Ten Commandments Defense Act

August 13, 1998 Representative Robert Aderholt is concerned about the loss of religious liberty in the land. He should know. His congressional district is in the midst of a major church/state battle. Federal Judge Ira DeMent enjoined the DeKalb County (Ala.) school district from allowing prayers, invocations, benedictions, or devotional messages on school property. The ban covered all school employees, clergy, and students. This action came on the heels of an Alabama state judge's order for Judge Roy Moore to remove the Ten Commandments from the wall of his courtroom.

Congressman Aderholt believes that something must be done. These two stories from Alabama are not isolated examples of judicial excess. Liberal judges with a secular outlook on life rule nearly any action that could be considered religious as an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Therefore the congressman drafted the "Ten Commandments Defense Act."

In June he introduced the legislation before Congress with Majority Whip Tom DeLay and Family Research Council President Gary Bauer. At the following press conference, Gary Bauer said, "Religious liberty is fundamental to the American experiment. The language of the First Amendment reflects this essential fact, but despite its clarity and force, the federal judiciary has engaged in a decades-long experiment of its own that has done great damage to the cause of religious freedom." He went on to say that the "Ten Commandments Defense Act is entirely consistent with our constitutional tradition and the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence."

By passing this legislation, Congress would be saying it is a co-equal branch of government which can provide needed clarification to the U.S. Constitution. It's time to pass this bill and bring the court back to judicial sanity.

I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.