Yesterday, we told you that Alabama chief justice Roy Moore told worshipers at a Montgomery church that the Supreme Court’s legalization of marriage equality was the product of Satan. Well, it turns out that Moore’s sermon was the second time in 24 hours that he got a severe case of diarrhea of the mouth while speaking from a pulpit in Alabama’s capital. The night before, Moore told one of the most extreme outfits on the religious right that the Supreme Court’s historic decision of three weeks ago is proof that it is blind to what this country truly stands for–that it was founded on God.
Moore was the guest of honor at an event sponsored by Operation Save America, which contains the bulk of the old Operation Rescue. The group was on hand to kick off “Let Justice Roll,” a weeklong campaign of “Gospel centered prolife outreaches.” Speaking at Fresh Anointing House of Worship, a charismatic megachurch in Montgomery, Moore was in typical form. As he sees it, the marriage equality decision is more proof that this country is under attack from people who are blind to this country’s foundations.
Moore reminded his audience that John Adams called our break from Britain a “day of deliverance from Almighty God.” He thinks that this country’s leaders, especially the Supremes, have “forgotten what this country is about.” If they knew what this country was about, Moore said, “they would not be trying to create rights that are not in the Constitution.”
So what’s this country about? In Moore’s eyes, “it’s about one nation under God.” To his mind, if you don’t know God, you don’t know this country or the Constitution. Gee, Roy–I thought this country was about all (wo)men being created equal. Oh, that’s right–if it were up to you, both the First Amendment and Article Six of the Constitution would be effectively gutted, because Muslims would effectively be banned from holding office.
Moore declared that the Supreme Court had no right to change the definition of marriage because the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are rooted in “organic law.” In turn, organic law comes from God’s law, which regulates the basics of life–including marriage. Therefore, Moore said, “we don’t have a right” to redefine marriage. We’ve heard this before. Back in February, Moore said that no court at any level had the right to redefine marriage because “organic law” states that marriage is defined by God alone.
Although he didn’t call Justice Anthony Kennedy by name, Moore said that because of “one person who has entered his judgment,” the rest of the country has to accept marriage equality. The reaction from the crowd was predictable–“No, no, no!” Moore lapped it up. “Well, are you prepared for the consequences?” he asked.
While this sort of tirade was typical for Moore, it’s pretty telling that he was even at this gathering to begin with. Even by religious right standards, Operation Save America is out there. In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings, OSA executive director Flip Benham declared that the memorial service for the victims wasn’t Christian enough–even though two of the victims were Jewish and at least one was Sikh. In 2011, Benham was slapped with 18 months probation for stalking a Charlotte abortion provider. He not only posted “wanted” posters with the doctor’s name and address, but took pictures of the doctor’s house and the inside of the clinic.
As yet more proof of how out there this group is, Benham and several of his followers tried to crash the first wedding ceremonies conducted in Charlotte after a federal judge tossed out North Carolina’s same-sex marriage ban. Whatever you may think of same-sex marriage, crashing a wedding is simply beyond the pale. It turned out to be one of the last things Benham did before handing OSA to Rusty Thomas later in October. All you need to know about OSA under Thomas is that to this day, it still insists that it was just obeying God when it stalked that abortion provider.
So what does it say about Moore that he saw fit to speak to a group that condones such behavior? Perhaps we should ask him–politely, of course. And what does it say about Fresh Anointing House of Worship’s pastor, Kyle Searcy, that he opened his church’s doors to this outfit? Perhaps we should ask him–politely, of course. As much as Moore was railing about people being blind, it sounds to me like he and Searcy were the ones who were blind. From where I’m sitting, their blindness was willful.
