So Help Me God

Moore's refusal to follow a court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state court building cost him his position as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. In this fascinating memoir, he reflects on his struggle to comply with the law and be true to his faith. His essential premise is that our Founding Fathers, via the Declaration of Independence, acknowledged the sovereignty of God in the life of our nation, notwithstanding the clause forbidding the establishment of a national religion. He notes the prominence of God in the swearing of oaths and other aspects of court procedures, as well as our nation's continuing Judeo-Christian traditions. Moore sees the efforts by the ACLU and other groups to remove all references to religion as a reflection of the nation's downward moral drift. His passion in asserting his own religious commitment reflects his personal courage in standing up for his beliefs, but for those who do not share them, he also makes a clear case for justifying the sanctions against him.