When the dim begin to see the light

Back in 2003 Judge Roy Moore was removed as Alabama's Chief Justice after the state's nine-member Court of Judicial Inquiry found he had violated judicial ethical standards for defiance of a federal judge's order to move a Ten Commandments monument he had installed in the rotunda of the state courthouse.

At the time, Moore was the fun-D'uh-Mentalists' outrage du jour as they picketed outside the courthouse, wept, prayed and bemoaned how godless secular humanists were pickin' on them 'cause they were decent, God-fearin' Christian folks who only wanted to live by the Bible ... and make sure everyone else did, too.

Moore parlayed his 15 minutes of fame into the speaking circuit, making the rounds of various right-wing religious groups and has now announced he intends to run for governor of Alabama. In an e-mail sent out by his wife soliciting donations for Moore's campaign, there's no hesitation to invoke that boogie-man of the religious reich - homo-seck-shuls! - to raise money. Apparently all the good Christian folks in Alabama fear nothing so much as the specter of homos and perverts running roughshod over the country and introducing grade school courses on the joys of sodomy.

Well, not quite all the good folks of Alabama. Seems one of Moore's former supporters has come out against his candidacy.

Christian talk show host Kelly McGinley, the woman who filed suit to have Moore reinstated to the bench, has done an about-face and is warning her listeners about the threat posed by Moore.

An editorial in The Decatur (Ala.) Daily carries some interesting observations by McGinley:

From Mobile, Ms. McGinley said Mr. Moore and his followers want to establish a theocracy, or a government by a person or persons who claims to rule with divine authority.

She said they “wish to bring a government based on Old Testament law, which would administer the death penalty for offenses ranging from homosexuality to talking back to your parents.”

She says his election could trigger a major showdown between state and federal governments that could lead to violence.

She links the Republican Party, the Council for National Policy, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Masons in a web of conspiracy to impose Biblical law.

“It is too extreme for the likes of me,” she said.

Hmmmm ... that's a pretty strong condemnation coming fro someone who ostensibly shares Moore's religion.

It's also something that reasonable people - those who aren't mainlining Jesus until the are hooked on hate - have been saying all along.

The religious reich are hellbent (pardon the pun) on replacing the Constituion with "Biblical law." Their warped world view has too long been tolerated and explained away as simply a group of people trying to hold on to their beliefs in a rapidly changing secular world.

It's good to see that people within the social conservative movement are finally waking up to reality and understanding that when folks like Moore talk about "culture war," their emphasis is clearly on the second word.