A Host of Letters on Judge Moore
Montgomery
Advertiser, March 18, 2002
Box 1000, Montgomery, AL 36101-1000
Fax: 334-261-1505
Letter: Stop misusing Bible to justify hate
I am sick of your readers using this paper as a means to preach to the
masses, quoting Scripture and spewing more hatred with every word. When will
the fundamentalists of Alabama wake up and realize that they are the true
sinners here?
The Bible says "love thy neighbor as thyself" and "thou
shalt not judge," but those ideas get thrown right out the window and get
replaced with "love the sinner, hate the sin."
I have had people tell me, "The devil has a stronghold on you. You can’t
even see the sin you are committing." However, I think this statement is
perfect for those who are blinded by their own hatred of those who are
different from themselves. They don’t see their hate. They don’t see the
sin they are committing.
As usual, Alabama is way behind the times. Racism, gender-bias and
homophobia run rampant here simply because these people are blinded by what
they feel is the truth. The real truth is out there.
I would encourage the blind to use the Bible as their way to acceptance of
themselves, of others, and of the truth—that we are not all the same, but we
are all God’s children. Stop using the Bible to justify hate. That is not
its purpose.
- Michelle McHugh, Montevallo
(March 17, 2002)
It seems from letters to the editor that our state Supreme Court chief
justice, West Point’s gift to the military police, has aroused Alabama
homophobes. These good ole boys have gone to spouting Leviticus while they
continue to eat pork barbecue and fried oysters.
In my nearly four-score years I have observed that men who are secure in
their manhood don’t get upset about homosexuality as long as nothing is done
in the streets that would frighten the horses. Perhaps homophobes protest too
loudly.
Two of the dead heroes of Sept. 11—the New York Fire Department chaplain
and one man who led Flight 93’s passengers’ attack upon its hijackers—were
of a different persuasion.
It doesn’t seem that women get similarly exercised over their sapphic
sisters. Relax, fellas.
- John H. Napier III, Ramer
If Judge Moore saw a recent Today Show interview on the six-month
anniversary of the events of 9/11, he knows that one of the passengers on the
flight that crashed in Pennsylvania that day was a gay rugby player.
He was also one of the passengers who attempted to overpower the hijackers
to prevent further loss of life. In doing so, he lost his own life, as did
other brave passengers that day. Before joining the other passengers who
stormed the cockpit, he called his mother and told her that he loved her.
Is this the behavior of an evil man? It seems to me that the evil behind
not only the terrorist attacks, but Moore’s fulmination against homosexuals
as well, is hate. I give God credit for having the wisdom to determine which
person, this courageous young gay man or Moore, was promoting evil.
- Paul Vincent, Montgomery
For weeks we have been treated to tirade after tirade denouncing Chief
Justice Roy Moore’s concurrence in a unanimous decision by the Alabama
Supreme Court. For the most part, the tirades have been personal attacks on
Moore and attempts to defend and/or bolster homosexual activity.
What has been conspicuous by its absence thus far is evidenced, empirical
or otherwise, of any redeeming social value attributed to homosexual activity.
Many of us are waiting for the proponents of homosexual activity to come
forward and explain why it is a good thing and what laws of God and nature
encourage and support it.
- Samuel J. Maraman, Montgomery
Tuscaloosa
News, March 17, 2002
PO Box 20587, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401-0587
Fax: 205-349-0802
Email: bob.blalock@tuscaloosanews.com
Letter:
Thank God for Vonetta Flowers! With her recent history-making gold medal
win at the Olympics, she has made all Alabamians proud. Then there is Judge
Roy Moore! With inflammatory remarks against gays and lesbians, he has once
again made the rest of the nation wonder what is going on in the "Heart
of Dixie." One step forward, two steps backward.
Judge Moore has the right to his own beliefs about homosexuality or
heterosexuality, but not the right to impose his personal religious
convictions on all Alabamians. As chief justice of the Supreme Court he is
wrong to demonize and to write off a whole segment of the population.
I wish Judge Moore had been in the audience the night I saw "The
Laramie Project." (Shelton State and Michael Carr, the director, have my
congratulations for their insight and courage in bringing this controversial
play to our community.) This story about the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard,
a gay student in Wyoming, provokes us to ask ourselves how we might respond to
those who are not like us: with compassion and tolerance, or hatred and
violence? I’m afraid Judge Moore’s words might stir up the latter in some
people.
Now is the time for citizens of Alabama who have gay children, friends or
colleagues—or those who simply believe in equal justice for all—to break
the silence and speak out against the official opinion of Judge Moore.
- Jon Atkinson, Tuscaloosa
Letter: The typical Roy Moore supporter (March 14, 2002)
After consulting with a group of nationally renowned psychologists,
zoologists, religious scholars, and anthropologists, I have developed what I
believe is an accurate physical and mental profile of the average Roy Moore
supporter.
Physically, this person is inclined to drag his hairy knuckles across the
earth when he walks, has a forehead that protrudes well beyond the tip of his
nose, subsists on a daily diet of squirrel, opossum, and pigeon, develops a
severe headache when calculating a 2 percent tip at a restaurant, has red and
swollen index fingers from the incessant thumping of Bibles, can sit
transfixed for hours, staring at "purty, shiny things," and,
mysteriously, dozes off whenever confronted by a succession of printed words.
Mentally, this individual tends to communicate with monosyllables and jerky
arm movements, believes, despite incontrovertible evidence, that our planet is
only six thousand years old, is often confused by the intricate wordplay of
the "Teletubbies," is convinced that fluoridation is a government
ploy to control his mind, curses aloud when he is delayed two minutes at a
traffic light but then returns home to watch 11 straight hours of television
without moving, thinks the nation needs more patriots like Oliver North and
Jerry Falwell, and wonders, by God, why today’s women aren’t as submissive
as his own mother.
If you spot one of these creatures, immediately contact local authorities.
They are easily controlled and manipulated, but they have been known to attack
on occasion. So don’t get too close.
- Eric Spivey, Tuscaloosa
Letter: Just what does Roy Moore have in mind?
In his voluminous opinion regarding gays and lesbians, Chief Justice Moore,
referred to homosexuals as an inherent evil, saying they were not to be
tolerated. How does he propose this intolerance be accomplished? For example,
in Sylacauga, a gentle and kind man was viciously tortured and murdered by
persons who were intolerant toward his homosexual lifestyle. Without his
having said so literally, it would certainly appear that Moore was advocating
that we show our intolerance in like fashion and that I refuse to do. For the
sake of this State and all its citizenry, Moore should better phrase his
diatribes, unless he intentionally meant just what he said in his opinion.
While holding people’s very lives in their hands and making fateful
decisions regarding these same lives, the court is instructed to be blind to
race, sex, creed, religion, station in life, and monetary wealth. When we
stand, supposedly equal, before that judging body, decisions are to be based
solely upon the facts of the case, and not upon any extenuating circumstances.
Moore has made the homosexual unequal in our society. Do we wish to remain
always known as an intolerant ignorant group of people driven toward hatred
and fear of anything we do not understand? If we want to break the cycle of
intolerance we must support lawmakers who represent tolerance and work
actively against re-electing those who embody hatred and intolerance. We, who
do not agree with Justice Moore must speak up and let our views be known.
- Barbara Buttram, Gadsden
Judges are expected to interpret the law as written by our elected
Legislature; whether those laws are legal or not. If the laws are not within
the confines of law then its the Judges job to work with the Legislature in
making needed changes. Also it is their job to listen to the people’s
voices.
Some interpretations tend to wind up being totally unfair to one segment of
the society; while giving great favor to others.
This very thing caused the American Revolution in 1776. In the civil courts
we have seen for too many years the abuse and mistreatments in the simplest of
cases. Each day we see that some men or women are held in jail for months
without being charged, given an attorney or their day in Court.
It adds insult to injury when a Judge places wrongful mean hateful
statements upon opinions. So when our Courts take a stance of attempting to
write laws rather than to just interpreting it’s a step backward in time.
I brought this matter to the attention of the elected and the citizens some
three years ago and nothing has been done to correct this abuse! We see one
man with total control and he only lets a few of his special buddies in on the
deal they call "Alabama Justice".
All of this comes down to one simple thing; greed! Speak up Alabama! Ask
questions! It’s your right!
- Maston M. Mims Sr., Former State Senator, Uriah
Letter: Moore has no right to speak for Alabama
There is a place where intolerance is the law of land. A place of
state-sponsored bigotry, narrow-mindedness, and fanaticism. A place where the
highest legal powers of the land have one message for the populace: If you are
not exactly like me—think like me, look like me, raise your children like
me, worship like me, believe in your heart like me—you are wrong.
Hitler’s Germany?
The Taliban’s Afghanistan?
No. Welcome to Chief Justice Roy Moore’s Alabama.
In February Alabama’s Supreme Court gave custody of three children to
their heterosexual father rather than their homosexual mother. The particulars
of the entire court’s ruling are complex, and the verdict potentially sound,
Moore went further in a concurring opinion, making his biases clear. He
describes the lives of gay and lesbian people as "abhorrent,"
"immoral," "detestable," an "inherent evil," and
"an intolerable evil." He condemns homosexuality as "so heinous
that it defies one’s ability to describe it."
Fact: Moore is entitled to his personal beliefs. Fact: Moore is not allowed
to use beliefs as a basis for legal decision-making. Fact: Canon 3 of Judicial
Ethics of the Code of Alabama states: "A judge should perform the duties
of his office impartially and diligently." The official commentary to
Canon 3 states that "personal bias or prejudice concerning a party"
disqualifies a judge.
Moore has no right to speak for Alabama. His job is to apply the law,
without bias. In interests of impartial law, he needs to step down from the
Supreme Court.
- Sean Aden Lovelace, Tuscaloosa
Letter: Roy Moore a true Christian
In response to the articles by Jim Nichols and Heather Rhoades in the March
5 editorial page, I have a few thoughts. Paul tells us that "all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God." From what I understand of
this scripture, in order to glorify God, I must not sin. The variety of moral
sins that Nichols named are a few of all the sins that are recorded in the
scriptures. Homosexuality is the lowest, basest sin a person can do. Sodom and
Gomorrah were extinguished with fire from Heaven because of this abomination.
The tribe of Benjamin was reduced to a few remaining men, because of this
gross wickedness.
In today’s society, many educators, politicians, church ministers,
doctors and lawyers and other public officials are practicing gross
immorality. It has become normal practice. The Bible has become of little or
no meaning to them.
Judge Roy Moore is a moralist, a true Christian, and an extremely good
judge. He should be our next governor. Every Christian in Alabama must rally
for those in office who oppose those whose lives that are ruled by their sin.
Children deserve parents and teachers that are morally right in order to be
taught what is sin and what is not. It is sad to know that many children in
our society will be raised to have no belief or respect for the Bible as God’s
authoritative word. But it is in fulfilling the prophecies of the end time.
- John R. Caine, Tuscaloosa
Letter: Roy Moore historically wrong
Jerry Barnett’s letter ("Help Homosexuals, Don’t Hate Them,"
3/1) exhibits the typical lack of knowledge about the Constitution found in
the fundamentalist community. This ignorant mantra is anathema to we
historians who have actually taken the time to study the works of the Founding
Fathers rather than be blinded by the dogma of faith.
Let me enlighten Mr. Barnett and the others who perniciously mislead on the
topic of religion/state separation. The phrase "Bill of Rights"
designates the freedoms guaranteed in the first 10 amendments, yet it would be
the height of incredulity to argue that the phrase does not appear in the
Constitution. Similarly, the right to a fair trial is generally accepted to be
a constitutional principle, yet the term "fair trial" is not found
in the Constitution. To bring the point even closer to home, who would deny
that "religious liberty" is a constitutional principle? Yet that
phrase is not found in the Constitution. The universal acceptance, which all
these terms, including "separation of church and state," have
received in America, confirm their reality as basic American democratic
principles.
The Constitution does not allow fundamentalists to hijack the government
for religious welfare to promote their cause. No one group is sanctioned as
having special rights. The concept at issue here is more accurately expressed
in Madison’s phrase, "separation between Religion and Government."
This is the genius of the Founding Fathers legacy and it illustrates how Judge
Moore and his sycophants are legally and historically wrong.
- Robert Carver, Knoxville, Tenn.
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