The Ten Commandments and Public Piety: The Contrasting Styles of Jesus and Judge Roy Moore
By Derek H. Davis, J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies
Baylor University, Waco, TX

Judge Roy Moore has emerged as one of America’s most visible and popular Christians in the twenty-first century. Well known for his unsuccessful fight to keep a 5,200 pound monument of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building, Judge Moore has rapidly become a leading symbol of conservative Christians’ battle to fight off encroaching secularism and preserve a solid moral foundation for “Christian America.”

Recent polls indicate that as many as two-thirds of Americans sided with Judge Moore in his quest to have the massive display of the Ten Commandments serve as a permanent symbol of the reality of God in American life. Judge Moore maintains that it is his right, even his duty, as a public servant to “acknowledge God” as the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and the foundation of all American law, and that this was best achieved during his tenure as a judge by displaying the Ten Commandments monument prominently in the state’s chief courthouse of which he served as chief justice.

Even after a federal district court and a federal appeals court held that the Ten Commandments monument constituted an “establishment “ of religion in violation of the First Amendment and the monument was removed, Judge Moore insisted that he was right and the courts were wrong. Then, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case and a State of Alabama Judicial Ethics Commission stripped him of his office as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Judge Moore began championing his cause around the nation in television interviews, public speeches, and internet sites set up to educate the world about his mission. Moore became the darling of millions of American Christians, a modern hero for his courage and commitment to help restore the nation’s Christian moorings.

How should we evaluate Judge Moore’s stance? Is he indeed a hero or just a defiant, misguided and defrocked judge? How should Christians regard his behavior? Most importantly, can we look at what Jesus said and did for some measure of guidance? And what about the separation of church and state principle that was the basis for the courts’ rulings that Judge Moore’s monument was a violation of the Constitution? Is there really a biblical basis for adhering to the separation of church and state?

Is Separation of Church and State Really in the Bible?

The Bible is not a blueprint for political ordering—unless of course, one wishes to restore the theocratic system that was central to the Old Testament Hebrew order. In the New Testament, however, the Mosaic Law is expressly repudiated; the people covered by a “New” Covenant—Christians are saved by grace, not by strict adherence to the law. The end of theocracy means the end of the fusion of religious and state authority. By teaching that Christians should “render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and unto God that which belongs to God,” Jesus was recognizing the distinctively different roles of church and state. Christians owe secular duties to the state and spiritual duties to God. The New Testament does not teach a “pure” separation of church and state, however, since Christians are encouraged to pray for state authorities and to submit to their authority.

But while submission to secular rulers is encouraged, nowhere in the New Testament is it taught that secular governments should themselves take on a religious character. Jesus modeled this quite well. He required submission to the Roman authorities, even though that government was often hostile toward Jews and celebrated the divinity of the emperor. Emperor worship was technically blasphemy under Jewish law, but Jesus never encouraged overthrowing the emperor or starting a movement to reform the Roman government to acknowledge God in a more appropriate way. Jesus never tried to make a corrupt and pagan government a “Christian nation.” He was modeling what today we call the “separation of church and state.”

What is Biblical Piety?

Contrast this with the repeated assertion of Judge Moore that America is a “Christian nation” and that it is his right to “acknowledge” God in his courtroom. In American law, every citizen has the right to acknowledge God, but not public officials who must respect the right to religious freedom of Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and others who find Judge Moore’s trumpeting of his Christian faith offensive. This is why the Constitution prevents “establishments” of religion; the government must treat all citizens equally with respect to matters of faith. If our constitutional framework countenances a preference for the Judeo-Christian tradition over other religions, then we have a framework that will permit any of the growing minority religions in America to someday replace this tradition as the preferred religion. How can all religions remain free if some are legally sanctioned over others?

Jesus’ behavior can be contrasted with Judge Moore’s in other ways as well. Jesus never suggested to public officials that they pray in public settings. His advice to everyone was: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Mt. 6:6). Jesus modeled this by always retiring to quiet, remote places to pray. Yet when Judge Moore was a district judge in Alabama, he regularly brought in Protestant ministers to lead prayer before gatherings of jurors, parties, and witnesses who were required to be in Moore’s courtroom. Many of these visitors were “put off” by the prayers, but that apparently did not faze him; Judge Moore never relented in defending the propriety of the prayers.

Jesus spent no time crafting large monuments of the Ten Commandments and erecting them in places where everyone could see them. He did not wear a Ten Commandments T-shirt or carry a copy of the Ten Commandments with him, stopping here and there to make sure they were posted in public places for all to be reminded that the law of God was the foundation of society. Jesus’ mission was not a political one, but rather a spiritual one, laboring to offer himself as the means of personal salvation to all who would hear. Jesus’ goal was to make Christians, not to Christianize the Roman government. I suspect Judge Moore wants to make Christians too, but unlike Jesus, he abuses political institutions by using them as a means to achieve his goal.

Jesus certainly did not go on the speaking circuit to convince all Romans that the Roman Empire was in moral decline and that the empire should display the Ten Commandments to remind all Romans of their duties to God. Jesus quietly went about healing the sick, feeding the hungry, helping the poor, and offering a relationship to God to all who would listen. He and his disciples collected only enough money to meet their daily essential needs. In stark contrast, Judge Moore today is not only cashing in on the speaking circuit, but he has recently written a book, So Help Me God, which he promotes at book-signing celebrations in bookstores around the country. Judge Moore also sent his 2 ½ ton monument on a 2005 tour around the United States—after it was banished from the Alabama State Court Building. A large truck carried the monument, and rallies were prearranged at a number of stops around the country where the monument was displayed before Moore’s burgeoning multitude of friends and admirers.

Somehow I cannot get a picture in my mind of Jesus promoting the Ten Commandments in these rather self-indulgent ways. Moreover, Jesus never sought political office to convey his message, yet Judge Moore is now contemplating running either for Governor of Alabama or President of the United States to gain a bigger platform for his message.

Is America Officially Godless?

Judge Moore and his supporters claim that posting the Ten Commandments will help fill what is increasingly becoming a “naked public square.” But our nation already affirms in many ways the belief that God’s sovereignty extends to our national life. The national motto, “In God We Trust,” is imprinted on our currency. Congress and most of our state legislatures open with prayer each day led by state-paid chaplains. We observe an annual national day of prayer. We invoke the name of God in the Pledge of Allegiance. We observe numerous national holidays that are religious in nature. We even affirm the right of government bodies to display religious symbols such as crosses and menorahs, provided they are clearly muted with secular symbols. These are generic symbols that validate the religious character of America, but are less coercive than sectarian-specific practices such as posting the Ten Commandments on government property (property that is owned by all citizens, not just those from the Judeo-Christian tradition).

Is There a Better Way?

There is actually a very simple solution to the Ten Commandments controversy. For those who think the Ten Commandments are important, they should memorize them—and have their children memorize them. In this way, they carry the truths of the Ten Commandments in their hearts, and have no need to resort to public displays. Moreover, refusing to decorate government property with the Ten Commandments respects the religious values of members of religious traditions who are offended by the displays.

In the end, opposition to state-sponsored displays of the Ten Commandments does not arise out of hostility to the values set forth in the commandments. Rather, it proceeds from a deep respect for the diversity of religions that enjoy the freedom to practice their faith on American soil—those that embrace the Ten Commandments and those that do not. By adhering to the principle of separation of church and state we best fulfill the Constitution's mandate of religious liberty for all Americans and the human mandate to treat each other with respect and dignity. This is not Roy Moore’s way, but I believe that this is Jesus’ way.

Note: Judge Moore was probably given a boost in his undeclared race for governor of Alabama by the SBC Pastor’s Conference, who invited him to speak at their June 20 gathering.

Updated Monday, October 24, 2005