Customer Reviews

So Help Me God: The Ten Commandments, Judicial Tyranny, and the Battle for Religious Freedom

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I really enjoyed Judge Moore's personal story and how he stood up to the judicial activists who are waging war against this nation's heritage and foundations. I found Judge Moore's book to be an inspiration in an age of men without chests and I enjoyed the way the personal narrative was coupled with historical facts and principles. Both the federal court and the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission ruled against Moore but the good judge never flinched in the face of these advisories. He proved to be more than a match for the small minded legal stooges who opposed him. I recommend the book to anyone who wants to know the real story behind the news reporting and what the legal issues were all about. This event was one of the most important court battles of the decade although few really understand it. Moore not only explains the case issues but why they are at stake and why it is so necessary to stand up to legal idiots like the ones in the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center who attacked him. Moore beautifully explains what an oath means and why he refused to set aside his duty before God just to appease the legal lunacy of the judges. Judge Moore has served his nation and his God courageously and faithfully. I only wish we had more men like him.

Judge Moore is a shameful example of somebody who's extremely intelligent, but so blinded by his own religiuos perspective, that he ends up supporting an idiotic position. Namely that his "right" to espouse his personal beliefs means that he can then use the power of his government office to force others to acknowledge that particular belief. The easy way to realize this is to simply change the preferred religion. If he had insisted on displaying a copy of the Koran in the lobby of the courthouse, the results would have been entirely different, and he might have been ran out of town. The only one who trampled anyone's rights was Moore himself in trying to foist his beliefs on others. Ex-judge Moore is not a hero, in fact, just the opposite. Yes, it's admirable to stand up for what you believe in, but his job was to protect the people's rights, not to force his beliefs over their rights. He is, at best, a sorry excuse for a constitutional scholar if he can't even get the fundamental basics of equal protection under the law. Hero = NO, shameful example of religious intolerance = YES.

It's great to read about someone who stills know right from wrong and is not afraid to say it..

Chief Justice Roy Moore is one of the most articulate crusaders for the rule of law on the scene today. This book does a great job of clarifying why elected leaders have an obligation to uphold America's God-based governmental and judicial structure. Whether we like it or not there's overwhelming evidence that our system of American govt. is deity inspired, and just because some may now choose not to "believe" doesn't authorize elected officials to change the original charter.

This book weaves a riveting personal history with principles we should all know. A must read for anyone who values religious freedom and limited government.

Wow, finally the whole story. It is hard to believe that men with as much courage, backbone, and strong morality still exist in America. This, folks, is the story of a modern American HERO. Nowadays, true heroes are ignored, blacklisted, put in jail, harassed, made fun of, and purposely misunderstood. Moore is no exception, as this story points out. In the meantime, I will be helping this man become the next governor of Alabama.

Roy Moore in his book makes the statement that secular humanism is about humans making themselves a god. Mr. Moore frankly does not know what he is talking about. Secular humanists dont' believe that human beings are a deity (which we as a group dont' believe in) but that human beings are obligated to be mature and make hard decisions about the world. I nor any other secular humanism believe we are all knowing, all perfect, all intelligent etc. We are imperfect of course but since no deity exists then we are obligated to make our way in the world we live in. We have to figure out that murder is wrong not because of the whim of a deity, but because morality is directly related to the concept of harm and without harm then nothing would be moral or immoral. Now, Mr. Moore believes that without a belief in a deity that gave us rights we would not have the freedom we now enjoy. What is freer though, very religious Saudi Arabia or secular Norway? Or, to compare nations with a Christian history, 15th century very religious England or secular 15th century England today? There is a direct correlation to how secular a nation is, to how free it is. That is not surprising. Very religious people believe that laws should be based on the commands of their deity and that doesn't make for a very free nation. Even secular dictatorships such as the Soviet Union were based on this authoritian model. While they did not have a literal deity they had ones analogous in Marx, Lenin, Stalin and historical materialism. Mr. Moore believes it is fine for the government to "acknowledge" religion along as it is his religion. He is so kind of course to allow non-Christians to be non-Christians but they should fully expect their tax dollars to be used to support the beleif in his deity such as through "In God we trust" on our currency or on 10 commandment monuments put up on governmetal buildings. Mr. Moore and others like him, if they believe their deity is true, should be happy to debate that question in the marketplace of ideas and not through the force of government. The question is, what is he and others like him afraid of though?

If you want the truth about what REALLY happened to Judge Moore read this book! If you think we live in a country where you are allowed free expression of your religious beliefs---think again. Adrienne Raborn

"So Help Me God" is a biography of Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore who was removed from office because he violated a federal court order given by Judge Myron Thompson. The court ordered Moore to remove a monument he had made that acknowledged our Creator as the source of our laws. The monument did this by displaying the Ten Commandments of the Bible on its top, with quotes along its four sides from the Declaration of Independence, the National Anthem, and early U.S. Presidents such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Moore refused to obey the federal court order and the monument was moved eventually by others into a closet to be hidden from public view. Soon thereafter, November 2003, Justice Moore was removed from office by an ethics committee.

Why did Moore, a sitting Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, refuse to obey an order of a federal court Judge? This is where the book gets really interesting. Moore argues that the court order was not a valid, lawful order. Moore had a moral and ethical obligation to disobey the order. It would be similar to how a soldier might be compelled to disobey his commanding officers' order to destroy an entire village of innocent civilians. His conscience simply would not allow him to do it. Blind loyalty and obedience to a person would lead to the kind of atrocities committed by the Nazi's during World War II, but loyalty to one's oath toward God and the Constituion leads to freedom and liberty for all. This is the theme of "So Help Me God." Our founding fathers meant to create a new kind of government, a Constitutional Republic, in which oaths are made to uphold the Constitution which comes from God, rather than oaths to obey a person, such as the King. It is the preservation of this form of Constitutional government, and Moore's integrity not to violate his oath of office, and the importance of acknowledging God in his duty as a judge of the people, that led Moore to disregard Judge Thompson's order. We simply do not see many men of principle like Roy Moore. It truly is refreshing and amazing to find such a man.

Moore's understanding of the law, as well as his understanding of his oath of office, is directly tied into his acknowledgement of God. This concept is very difficult for the less erudite to understand, but it is essential if one is to understand Moore's actions. Human rights, Moore argues, are given by God, not man. Such is reflected in the Declaration of Independence when it says all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. Government also is given by God rather than men, but it is formed with the consent of men. The role of government is to protect these God given rights of the people. The validity and rightfulness of law, therefore, emanates from God. This understanding is paramount for Moore, as it leads to the distinction between the RULE OF LAW and the RULE OF MEN. Moore argues that through Judicial activism, the courts have been destroying our Constitutional democracy and leading us down a path of tyranny where men rule instead of law. The courts now are treated as hierarchically above the Executive and Legislative branches of government even though the Constitution establishes a system of checks and balances that allows Congress to limit the courts power through various means. Furthermore, the Constitution restricts the power of the federal government over the States and the people through the Tenth Amendment. Moore argues quite well that a federal Judge has no right to restrain a State Judiciary from acknowledging God. Moore also points out their hypocrisy by the fact that the federal courthouse where Judge Thompson ruled on this has a monument of the Greek goddess Themis. Also, although Moore does not mention this, I have noticed that the federal courthouse also has a cornerstone engraved with an acknowledgement to President William Jefferson Clinton. So the Greek goddess Themis can be acknowledged, and President Bill Clinton can be acknowledged, but not the God of the Jews and Christians? Perhaps Moore's contention is right, that the courts have led us down the path of being ruled by men rather than being ruled by law.

In "So Help Me God," Moore brilliantly makes the disctinction between the idea of establishing religion, which is something government should never do, and acknowledging God, which government must do to prevent tyranny. In the end, Moore's life has proved his thesis. The federal court violated Moore's right to acknowledge God, leading an ethics committee to bring disrepute upon the Judiciary by removing an honorable and ethical man like Moore from office.

My primary complaint with this book is that it is kind of like two books in one. The book is both a biography of Moore's life and an explanation of law and why Moore disobeyed a federal court order. The young lawyers who really need to consider the legal information in the latter part of this book need something else. They need a book which clearly lays out all the legal perspectives of Moore without all the biographical information. It needs to be better organized and brief enough that it will be read and discussed. The kernel of truth needed to save our nation lies within this book, but who will have the ability and time to search and find it? We need something else that will directly address the Constitutional freedom of State officials to acknowledge God in their governmental positions. Such a work should be required reading at every law school in the nation.

Although I rate this book as five stars, there is a lot of room for improvement. It is somewhat slow reading unless one is already interested in the subject matter. I give it five stars primarily because of the great importance of its subject matter and the intriguing legal content not often found elsewhere in regards to understanding government and its role in relation to religious liberty. Roy Moore opened my eyes to understanding how the strength of our U.S. Constitution was founded in our Creator. He also opened my understanding of the Constitution and how the Constitution strives to protect the rights not only of individuals but of the States. Furthermore, he helped me understand the importance of acknowledging God, why it is done in oaths of office, and the distinction between acknowledging God and establishing religion.

The judicial trend for the last 50 years seems to be to strip any mention of God at all from government and public places. How can any true and honest theist ever serve in public office if he must not acknowledge God's hand in law and justice? How does that in any way encompass the freedom of religion written about in the First Amendment to our Constitution? Justice Roy Moore in "So Help Me God" articulates a clear understanding of the First Amendment that leads to "freedom of religion" rather than "freeedom from religion." Moore rightly argues that acknowledging God is a Constitutionally protected right of State officials. If only the rest of the world could come to see the truth embraced by Roy Moore, the world would be a much better place, with liberty and justice for all. I highly recommend Roy Moore's book, "So Help Me God."

Roy Moore gives a convincing rationale for the controversy he courted over the acknowledgement of God in this book. Neither completely biography nor legal primer, it contains elements of both and might have been worth five stars if it had chosen to be more completely one or the other. But Moore comes off as completely honorable and convincing.