Friday, October 28th, in the year of our Lord 2016
By Kevin Swanson
Chief Justice Roy Moore Speaks About His Suspension
On September 30th, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended without pay for the duration of his two and a half year long term for his stance affirming the sanctity of marriage. Judge Moore spoke with The World View about his initial suspension.
“I’ve done nothing that’s immoral, unethical, or wrongful. They’ve just suspended me for two and a half years without salary and without health care and without other things. It’s difficult. I simply put out an order that verified that once an injunction is issued by the court, it has to be reversed by the court or a higher court. In Alabama I issued an injunction prior to Obergefell stating that Alabama probate judges should not issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. That order has not been revoked to this date. As a matter of fact, the order that these courts have been following is something that is not in Alabama law. They have actually followed Obergefell without justification to do so.”
Some Christians have expressed confusion about whether the U.S. Supreme Court Obergefell ruling last June trumps our marriage laws. Judge Moore clarified.
“If you ask if Obergefell trumps our marriage laws, I would say it did not address the laws of Alabama. It addressed the laws of Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee in the Sixth Circuit. Of course, Supreme Court decisions are precedent in other areas. But in Alabama, the Alabama Supreme Court took up the question about the effect of Obergefell on its injunction and it actually left the injunction standing. We are the only state in the union that has ruled on our sanctity of marriage amendments both before and after Obergefell and left those amendments standing. So I would say no, the law in Alabama is quite clear. The sanctity of marriage amendment is still on the books and still valid.”
When The World View asked Judge Moore whether he thought he was the victim of a witch hunt, he said,
“I think it was a political prosecution by someone who wanted to be Chief Justice and by groups that want to take over the office of Chief Justice. So far they’ve been successful in having me suspended. Actually, they tried to get me removed, and they had to have a unanimous vote, but that didn’t come through so they suspended me for two and a half years without pay. So it’s a de facto removal. We’re appealing that up to the point of the Supreme Court.”
This week the Alabama Supreme Court Justices have recused themselves from hearing the appeal of Chief Justice Roy Moore. But in a 5-3 vote, the majority decided to allow Acting Chief Justice Lynn Stuart to work with the Governor to randomly select seven “retired” judges from a pool of 50 judges. The three dissenting justices argued that the judges should be accountable to the public and having a panel of all “retired” judges means they would not be accountable. For more of this special interview, stay tuned. More at the end of this news cast.
58% of American Voters Oppose Funding Abortion with Medicaid
A new poll from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reveals that 58% of voting Americans are NOT in favor of using Medicaid funds to support abortion. Pro-life organizations are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment this year. . . an amendment that restricts federal dollars from being funneled to abortions.
Over 800 Christians Killed and 100 Churches Destroyed in Nigeria in Past Three Years
Habakkuk 3:17 says, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
In just the last three years, over 800 Nigerian Christians have been killed, another 800 injured, and over 100 churches have been destroyed in the Middle Belt of Nigeria, according to a new report from the Nigeria Conflict and Security Analysis Network. The attacks have been perpetrated by Muslim Fulani herdsmen.
More Arrests and Beatings of Chinese Christians
Twenty more Chinese Christians were detained and beaten by government officials this week. The arrests were made in central Henan prefecture. . . Another Chinese couple was imprisoned for putting up a cross in their home.
Canadian Atheists Object to Mentions of God in Alcoholics Anonymous
Canadians are wanting God removed from the Alcoholics Anonymous program. Atheists protest that words like ‘God’ and ‘Higher Power’ are concepts of the past. . . that should not be used in the modern program.
Psalm 90 says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
Firefighter Rescues Person from Fifth Story of Burning Building
In a miraculous rescue, a NYC firefighter dropped into the 5th story of a blazing building and rescued one last person. According to the story from Fox News, Jim Lee’s rope from which he was suspended burned through right before he made it back to the ground. The fire was put out yesterday morning.
Chief Justice Moore Finds Encouragement in Scripture
Chief Justice Moore told The World View that we are losing our religious liberty.
“We are going through more attacks on our religious liberty today than ever before because of Obergefell. Obergefell was the first case in the United States Supreme Court where they not only didn’t follow the Constitution, they actually created a right and then proceeded to take away one of the most valuable rights we have as American citizens and that‘s the right of freedom of conscience under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Never before has the court created a right and then mandated if you don’t accept this that you could suffer civil penalties and even incarceration if you don’t go with the agenda they’ve set. And that’s a deprivation of religious liberty that Justice Alito, Thomas, Scalia and Roberts spoke about in their dissent of Obergefell. We’re seeing it around the country with photographers and cake bakers and probate judges and clerks and now Chief Justice. If you oppose this agenda, they’ll come at you. And that’s unfortunate that we’ve got this situation in our country. People don’t understand the loss of religious liberty that we’ve suffered.”
When asked about the Bible verses that have sustained him during this trial, Judge Moore cited passages from Matthew and Peter by memory.
“Matthew says, ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ Jesus taught that you were blessed when men shall persecute you. I believe that. Unless you be persecuted for the cause of Christ, you’re not following your Christian faith. But sometimes it doesn’t feel like a blessing at the time. But God does see you through.
“In Peter (4:12-19) it’s written, it is like a blessing. ‘Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.’”
Chief Justice Moore affirmed God’s sovereignty.
“I think the duty of the Christian is to stand for your faith in light of this persecution that we’re suffering. I firmly believe that no matter how bad it looks in our country, that God’s still in control. He only works really when it seems impossible with men. Today is an excellent example of that. It seems impossible for our country to return. I do know that God can move through a Great Awakening in our country. We’ve had other periods of our history where God has done that.”
Judge Moore, who is 69, talked about his future plans apart from his appeal.
“Wherever I am and whatever I do, I think I’ll stand for principle, I’ll stand for the Constitution, I’ll stand for my faith. So many people have lost the sense of what that Constitution means to us. It’s still there. We’ve got to get through this political maze we’re going through to get our country back.”
And finally Chief Justice Moore finds inspiration from David who took on Goliath.
“I think of David so often. David was put through tests before he confronted Goliath in the Valley of Elah. He fought the bear and the lion. And when he went down into the valley to fight Goliath, he picked up some stones and ran to the battle. This was a teenage boy fighting a giant of a man. And he did so, so that they would know there was still God in Israel. Well, I think there is still God in America. The giants that I face today I realize that I don’t know the outcome, but I do know that if you stand in faith, God can do anything in our country.”
To schedule Chief Justice Moore to speak to your group, contact him through www.FoundationForMoralLaw.org .
And that’s the World View in Five Minutes.