Also, in a deeper sense, the Ten Commandments are the basis of our freedom of conscience, which flows from the first table of the law.
And government's only role is to secure our rights for us.
And indeed, it is the right of the states to acknowledge God, as it is the right of the federal government to acknowledge its source of power.
And that's not only true with this judge, but also with many of the federal courts across our land who seem to think, erroneously, that the acknowledgement of God is synonymous with religion.
Anytime you deny the acknowledgement of God you are undermining the entire basis for which our country exists.
Because, if there is no God, then man's power is the controlling aspect, and therefore power will be centralized.
But I have made no plans to run for any office right now.
But in the long term, I think it is improper to limit your future.
But separation of church and state was never meant to separate God and government.
But today, government is taking those rights from us, pretending that it gives us our rights. Indeed, those rights come from God, and it was recognized throughout our history as such.
But when I was chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, I was sworn under a constitution which said the justice system was established invoking the favor and guidance of almighty God.
I go back to the legal history that we have here in Alabama, our court case precedents, and the foundations of law to show that these things comport with the Scriptures from which we get our moral foundation.
I have nothing to do with fundraising or the defense fund, and I have nothing to do with Coral Ridge Ministries.
I know Dr. Kennedy and I know Coral Ridge Ministries. I have no connection.
I think that giving a judgeship to a man that follows blindly an order of a district judge that violates his oath and enters an unlawful order is a problem.
I think you run a race to win the race, and not just to affect an outcome, because the outcome is in God's hands, not in man's.
I understand the debate between those who would say that the 14th Amendment put the strictures of the First Amendment to the states.
I was asked three times directly in the hearing before the board of the judiciary whether or not I would continue to acknowledge God if I were to resume my position as chief justice. And I said I would.
I would say that there's not much difference these days between those who run under one party or another because they're all after seeking power.
If God gives you rights, no man and no government can take them away from you.
If government can give you rights, government can take them away from you.
Indeed, the acknowledgement of God is not synonymous with religion.
It can have a secular purpose and have a relationship to God because God was presumed to be both over the state and the church, and separation of church and state was never meant to separate God from government.
It is altogether proper for people to recognize a sovereign God.
It would bother me if a judge told me how I had to believe.
No, because this country was not founded upon the Qur'an. It was not founded upon a Muslim faith. It was founded upon a Christian faith and the acknowledgement of God of the holy scriptures.
No, I think that we've got a basic discrepancy here between the rule of law versus the rule of man.
Offensiveness is not the basis for a constitutional violation. If it were, every Christian would be offended because the government now precludes the acknowledgement of a God.
Power's not what the Constitution was about.
Rights come from God, not from government.
The acknowledgement of God was the very reason for the existence of this country.
The basic premise of the Constitution was a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances because man was perceived as a fallen creature and would always yearn for more power.
The Church's role should be separated from the state's role.
The Commandments were placed in the court to acknowledge the moral foundation of our law and the foundation of our government.
The Constitution was about a limitation on power.
The First Amendment to the Constitution reflects that concept recognized in the Ten Commandments, that the duties we owe to God and the manner of discharging those duties are outside the purview of government.
The forefathers, including James Madison, felt very strongly that the duties that we owe to God were outside of government's prerogative, that government had no business interfering with the way we worship God.
The point is that knowledge of God is not prohibited under the First Amendment.
The Ten Commandments are the divinely revealed law.
The whole basis of the Constitution was a restriction of power, and the whole basis of the federalist system was that there was not one sovereign centralized power from which all authority flows.
They are objecting to me as a person because of what I believe. That's a very accurate summation of their position.
They don't want to be reminded that there is an authority higher than the authority of the state.
They might object to some of my opinions, but they don't object to my behavior as a judge.
To do my duty, I must obey God.
To fail to recognize who that God is is not only illogical and ridiculous, it is also detrimental to the court system.
We are asserting exactly the opposite, that the state must acknowledge God and that our freedoms flow from that God, the Judeo-Christian God.
Well, first, I have not been speaking under the auspices of the Constitution Party.
Well, I think I - as a judge, you must recognize the moral foundation of the law, and that is to recognize God.
Well, I think that we have to continue to fight for what we believe.
Well, that's the - the removal from office and removal of the Ten Commandments were two different issues.
Yes, they have objected to my behavior as a judge because I reference the moral foundation of the law when we talked about sodomy, when we talked about adultery, when we talked about separation of church and state.
You must recognize the purpose of the First Amendment and why the Constitution exists by separating the powers of the various branches. It exists because man was a fallen creature - is a fallen creature, and those powers had to be restricted.
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