Roy Moore For Governor

Roy Moore has declared that he will challenge Bob Riley, the current governor of Alabama, in the 2006 Republican state primary. Moore, as you might recall, is the Christian fundamentalist former chief justice of the Alabama supreme court who was removed from office in 2003 after refusing to remove a large monument to the Ten Commandments he had had placed in the state judiciary building in Montgomery. Since them Moore has become something of a hero to Christian Right, and a fawning website has been created in his honor by a group of conservative preachers in Alabama. (Among the many Moore-related items that are available for purchase on said website is a wall clock that plays a recoded recitation of the Ten Commandments every hour.) Here’s their statement of purpose with my own comments:

1) Defend America and her citizens' right to acknowledge Almighty God, by participating, directly and indirectly, in litigation involving the acknowledgement of God.

[So far so good. All Americans have the right to express their religious convictions.]

2) Educate the public about the U.S. Constitution and the Godly foundation of the United States of America.

[Funny, the Constitution does not contain the word “God” anywhere in its text. If this country was indeed founded on Godly principals, you would think they would have mentioned it in there somewhere.]

3) Promote public policy through appropriate legislation and other government actions. In other words, to assist in reestablishing society with good morals and values as set forth in the Holy Bible.

[So I guess we’ll start stoning homosexuals and witches again. Can’t wait.]

I’ll be paying close attention to this one. Perhaps my general cynicism will prove to be unfounded in this case, and Moore’s candidacy will flop before it gets off the ground. Then again, we’re talking about a state in which 40% of the electorate voted in favor of keeping a prohibition on interracial marrage in the state constitution a few years back. If this guy does in fact win the election, I think I’ll be staying away from Alabama for oh, the next couple of decades.