ash makes the link between two letters by the same local correspondent. Note the editor's correction ONLY to the writer's factual error:
• Moore right about ‘culture of hypocrisy’
I read with great interest an article on the July 9 front page, stating that former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore wears a small lapel pin shaped like that of the Ten Commandments.
This article also stated that he carried a copy of William Blackstone’s “Commentaries on the Laws of England.” This publication affirms the presence of a supreme being and natural law within the universe. This publication is also believed to have been a guide to the framework of the U.S. Constitution.
Judge Moore strongly believes that the United States was founded in recognition and praise of God’s sovereignty. However, the American justice system has turned its back on citizens’ right to acknowledge this sovereignty, creating a culture of hypocrisy. This was what Judge Moore said.
I’d say his belief hits the nail on the head - dead center! While we as citizens have the right to vote, many of the propositions we vote for are interrupted and thrown out by the judicial system as being unconstitutional or taking away the rights of some individuals. I’d say hypocrisy best describes not only the judicial system of the United States but perhaps of the country and a great deal of its citizens.
Nancy Eller, Athens
• Pledge, anthem are not optional for citizens
In Saturday front section of this paper an article under a picture of newly sworn in “American” citizens I found interesting, if not ludicrous, reading.
U.S. District Judge Jeanne Scott asked the crowd, including the 88 “new citizens,” to join in saying the Pledge of Allegiance and in singing the national anthem. But she was quoted - “But I must tell you, as citizens, you don’t have to” ... “that’s one of the rights you now have.”
Excuse me - is this not the most ludicrous statement? This is the United States of America. We are celebrating our independence this week by celebrating the Fourth of July. English SHOULD BE the official language of this country and all citizens of America should be required to learn this language and it should be required that all recite the Pledge of Allegiance as well as sing (even lip singing will suffice) the national anthem.
If these so-called “new” Americanized citizens, along with District Judge Jeanne Scott, do not wish to do so, perhaps they should make like a bread truck and haul their buns elsewhere. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. As an American citizen, all should be proud to stand up, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and to join in the singing of the national anthem.
Nancy Eller, Athens
Editor’s note: As the story indicated, these new citizens did recite the pledge and sing the anthem.
It has been observed that some conservatives don’t “do” irony. I state that, more mildly than I am tempted, to describe a recent letter-writer’s argument mandating saluting the flag, standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, and other similar gestures applying to newly-sworn-in American citizens. Now that the same writer has treated the readers to an encore performance of misunderstanding American principles, I feel compelled to point it out.
Judge Roy Moore got in trouble for imposing an emblem of his preferred religion - that would be the Judeo-Christian (with emphasis on the Christian) Ten Commandments - in a governmental domain. Furthermore, the fact that he injected any religion into the public sphere is anathema to one of this country’s most basic freedoms encompassing the right not to worship, unlike the dictatorships and theocracies we rightly condemn.
Having thus demonstrated that he doesn’t “get” subtle though critical distinctions, now, according to our correspondent, Moore has conflated “majority rule” with “taking away the rights of some individuals,” as if one justified or equaled the other. On the contrary, what determines election results is a separate matter entirely from the protection of certain minorities. Has the judge actually demonstrated his failure to comprehend such basic legal concepts or has the writer misinterpreted his remarks?
As for the “hypocrisy” of Moore’s political and social detractors, that’s the one characteristic I don’t see. Maybe that’s because I refuse to accept a textbook case of gibberish even on the part of no less an authoritarian figure than the judge himself.