Culture, history being erased
COMMENTARY
Erin Cooksley

After a one-day trial the nine-member Court of the Judiciary voted unanimously to remove Chief Justice Roy Moore from office this past Thursday. Moore was removed from office for refusing a federal judge’s order to move a 2.6 ton monument containing the Ten Commandments from the state Supreme Court building in Alabama back in August. The order came after U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled the monument was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Even though Moore refused to abide by the order, he was overruled by his eight colleagues. After the ruling on Thursday, Moore said he was not taken aback by the decision of the ethics panel.

The case has become a lure for discussion and dispute among religious conservatives across the country. In fact, according to a poll by CNN-USA Today-Gallup, only one in five Americans agreed with U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson’s order to remove the monument.

The heart of this debate revolves around the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise thereof.” It does not take a law degree to figure out that planting a monument does not even come close to the government establishing a religion. However, one would need a law degree to argue that it does. Lawyers and judges have defied the wording and logic of the First Amendment for decades and have thus achieved things that would never be possible through legislation. It is absurd for the government to take this statement of separation of church and state a la carte. We cannot display a religious monument in a federal building, but one can swear on the Bible before they stand trial.

I see the removal of this monument as a removal of a reminder of culture and history. In the current times of political correctness, instead of stripping our country of any culture that might be displayed so that no one is offended, why don’t we simply add to what is already there? We are a diverse nation, and I think it is time that we celebrate this diversity. I think as a society we have been conditioned to a knee-jerk reaction that we must remove every article representing any religion as if we are shunning others or perhaps trying to convert those who do not follow a particular way of life. The United States of America is based on tradition and history. For the sake of preserving this misunderstood portion of the Constitution we are wiping out history. In fact, this is exactly what is happening. A survey by the University of Connecticut shows that 80 percent of college students from top universities could not score a passing grade on a basic United States history test. If the United States loses its tradition and history, what will we stand for? In the direction it looks as though we are heading, I hope someone has some ideas.

Erin Cooksley is a freshman political science major from Texas City.