Moore Extremism: Alabama’s Infamous ‘Ten Commandments Judge’ Is as Big a Zealot as Ever
In his concurring opinion, the court’s chief justice, Roy Moore, peppered his arguments with biblical references and promoted the debunked notion that American law has uniquely Christian roots.
“I write separately to emphasize that the inalienable right to life is a gift of God that civil government must secure for all persons—born and unborn,” Moore began.
It’s a dubious beginning - and things devolve quickly from there. Moore then turned his attention to the Declaration of Independence. “When it was signed by our Founding Fathers in 1776, the Declaration returned to first principles of God, His law, and human rights and government,” he wrote. He went on to claim that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration with Sir William Blackstone’s legal treatise in mind.
That reference will be obscure to most; Blackstone is best known for writing Commentaries On The Laws Of England. And Blackstone, Moore wrote, “recognized that God’s law was superior to all other laws.”
Moore is clearly trying to make the argument that Jefferson, like Blackstone, had a specific interpretation of the Bible in mind when writing the Declaration. Although the Declaration is not a legal document, Moore attempts to make the case that it’s evidence our Founding Fathers believed that human rights came from God.
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