Despite the efforts to mobilize Christians from throughout the nation in support of Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore and his unconstitutional Ten Commandments monument, the turn-out fell short of predictions. American Atheists took a stand for the separation of church and state, telling news media that Justice Moore was exploiting his office to promote sectarian religion.

hey came to Montgomery, Alabama by the thousands yesterday to support the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and the public display of the Ten Commandments.

   Participants raised their arms toward the sky and sang religious songs. Others waved banners and signs proclaiming messages like "Keep My Commandments and Live -- Proverbs 4:4," or patiently stood in line to file slowly into the state Judicial Building where they could view the object behind this growing controversy -- a 5,280-lb. granite monument to the Decalogue. Federal Judge Myron Thompson ruled that the washing machine-sized display violates the constitutional separation of church and state, and has imposed an August 20 deadline for its removal.

   And at the center of it all is Justice Roy Moore, Alabama's highest elected judicial official who received rousing applause as he ascended the steps of the capitol building yesterday and told fellow believers in his cause that they were doing the work of the Lord.

   "In houses and schools across the land, it's time for Christians to take a stand," Moore declared passionately. He repeated his earlier vow to defy any federal court order to remove the Commandments. Amidst cheers and shouts of "Amen!" Moore added that the battle spreading throughout the country was not about his own personal fate.

   "Let's get this straight. It's about the acknowledgement of God... It's not about me. I will pass away as every politician and every pastor, but the laws of God will remain forever."

   On Friday, attorneys for the embattled Chief Justice filed papers asking the Supreme Court to delay enforcement of the removal order.

   Moore also received an ovation after he recited a poem he had written grandly titled "Our American Birthright." He ended his speech by reminding Christians, "We are fighting all over this globe to preserve liberty for others, but many people don't understand that we're fighting a battle here."

   Thompson was the target of wrath from other speakers, including Rev. Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America which helped to organize the rally.

   "This is not the end of this movement," said Scarborough, whose group encourages pastors and churches to become active in political issues. "It's the birth of this movement."

   "We're here because we believe our God has been insulted."

   VA personnel circulated through the excited crowd with plastic buckets soliciting $10 donations to cover the costs of the "Restore the Ten Commandments Rally" and Moore's growing legal expenses.

   Many of those who showed up to support Justice Moore spoke publicly of how the rally was "the start of something bigger," a movement that will sweep the nation.

   "This thing today was one of the most important political gatherings in the last 15 or 20 years," declared political consultant Rick Shaftan, who traveled from New Jersey. "In my part of the country, people laugh at this issue, but these are the very basic American values."

   Shaftan added that "There's a real resentment against unelected officials making laws and people are getting fed up with it."

   The Rev. Jerry Falwell, head of Liberty University and founder of the defunct Moral Majority told the crowd that Moore was right in defying Judge Thompson's order since he believed he is obeying the will of God.

   "Civil disobedience is the right of all men when we believe breaking man's law is needed to preserve God's laws," Falwell declared. "We need a spiritual renaissance and we need it now." Referring to Moore, Falwell added, "When God gives you a champion, get behind him."

   Falwell also tried to compare the Saturday Commandments rally to the civil rights movement, and cited the late Dr. Martin Luther King and his fellow activists as "courageous citizens informed by Christian precepts."

   "Like Martin Luther King and his army of a generation ago, we shall overcome," said Falwell.

   Howard Phillips, a 1996 presidential candidate and chairman of the Conservative Caucus, went as far as to suggest that President Bush appoint Moore to the next vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. He also said that Judge Thompson should resign immediately from his office.

   "Judge Thompson has violated his oath of office by disregarding the constitution and attempting to usurp and elected judge of the state of Alabama. That's why we hold them (sic) in contempt."

   Phillips called for the impeachment of Thompson and other judges who have ruled against the inclusion of public religion in government.

   "They are the Benedict Arnolds of American jurisprudence and should be stripped of their robes," Phillips told the crowd.

   That sentiment resonated with rally participants like Terry Crockett, who traveled with a dozen member of his local Cleveland, Ohio church to attend.

   "They are not upholding the law of the land, the Ten Commandments, or upholding the Constitution as it was written," Crockett told reporters. "They are making their own laws and our nation is degrading. This is our country's last chance right here."

   Another former presidential hopeful, commentator Alan Keyes, told the crowd that people should be able to live in communities that embody their personal ideals, not the standards imposed by federal judges. He drew loud ovations when he claimed that there was no law requiring church and state to be separated.

   "It's time to take back what has been wrested from us by judicial tyranny -- the freedom to live in communities that reflect our beliefs," Keyes said. "I call on the president and the Congress to take a stand and finally put a bridle on these unruly courts."

   Rally participants were outspoken in their support for Justice Moore and his defiance of the federal courts. The Montgomery Advertiser noted, "A common belief among people interviewed at the rally was that Moore has a right to civilly disobey a federal judge's orders if they (sic) believe God's law is supreme."

   One supporter made the long trip from California, she said, because "the Ten Commandments is the most precious and important thing in my life right now. No judge has the right to tell us we can't post them."

   Others linked the federal ruling on the Commandments monument with what they perceived to be a general malaise in American culture coupled with a decline in moral and social values, especially if the power of religion is diminished. "Our laws are built on the Ten Commandments and whether people admit it or not our forefathers fought for it," argued a couple of Moore supporters from Tuscaloosa. Others spoke of "taking a stand," and linked the brouhaha over Moore's Commandments display to other issues like prayer in public schools, abortion, and the battle over including "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

   There was also militant rhetoric, with Moore describing those at the rally as "soldiers" engaged in "spiritual warfare."

   Despite the emotional sloganeering and passionate pleas about Christians flexing political muscle by supporting Moore, attendance at the Commandments rally appears to have fallen considerably short of the tens of thousands promised by organizers, and the 25,000 predicted by Rev. Scarborough from Vision America. People did travel from throughout the nation to show their solidarity with the Chief Justice; but the total count -- estimated by most media at approximately 3,5000 -- was buried in the news stories talking about "Swarms of Ten Commandments supporters," "Hundreds of van, cars, buses and motorcycles," and even "more than 2,000 people."

   A smaller but equally determined group of approximately 35 Atheists, Freethinkers and state-church separation advocates showed up in Montgomery as well, energized by Larry Darby, Alabama State Director for American Atheists.

   First Amendment stalwart Randall Gorman journeyed from Texas. "In one hand, Gorman held a sign that called for the separation of church and state," reported the Huntsville Times. "In the other, he held another sign, this one more visible to the people who were filing out of one of the buses from Houston. 'Get off your knees, America,' it read."

   Gorman told reporters, "This didn't happen because of the Alabama Legislature or the Supreme Court. It happened because of one man who's imposing his religious views on everyone. That's not America. America is diverse."

   Gorman also delighted fellow demonstrators with his chant of "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the magic rock has got to go!"

   Todd Kinley, a research scientist came from Huntsville to join the action. He told newspaper reporters, "Personally, I believe in science and reason and the only way you can have freedom of religion is to have separation of church and state."

   Also in Montgomery was Greg McDowell, Florida State Director for American Atheists. He questioned Moore's claim of divine permission for defying federal orders.

   "How would he like it if people disobeyed his orders," McDowell asked of Moore. "When it comes to this country's laws no man's ego and nobody's religion should come above the constitution."

   One Atheist sign in the counter-demonstration referred to Alabama's Judicial Building -- temporary home to Moore's Commandments display -- as "a courthouse, not a church."

   "We are here to let the world know that not all people in Alabama are religious," said Larry Darby. "There is a community of reason in Alabama, and Atheists represent this community of reason."

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