ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997 TAG: 9704140074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MONTGOMERY, ALA.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gov. Fob James has threatened to call out the National Guard and state troopers if anyone tries to remove the judge's plaque.
Thousands of people, including Christian families and longhaired bikers for Jesus, rallied Saturday to support a judge who refuses to remove a display of the Ten Commandments over his bench.
The demonstration for Judge Roy Moore turned into a litany against liberal courts, abortion, television and civil libertarians.
``We are drawing a line in the sand and saying `Devil, you've taken enough from us!''' the Rev. Clifford Terrell shouted from the white marble steps of the Alabama Capitol, where the Confederacy was born and voting-rights marchers rallied in 1965.
With Confederate flags and posters of the Ten Commandments waving overhead, Moore told the crowd, ``Your presence today will send a message across this nation. That message is clear: We must - nay, we will - have God back in America again.''
An Alabama court has found that Moore's display of the Christian tenets violates the Constitution by promoting one religion in a government setting. Moore is appealing, and Republican Gov. Fob James has threatened to call out the National Guard and state troopers if anyone tries to remove Moore's plaque.
``By defending his liberty we preserve freedom for all Americans,'' James said at the rally.
The judge, a Baptist, invites others to pray with him in court - as long as they're not Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. ``We are not a nation founded upon the Hindu god or Buddha,'' he has said.
An auto shop owner from Riverside, Calif., flew in to join what he described as a new wave of Christian activism: ``All Judge Moore is asking for is to acknowledge God - he's not asking to proselytize,'' said Mark Rizzo, ``He clearly is not trying to establish a national religion.''
A handful of opponents who accuse Moore of fostering religious intolerance debated supporters carrying signs with slogans like ``We Want God in America Again.''
Log truck driver Wayne Willis said the judge's highly publicized fight is making it tougher to be one of only a handful of Jews in Troy, Ala.
``Just last week a boy held my boy's arm behind his back and tried to break it. He said he did it because he was Jewish,'' said Willis, with tattooed arms and a baseball cap decorated with the Star of David.
The judge's supporters said his battle is about saving America, not bigotry.
``All the laws we've got, even traffic laws, are based on biblical principles,'' said Al Cotter of Andalusia.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB