has been widely validated by people who formerly considered themselves homosexual.

After “gay” activists called the bishop’s remarks “dangerous and offensive,” police in Chester began investigating him. According to the BBC, the chief of police in Chester claimed that while Forster’s comments were “totally unacceptable,” the bishop would not be prosecuted.

I’m sure you find that as reassuring as I do …

With respect to the dismissal of Judge Moore so close on the heels of the overturning of the Texas sodomy law and the Ninth Circuit Court’s position regarding the “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, a part of me expects the rain of fire and brimstone from On High to commence any second now. The reason being that, collectively, we have been courting it for some time.

When prominent religious leaders (and others) expressed their opinion that events such as those which occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, were reflections of our society having gravitated away from obedience to moral laws, many were outraged. How audacious to suggest that our own actions were somehow the cause for this effect! After all, look at how much so many had suffered!

Outrage, of course, is an emotion tied to anger – but let’s look at this practically. When a spendthrift or an addict or a philanderer suffers as a consequence of their actions, there is a certain amount of sympathy for their pain, but – at least to date – most people concur they had it coming. Why then should we lose our objectivity simply in light of the scale of a tragedy?

My faith leads me in the direction of believing that the Judge Moore decision will either be the last straw, or close to the last straw, for Americans who acknowledge moral law. The situation concerning Bishop Forster in Britain is par for the course; that country has thus far moved further than we have down the path toward secularism – which is precisely where American secularists are taking us.

But who can say whether or not my belief will reflect the ultimate outcome? The dismissal of Moore and the investigation of the bishop signify the willingness of the many to be subjugated by the will of the few. The endorsement of moral law – religion – is being effectively outlawed via media pressure and judicial review using the politically correct catch-phrase of “hate-speech” as the wedge.

Evil prevails when good men do nothing, and that’s exactly what is happening. The consequences – no matter how severe or wide-reaching – ought not be a surprise.