It's issues like this that bring out the nuts on both sides of the political/religious spectrum.

First off, Judge Roy Moore's installation of the monument and his subsequent press conferences have been nothing more than political grandstanding. His installation of the monument is not about the Ten Commandments as much as it is about his own ego.

Over the past four decades there has been a concentrated effort by the courts to remove religion from public life. If you want to make a stand against the anti-religious path the courts have been taken, protect something that's been around for years that's being threatened -- don't try to install something that will stoke the ire of the ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. A better focus would be on the courts kicking the Boy Scouts out of Balboa Park here in San Diego because they are a "religious group" or the lawsuit over the cross atop Mt. Soledad by sensitive atheists that are emotionally crushed every time they see that symbol (atheists = vampires? You decide.)

Of course, this issue also brings out the nuts on the anti-religious left.

The Society for Professional Journalists listserv used to be a place where you could discuss career direction, how to do various kinds of reporting, advice on handling sources, etc. Well, it hasn't been a place for that for the past couple of years. Now it is more of a liberal echo chamber of conspiracy theories and, occasionally, incredible ignorance.

Which brings us to Arvind Kumar, someone who is a frequent poster on the list, yet uses only a pseudonym and apparently has no journalistic background or experience.

On a post discussing the Alabama Ten Commandments controversy, Kumar enlightens those on the list with this insightful analysis:

If Christians in USA had their way, they'd go about firebombing medical clinics. American Christian values are no different from Muslim values in many respects. It is just that they manifest themselves in different ways.

Examples:

1) Both Muslim fanatics and American Christians believe in not making a graven image of the beasts or fishes or god or humans. Mullah Omar refused to allow anyone to photograph him so as to not break this commandment. The Government of Bush will cage anyone who does scientific research clonig/stem [sic] cell research)

2) Many Muslims argue that wearing the burqua [sic] actually shows the strength of the woman. As you might know, I
posted a sample letter to the editor of Knoxville News Sentinel a few days back where the Bible thumper argued that submissiveness in a woman shows her strength. Bible belters are still debating whether women are human or sub-human in nature.

3) Both believe in harvesting souls for their religion. Both believe in using force to achieve this aim. In fact, both groups go about killing people who do not convert to their religion. The Christians do it with the help of the Churches in the Bible belt and their Governments. A few days back, I posted links to news items related to the US/UK sponsored terrorism for the sake of harvesting souls. Muslims call it jihad.

Kumar goes on, but it's important to point out that 99 percent of journalists (even though they hold liberal beliefs) don't believe Kumar's claptrap. Even some of the typical anti-Bush/anti-religious participants on the list have taken Kumar to task for his ignorance regarding graven images and exactly what one is.

I don't really participate much in the discussion there anymore -- it's a waste of time. Too many of the participants are in their own little world and any challenge to their wisdom is met with insults and threats to get one "evicted" from the listserv.

Just a reminder, these people are out there, and they don't think much of anyone who's not an ultra-liberal atheist.