My hope that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's case could be a turning point in the federal judiciary's monarchial reign over the American people is fading rapidly. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court (unsuprisingly) rejected Moore's request for an emergency stay of the appellate court ruling that the Ten Commandments monument must be removed from the judicial building.

The deadline for the removal of the monument passed about 45 minutes ago (as I write this), and it appears that some prominent Christians are beginning to get cold feet about the case. Sadly, this includes Alabama attorney general Bill Pryor, of whom I wrote glowingly only a few weeks ago. Rather than taking a stand against the judicial monarchy, Pryor has apparently decided to heel.

An email newsletter from Doug Phillips' Vision Forum provided the best synopsis I've seen today, and since I can't find a link for the same piece on their website, my hope is that they won't mind my quoting at length from it. I think it's that important. Says Phillips:

This Friday, the Supreme Court of Alabama will meet to consider holding Chief Justice Roy Moore in contempt of court for his refusal to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama State Judicial Building. Also to be determined is whether the other justices will invoke a procedural technicality in the law by which they can independently act to remove the monument.

We are looking at the very real possibility that the finest, most courageous, and most godly Chief Justice this nation has seen in more than one-hundred years will be routed by a man slated by President Bush to join the very same court that has declared it unconstitutional to acknowledge God as the source of our laws.

The proposed coup d’état against Chief Justice Moore was initiated and staged by Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, who has vowed to remove the monument. Pryor, who originally claimed to support Justice Moore, has been under tremendous pressure from groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State to act against the Chief Justice, or suffer severe political consequences. Pryor was recently nominated by President Bush for a spot on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Earlier today, the United States Supreme Court denied a petition by Chief Justice Moore to block the federal courts from acting to remove the Ten Commandments monument. Counsel for the Chief Justice made the case in their filings before the Supreme Court that he should be allowed to “establish justice by acknowledging the guidance and favor of Almighty God, placed upon him by his oath of office and the Constitution of Alabama.”

Unfortunately, Moore now has unneeded opposition from his Christian flank:

Among those who seek to rally behind the Chief Justice, a growing number are expressing profound disappointment with Christian commentators who have used the Ten Commandments debate to attack the Chief Justice for his strategy, including Jay Sekulow, Marvin Olasky, and Richard Land - three Christian leaders who have publicly criticized the Chief Justice before the press for his strategic stand.

Sekulow, the founder of the American Center for Law and Justice, expressed public concern that the Chief Justice was pushing a constitutional showdown. Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention described Chief Justice Moore’s actions as “deeply disturbing.” Appearing on The 700 Club, WORLD Magazine editor Marvin Olasky twice criticized Chief Justice Moore for choosing to fight on “the wrong ground.”

Those who are close to the case recognize that such criticisms are rooted in fundamental misconceptions about the constitutional issues present, as well as an implicit capitulation to the philosophy of pragmatism, a philosophy Olasky recently defended in a WORLD Magazine article.

The strength of Chief Justice Moore’s strategy is precisely that he is challenging long-held faulty premises. He is standing on the foundations. Howard Phillips, father of yours truly and founder of the Conservative Caucus, responded this way: “We should recognize that there is a division within the Christian community between Christians who take the Bible and the Constitution literally, as distinguished from those who give priority to commentaries and who rely on Supreme Court rulings which are themselves unconstitutional to the degree they disregard and set aside the plain text and precise words of the Constitution.”

Phillips then concludes with a call to action:

....your phone call to the Governor and the Supreme Court Justices might make a difference. The governor has it in his power to stop the efforts of the Attorney General. Furthermore, there are three Supreme Court seats up for office in 2004. The current Supreme Court Justices need to know the broad grassroots opposition to any decision to support the federal court’s unconstitutional and extra-jurisdictional demand that Alabama be prohibited from acknowledging God, as required by the state constitution.

Please consider calling the following numbers to urge the leaders of Alabama to stand by the Chief Justice in acknowledging God as the source of law.

Attorney General Bill Pryor: (334) 242-7300
Governor Bob Riley: (334) 242-7100
Justice Gorman Houston (Senior Associate Justice): (334) 242-4588
Justice Harold See: (334) 242-4608
Justice Champ Lyons: (334) 242-4352
Justice Jean Brown: (334) 242-4245
Justice Bernard Harwood: (334) 242-4594
Justice Tom Woodall: (334) 242-4578
Justice Lyn Stuart: (334) 242-4585
Justice Douglas Johnstone: (334) 242-4598

If Christians don't have the guts to take a stand here, they may as well never take a stand against judicial tyranny again. "Oh goodness, a Constitutional crisis! We can't have that!