WASHINGTON - Two clergy leaders want to rally hundreds of Christians to kneel around the Ten Commandments monument on display in a Montgomery, Ala., courthouse — an act of civil disobedience they've already tried outside abortion clinics.
Leaders of the National Clergy Council and Christian Defense Coalition unveiled the plans Wednesday at a news conference in front of the Supreme Court, which they noted has a depiction of Moses and the Ten Commandments in its courtroom.
Roy Moore, chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court, has lost court fights over the 5,300-pound monument he placed in the Montgomery courthouse, but the monument is staying put while he appeals.
Earlier this month, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Moore's petition to keep the Commandments on display. He can ask that court to reconsider, or take his appeal to the Supreme Court. The high court has refused to hear several previous cases challenging the display of the Ten Commandments in public areas.
Should Moore fail in his legal efforts, the leaders are asking supporters to go to Montgomery and kneel in front of the monument en masse. They figure they'll have around 48 hours to mobilize if Moore's legal stay allowing him to keep the Commandments is lifted.
"My sense is a line in the sand needs to be drawn in Montgomery, Ala.," said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, of the Christian Defense Coalition. "We're seeing an incredible erosion of civil liberties and free speech rights, particularly in the area of religious free speech and expression in the public square."
Mahoney said he hopes protesters will be allowed inside the building to stage their protest there but, if law enforcement officers keep them out, they'll kneel outside the front door. Commitment forms will be sent by mail or e-mail to Christian activists.
Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the proposed protests are excessive.
"Maybe they could all get together and take the monument to the Ten Commandments out of the judicial building and into a properly reverential place like a church lawn," Lynn said.
Last month, 21 protesters were cited for interfering with workers who removed 800-pound tablets from four high schools in Adams County, Ohio, as was ordered by a court. The two Christian groups have also organized kneeling protests at abortion clinics in Wichita, Kan., and Buffalo, N.Y.
"If you look at history, this is the way great movements have always gone," said the Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council.