Civil Disobedience in Defense of the Ten Commandments

It is understood that fundamentalists are upset over the idea that the government shouldn't be allowed to promote Christianity by posting a Christian version of the Ten Commandments or in any way promoting them. Just how upset may be put to the test if the Supreme Court lets stand the decision against Judge Roy Moore's Ten Commandments monument in Alabama.

Leaders of the National Clergy Council and Christian Defense Coalition, both groups based in Washington, D.C., are trying to organize a massive civil disobedience event should the order come to have the monument removed. The Associated Press quotes Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition as saying:

"My sense is a line in the sand needs to be drawn in Montgomery, Alabama. We're seeing an incredible erosion of civil liberties and free speech rights, particularly in the area of religious free speech and expression in the public square."

Organizers hope that at least 500 people will show up to help block removal of the monument. I'm sure that Mahoney can easily find at least 500 people who have as little understanding of the law and the Constitution as he does. There are many people who, like Mahoney, don't realize that a right to religious free speech exists for individuals, not for the government or for people acting in their capacity as agents for the government. There are many who just don't get the fact that when the government isn't allowed to promote a religion, that's actually a expansion of rather than infringement on civil liberties.

Similarly ill-informed people could be found protesting the racial integration of public schools in Alabama just a few decades ago.

Read More:

• Judge Roy Moore
• Ten Commandments
• Separation of Church and State 101