Q: How do you view the way the media have covered your
story?
A: … I am actually shocked to see the disinformation that
comes out of the media. I've watched it in Alabama; it's particularly
atrocious. They write articles that have no basis in truth. They will
not print the truth. They avoid anything favorable, and they jump on
the least accusation from someone. It's vicious, that's all I can say.
I'm experiencing it right now, as we speak.
The former governor of Alabama, who hasn't said a word, more or
less, to the press for six or seven years, he came out and made an
affidavit in support of my motion to recuse the attorney general of
Alabama [William Pryor] from prosecuting this case. The governor said,
when he appointed the attorney general to the office, he explicitly
questioned him on violating court orders which intrude into the
sovereignty of the state.
The governor asked the AG what he would do if, for example, the
governor were found in contempt. And he indeed said he would support
the governor. Today, he turns around and he says that he would obey
the rule of law. He will obey a judge who tells him he can't
acknowledge God, despite the fact that the Constitution of Alabama
says we must.
We find today that that very appointed attorney general, who has
since been elected, has reversed his position. And he'll do whatever
man says, despite the fact that he knows it violates the Constitution
of Alabama and the Constitution of the United States, which he even
admits. His position today is directly contrary to his position when
he took office. This is what I'm finding. This was put out by the
governor. Will the press print it? No. They'll make a mention of it in
an article, and then they go on.
If I were caught in the same situation, it would be on every
editorial page, every day, over and over. I can find no major
newspaper in Alabama which has had a single positive thing to say
about the Ten Commandments case.
I am very shocked, very surprised, at the attitude of the media –
the written media, the newspapers – regarding this issue. I find less
prejudice in the televised media and the radio media. The talk shows,
there are some that are favorable and some that are not. But they're
at least honest opinions. They allow people to voice their opinions.
The written media, they're particularly atrocious. I had my
attorney tell me the other day – and I won't mention the paper – but
my attorney told me that one of the writers for this particular
newspaper actually told him that they could not get their story
through the editors. That's how bad it is.
In this whole procedure, every motion we've made has been denied.
The point of the attorney general getting out of the case, when he
clearly has a personal interest – two people on the ethics committee
are extending past their term of office as appointed by the governor –
but the attorney general says that's okay. The justices of the Supreme
Court turning to the attorney general for advice on the law – I find
it completely hypocritical. They're supposed to be justices on the
Alabama Supreme Court, not doing whatever the attorney general says.
Yes, there are some weird things going on, quite frankly.
Q: Returning to the accusation that you've created this
situation for political gain, what is the personal price you're paying
to continue in this fight?
A: Well, besides all the criticism I endure from the papers,
you realize that I'm at risk of losing my job because I've
acknowledged God. Not only that, I could lose my retirement. My family
goes through these agonizing things also, because I'm the only
breadwinner. My wife's not employed. This is my career. And I could
lose my career. But nothing will stop me from acknowledging God.
Not only do the scriptures speak that we must acknowledge God, but
also the very Constitution I'm sworn to uphold says I must acknowledge
God. So, we've just gotten to a point in this country where we've let
judges take away that acknowledgement. And we've got to stand up for
our rights, or else we're going to lose them.
What I'm doing is not for me. It's for the children, and
grandchildren and for generations to come. If we don't turn back to
recognition that our rights come from God, the creator, then we're
going to lose our rights.
We've already lost so much in this country. Our morality has simply
gone to pot. You can open any newspaper in any city, and find things
that would never have occurred 50 years ago. People are losing their
sense of right and wrong. George Washington said in his farewell
address on the 17th of September in 1796, "Of all the dispositions and
habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are
indispensable supports. … Whatever may be conceded to the influence of
refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and
experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail
in exclusion of religious principle."
Well, today we're not cognizant of our reason and experience. It
should teach us that the further we get away from God, the more crime,
the more violence, the more theft and lying we shall have. But we
haven't learned that simple lesson. Reason and experience haven't
taught it to us.
Go to Page 2
see also
Roy Moore Poll
What should Roy do now?
