Fisking Roy Moore

Roy Moore is a former Alabama Supreme Court Justice. He's also an unapologetic theocrat and a dominionist who was legally removed from office for being convicted of violating the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by using the power of his elected office to push his own particular personal flavor of religious insanity on the citizens of Alabama.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.

Ah, but turds like Moore have an almost uncanny ability to escape the first flush and float back to the top of the bowl. Moore's favorite buzz-phrase is the insistence that "liberals" and "activist judges" are trying to remove government-approved "recognition of God" from America.

It's also complete and utter horseshit.

[link] Chaplain Klingenschmitt had just become the latest victim in the culture war to remove the recognition of God from our land. He had fallen into disfavor with the Navy command because of his continued opposition to the new Navy policy prohibiting "sectarian" prayer in public, specifically those prayers uttered in the name of Jesus.

This is a red herring - a strawman. No one has ever, EVER claimed that anyone could not "recognize God" -- which, by the way, in Moore's tiny little god-smacked, addle-pated lump of a brain means "Roy Moore's own wacky personal, subjective version of a God". Especially Chaplain Klingenschmitt. There's no "culture war" here, merely an attempt to have the United States Navy Chaplains Corps, of which Klingenschmitt is a member, obey the law.

More below the fold...

The views of the Navy are best reflected by the response to questioning of one of the potential jurors, a Navy officer, by one of the attorneys in the case. He related that he was "agnostic" and was personally offended by public prayer because he felt such prayer was "pushing" religion on him. In order to be "inclusive," the Navy has decided that God should remain generic so no agnostic or atheist will ever "feel" offended. Every chaplain or Navy officer who fails to comply will suffer a fate similar to that of Lt. Klingenschmitt.

The "views" of the "Navy" are a "reflection" of the United States "Constitution", specifically, the "First" "Amendment", you moron. Crap like you are spewing, and at one time had the ability to force on an unwilling public in Alabama, is exactly why the First Amendment was written. To protect citizens in the minority from being steamrolled into government-sponsored and endorsed religious observance by pious, self-righteous god-botherers like you.

But serious consequences follow when we remove the knowledge of God from our life!

Oh, do tell, Roy Moore, God's chosen instrument to single-handedly put America back in the Dark Ages, do tell!

A decline in our education system began in 1962 when the U.S. Supreme Court took prayer from our schools and, one year later, banned reading of the Bible in our classrooms.

First, the U.S. Supreme Court did not "take prayer from our schools", or "ban reading of the bible in our classrooms". They prohibited government sponsored, mandated, or endorsed Christian prayers and Bible reading from official public school curriculum. Students can still, and have always been able to pray at school, and read their Bibles, as long as they do not interrupt the other students, or disrupt the classroom. Why is this so hard for you to understand? I kid. Of course you understand this, but it does not fit your dominionist agenda, so you ignore it. I get it.

Second, define exactly what scale this decline is measured on. What standard is this decline measured against? If it was measured against some other arbitrary standard, like the ratio of pirates to ninjas, would it become an increase or an incline? A decline in what, exactly? Fish sticks at the cafeteria? IQ levels in Students? Personal grooming standards?

Unless you can define what the hell you're yammering about, and then show exactly how it was caused by the fictitious examples you have given in the above paragraph, then it's nothing more that a big steaming bowl full of crap you're trying to pass off as yummy, delicious chocolate pudding.

It stinks, in other words. People notice shit like that.

A drastic increase in violence and crime followed the Court's removal of the Ten Commandments from a Kentucky school in 1980 and the prohibition of teaching creationism in 1987.

Define "drastic increase". What "violence and crime" exactly increased? Increased in what way? Where exactly did these increases occur at? In what geographical location? Everywhere, or just in Kentucky?

How, exactly, would you make the causal connection that the Ten Commandments posted in one, single Kentucky school, and the teaching of the Christian religious belief called creationism could be the only thing holding back the ravening horde of criminal deviants roaming the mean streets of Kentucky? Was there an organized crime syndicate just smacking it's collective lips in anticipation of the Commandments being removed from that one school and creationism being removed from the public school curriculum? "Godfather, now that the hated Ten Commandments placard has been removed from that one elementary school, we can initiate our devious master plan called "Plan Increase Violence And Crime". After creationism is banned, we'll become the Crime Lords Of Kentucky!"

Please, Roy Moore. Quit being stupid. If there was any "increase in crime and violence" in Kentucky, or the USA during that time period, I am positive that there were other factors involved that had nothing to do (*gasp!!*) with your myopic and exclusionist theology.

The exclusion of God in our public life has had similar results.

Um, just a point here. There has been no "exclusion of God in our public life". Individual citizens have the freedom of religious expression guaranteed by the First Amendment to acknowledge their god, God, goddesses, or gods in their own public life, whenever they want to.

What you meant to say, I think, was "The exclusion of MY God from YOUR public life," right?

A loss of moral direction has affected our institutions and governmental operations. In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that a Nativity scene on public property was appropriate only if surrounded by "secular" symbols; in 2005, it ruled that the Ten Commandments could only be displayed on government property if it is part of a historical menagerie mixed with other secular documents or displays.

And this is problematic how, exactly....? Do you really believe that only Christian religious symbols and iconography should be "allowed" in our government buildings and displayed on our publicly-owned properties? Even when not everyone is a Christian and it is expressly forbidden by the United States Constitution in the First Amendment?

Really?

Goodness, you must be crazier than even I thought.

Money, not faith in God, is now the engine that drives politics and our government. Politicians in both parties have abandoned public trust for the sake of power and privilege, resulting in a government full of corruption and empty of integrity.

Roy, can I call you Roy? Roy, you seem to be hopelessly naive about politicians and human nature in general. Please allow me to educate you a bit there, son.

Politicians have always, since the dawn of time and the human institution called "government", been after power, privilege, and yes, money. The great success of our Constitution is that it allows us to identify those who would abuse their positions as elected representatives of the people and vote the bums out!

You know, kinda like you were voted out.

Oh, BTW, how are your lucrative speaking contracts and book deals going for you? You know, the ones that were a direct result of your criminal disregard for the Constitutional principle of Separation of Church and State? Going well? Keeping the bills paid, I trust? Good, good.

The Allied commander on D-Day, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became the 34th president of the United States, commented in 1954: "Today ... there is a need for positive acts of renewed recognition that faith is our surest ... strength, our greatest resource." Regarding four military chaplains who heroically gave their lives when the troopship Dorchester sank in 1943, Eisenhower declared that "all the history of America bears witness to [the] truth ... that in times of test and trial, we instinctively turn to God."

President Eisenhower was arguably one of the most religious Presidents to ever be elected in our country. The remarks made above were made on February 7, 1954, at the very height of the Cold War. It was during this time that our country was on a FBI-assisted witch-hunt for "commies" in every corner of our society. "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and "In God We Trust" was added to many of our coins and bills to disassociate the USA with those godless atheist commies in the Soviet Union.

In other words, even as religious as President Eisenhower was, his words and actions during those years were wholly political to help the country stay focused on what was at that time a very dangerous enemy. After the end of WWII, America became complacent to a degree, and the government of that time came up with a great plan to keep the people from falling asleep at the wheel. Commies everywhere! Atheists from Russia coming to take our children! Be vigilant!

In addition to the Navy turning away from the recognition God as our true source of strength, the Air Force has also issued recent guidelines stating that prayer "should not usually be part of routine official business," and that if it is included, it should be "non-denominational" and "inclusive." This drive to ensure that atheists and agnostics feel no discomfort or offense due to the recognition of God will inevitably affect our other branches of service. But the history of the military dictates otherwise. An 1853 U.S. Senate report observed, our forefathers never intended "to send our armies and navies forth to do battle for their country without any recognition of that God on whom success or failure depends." With troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and various other potential "war zones," we should be particularly cognizant of this warning.

The Navy is doing the right thing. I have no clue how you can think that it is not the right thing.

Oh, wait, yeah, I forgot. You're insane. Sorry about that, pal.

When asked about the Klingenschmitt case, a spokesman for President Bush replied, "The president believes that chaplains ought to be free to express their religious beliefs. He further believes in allowing the military to handle its own issues." However, this is not just a military problem, but a national one, and as commander in chief, President Bush is responsible and should take appropriate action to restore the freedom of our military to recognize God. The president should remember, as our second president, John Adams once observed, that "God Almighty has always been our General and Commander in Chief, and we have never had any other."

It doesn't matter what John Adams said or didn't say, Roy. What matters is the Constitution and our laws today. And they say that a military organization paid for and staffed by United States citizens of all different faiths, religions, or no religion, cannot, MUST NOT, "acknowledge" the God of one specific flavor of one specific religion.

The best way to accomplish this is to recognize that most military members are religious, and then offer a very non-denominational blessing that does not exclude any of our brave fighting men and women.

You seem to make the classic blunder that most theocrats make - you confuse a private citizen's civil rights protections and guarantees, with monolithic organizations and governmental institutions. Let me help you understand, Roy. Now, follow me here: "The Military", or "the government" does not equal, is not the same thing as, a private, individual human being who is a citizen of the United States. "The Military" or "the government" as an organization does not HAVE "rights". Individual citizens who serve in the military or work for the government have rights, but not the organization itself.

There. That wasn't so hard to understand, was it now?

With our Pledge "Under God" in jeopardy and our national motto "In God We Trust" under attack, we cannot – we must not – allow our military establishment to succumb to a political correctness that has all but destroyed our education system and corrupted our politics. The survival of our nation and our future depends upon it!

Quit worrying Roy. The Pledge and our Motto are going to be fine. They don't really matter in the long run. They are not legal documents, and they do not help us make and interpret laws. You should focus on the Constitution instead, Roy, and quit wasting your time on all these peripheral, superficial, fluffy, feel-good issues. Oh, I know they sell books and put asses in the auditoriums for your little rants about the paranoid fantasy-land-America that you apparently live in inside your head, but, to paraphrase John Stewart:

Stop. You're hurting America. Just stop. Now.