Pastors applaud Moore, see monument

NASHVILLE - More than 5,000 Southern Baptist pastors and their wives gave former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore standing ovations before and after he spoke to them Monday about being ousted from office for defying a federal order to remove the Ten Commandments monument he had placed in the state judicial building.

They also had a chance to get a close look at the granite monument itself, which was shipped from Gadsden to Nashville for the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference and the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, to be held today and Wednesday at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

There are 16.3 million Southern Baptists, the nation's largest Protestant denomination. Moore spoke to the pastors at the invitation of Gardendale First Baptist Church Pastor Steve Gaines, president of the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference.

Gaines called Moore "a hero of the faith" in his introduction. "Chief Justice Moore is known not only in America but around the world as the Ten Commandments judge," Gaines said. "I, for one, believe he took the right stand."

Moore recited quotations on God from the founding fathers, then showed video clips of the proceedings of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which ousted him from his post as chief justice.

The video showed Bill Pryor, the Alabama attorney general at the time, questioning Moore about whether he would continue to acknowledge God in his office as chief justice, and Moore responding that it was his duty to do so. The audience applauded amidst shouts of "Amen."

Moore said his stand has been misinterpreted. "The issue was not about a monument, it was not about religion, it was not about sneaking it in," he said. "Remember this. It's about the acknowledgment of God."

Gaines brought Moore back to the podium after the speech and asked the audience to sing "God Bless America."

 

Autographed books:

 

Then Moore went to an exhibition hall and signed hundreds of copies of his book, "So Help Me God," standing a few yards away from the controversial monument. It had recently been on display at CrossPoint Church, an independent church in Gadsden that Moore sometimes attends. He said he also maintains his membership at Gallant Baptist Church and still considers himself a Southern Baptist, one of more than a million Southern Baptists in Alabama.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell preached after Moore left the stage and praised him for "telling it like it is." Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., said, "I'm one of his most ardent supporters."

The Rev. Jason Dunlap, pastor of the 500-member Sharon Heights Baptist Church in Brookside in north Jefferson County, posed for a picture in front of the monument. "He took a stand for the truth," Dunlap said of Moore. "He explained his stand in a way that we could understand."

In an interview before he left Nashville, Moore said he still hasn't make up his mind whether to run for governor of Alabama. "I'm seriously considering it.

"I wouldn't want to run unless it was God's will," Moore said. "It's gotta come from the heart."