Fumbling toward coherence

Sure, that stuff about establishing justice and ensursing domestic tranquility and providing for the common defense is nice. But Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Moore knows what the American government's real purpose is: to recognize God.

The First Amendment's Establishment Clause might appear to present a slight obstacle there, but as Moore explained Wednesday during a speech in Tuscaloosa, the concept of church-state separation dates to Old Testament days, when God pulled rulers and priests from different families. Besides, we get Thanksgiving off, so there.

One might wonder why it's so important to erect giant granite Ten Commandments monuments on public property, especially when you can put them all over private property to your heart's content. But as The Crimson White reports, Moore's motives are humanitarian: "Moore said government has to recognize God to avoid eventual chaos and the killing of innocent people."

In other words, God will allow thousands to die in chaos unless we hang enough crosses on the courthouse walls, even though He established church-state separation in the first place.

I stopped trying to make sense of Roy a long time ago.