Removing 'Roy's Rock'.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Eugene had its cross atop Skinner Butte, and Alabama had its 2 1/2 -ton granite slab inscribed with the Ten Commandments in the lobby of the state supreme court building. Both monuments were installed in the dead of night, and both were ruled by federal courts to be impermissible religious displays on public property. But luckily, Eugene never had anyone like Roy Moore.

Moore is the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. He placed the monument, which has since come to be known as "Roy's Rock," in the court building two years ago after his colleagues had gone home. But he'd begun building his judicial career on the Ten Commandments long before that. Moore was first sued for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom in 1995, when he was a circuit court judge. His reputation as the "Ten Commandments judge" helped secure his election as chief justice.

For a judge, Moore has remarkably little respect for judicial authority. A federal district judge ordered the removal of "Roy's Rock" soon after it was installed. That ruling was upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case of the Skinner Butte cross followed a similar course to that point, with a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it didn't belong on public property. But the cross came down, and Moore's Ten Commandments monument stayed.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, and still Moore refused to remove the granite slab. The district court judge who initially declared the display unconstitutional ordered that it be removed by Wednesday - or else the state would be fined $5,000 a day. Moore remained defiant. On Thursday, Moore's Supreme Court colleagues overruled their chief justice and ordered that "Roy's Rock" be shielded from public view.

Moore strongly believes that modern interpretations of the First Amendment have gone too far in excluding expressions of religious faith from the public square, and he's not alone - demonstrators have rallied in front of the court building in Montgomery for days. Moore contends that the Ten Commandments are the bedrock of the U.S. Constitution and Western culture, and that by ruling against the display of his monument the federal courts are denying the divine origins of the American system of law.

Mosaic law has undeniably had a profound influence on civilization. But the Decalogue's religious nature is clear. The First Commandment, inscribed in an abbreviated form on "Roy's Rock," is "I am the lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The next two, also shortened on Moore's monument, prohibit graven images and taking God's name in vain. The Fourth Commandment is to remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Jews, Christians and Muslims accept these commandments, but the American system of law is broader, extending to people of other religious traditions or none at all.

The First Amendment's prohibition against an official establishment of religion protects both government and the church. No religion can harness the power of government to its doctrine - but just as important, the government can't proclaim a preference among doctrines. A government that can favor the cross on public property or the Ten Commandments in a court building would by implication express disfavor toward other symbols of faith, and what is stated by implication might one day be made explicit.

The First Amendment is a stronger and more effective defender of both the cross and the Ten Commandments than Moore has been - and if he can't see that, he belongs in the pulpit, not on the bench.