A Ten Commandments monument at the center of a bitter dispute over the constitutional separation of church and state was removed from public view on Wednesday in Alabama's state judicial building.
To the consternation of Christian protesters who wanted the stone left in place and the satisfaction of people who thought it should not be displayed in a government building, workers wheeled away the two-ton granite monument from in front of a waterfall in the building.
The state's chief justice, Roy Moore, installed the monument two years ago and stuck to his guns as federal courts ordered it moved, polarizing detractors and supporters around the case.
Rev. Robert Schenck, a spokesman for the protesters who have prayed and demonstrated against the monument's removal, said a building staff member told him it would be moved to an employees-only hallway, where it would not be covered.
It was not clear how long this arrangement would last.
There was no word yet from Moore, who was suspended last week for refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove the monument by Aug. 20 and has promised to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. He regards the commandments as a symbol of the Judeo-Christian foundation of U.S. law.
The Alabama case has been the latest in disputes over Ten Commandment displays in the United States, which pit defenders of the Constitution's First Amendment guarantee that the government will not promote any religion against Christians who believe the Old Testament commandments should be displayed in schools or courthouses as a reminder of basic values.
Some of the several hundred protesters outside the Alabama building on Wednesday were distraught over the removal of the controversial stone.
'PUT IT BACK'
One protester screamed "Put it back, put it back" as others in front of the judicial building tried to calm him down.
"It is a lamentable day in Alabama and the United States," said Schenck, who is president of the National Clergy Council, a conservative Christian group based in Washington.
"It is demoralizing to see people compromise their principles, such as the governor, the attorney general and even the building management who installed this with enthusiastic resolve. In a time of trial and tribulation, people easily give up their principles."
But Larry Darby, Alabama state director of the American Atheists organization, said: "It is about time. That Roy Moore has made a mockery of the judicial system.
"He has disgraced the bench and the bar and has embarrassed the state of Alabama worldwide. I'm only disappointed that it will not be out of the building and off of taxpayer property."
Alabama's eight associate justices ordered the monument removed in compliance with a ruling from the U.S. District Court in Montgomery. That ruling was affirmed by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
Pat Mahoney, head of the Christian Defense Coalition, promised the monument would become a major issue in the next elections. "Anyone who runs for dogcatcher in the state of Alabama is going to be asked about the Ten Commandments," he said. "The public debate has begun in earnest."
Display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings has frequently been challenged in the United States over the interpretation of the First Amendment, along with other controversial church-state separation issues such as prayer in public schools.