"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
--Matthew 6: 1-2
Say what you will about the Prophet from Galilee, He was no fool. He knew the world under His feet so well that you'd think He'd made it. Verily, there is a reward for showing the world just how powerfully upstanding and good and religious you are. Unlike all those other unwashed no-'counts who don't even have religious bumper stickers on their cars.
The reward for blowing one's trumpet and calling attention to one's goodness may be just an earthly reward, but it is a very real one. Some people call it fame. Sometimes fame leads to money. Sometimes it'll lead to a promotion. Maybe a book deal. And maybe even a reality TV program if you play your cards right.
Roy Moore over in 'Bama has been reaping these very real rewards for years now, and, boy, does he know how to bring attention to his goodness.
Once upon a time, a little over a decade ago, Roy Moore was removed from the Alabama bench for refusing to remove a boulder-sized Ten Commandments monument he had installed in a state judicial building. But don't call his removal a punishment. Oh, no. He was greatly rewarded that he may have glory of men. He not only won elective office on the high court again, but many followers. Not enough followers to make him governor of Alabama, but enough followers that he received a standing-O the other day when he testified in his case. Ah, what a glorious feeling it must be when people stand and applaud your goodness. That's got to be a handsome reward.
This time the Alabama Court of the Judiciary suspended the good sir judge for defying the U.S. Supreme Court on gay marriage. The Court of the Judiciary found that Roy Moore defied law (again) when he told Alabama's 68 probate judges to deny marriage licenses to gay couples. He had said in a 93-page concurrence to an Alabama Supreme Court decision earlier this year it was the duty of judges to "disregard illegal orders." Maybe he was absent the day they taught law in law school. The United States Supreme Court has a lot of say on what is legal and what isn't. We the People have more of a say, which is why amendments to the Constitution take awful decisions like Dred Scott off the books. But until Judge, er, Mr. Moore can get amendments through the extensive political process, the U.S. Supreme Court can, yes, tell him what's what.
But not even the U.S. Supreme Court can tell Roy Moore to violate his conscience. Which is why he could have quietly resigned his position as a judge. Without press conferences or statements or TV interviews that he may have the glory of men. Roy Moore chose a more public path.
Not to worry. Roy Moore's followers and detractors say you haven't heard the last of him. Some say he'll run for governor again. Or maybe even attorney general of Alabama, where he could really create confusion in legal circles.
"The last time he was kicked off as chief justice, he ran for governor," says a former political consultant. "I don't think he's done."
Of course not. That wouldn't be Roy Moore's style. That would be unrewarding.
Now where are those trumpets?
Editorial on 10/06/2016