September 14, 2003

Recently, Richard Hahnemann--designer of the embattled Ten Commandments monument in Alabama's Supreme Court building--was interviewed by Declaration Foundation affiliate RenewAmerica.us about his relationship with Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, the condition of American law, and faith in God.

RENEWAMERICA.US:

Mr. Hahnemann, tell us at little about yourself.

RICHARD HAHNEMANN:

I had thought I was a Christian all of my life, but I didn't really surrender my life to Christ until I was 37 years old. I'm now fifty. The first three years, I was on my own--not having a church to guide me--so I did not grow at all. Ten years ago, I found a reformed Presbyterian church that has shepherded my growth tremendously. I've been a deacon in that church for three or four years now.

In the case of my involvement with this monument, I know I've been called to serve the Lord, and I will go wherever He leads me. I need to carry on with the mission the Lord has laid on me, and witness at every opportunity afforded. I pray that what I say and do will honor Him and not me.

By the way, my wife Joann homeschools our three children--Robert (16), Christopher (13), and Suzanne (12).

RENEWAMERICA.US:

How did you get involved in designing a Ten Commandments monument for Chief Justice Moore?

HAHNEMANN:

There's a story here that I'd like to share with everyone. It's an example of how God answers our prayers in ways far beyond what we could conceive for ourselves.

I have worked as a chemist contracted to nuclear power plants, a profession that I found to be incredibly stressful and family unfriendly. After 15 years, I was "burned out" on the industry and decided to take a sabbatical in my hometown of Huntsville, Alabama. Contracting had taken me around the country, and I wanted to settle my kids in an area where they would grow up surrounded by family. I became a Mr. Mom while my wife Joann returned to nursing.

I've always had a desire to pursue sculpting, but never the opportunity. Now I had the opportunity, and I took it.

I soon realized that I had a gift for sculpting. I continued to study and began to pray earnestly for God to give me guidance in how to use this gift. I have always prayed for the Lord to use me in a way that would bring man back to the proper relationship with Him. I thought that through this gift of sculpting I would create figurative bronze sculpture that would inspire the viewer to think about man's position before God and to realize His beauty and greatness, and at the same time our sinful nature.

Years of discouragement

A few years into the learning process, I came to realize how few sculptors are really able to make a living at it. I did not see myself as one of those few and certainly could not stay on sabbatical forever. I had a family to provide for and college expenses ahead. After five years, it was necessary to end the sabbatical and find real income again.

I eventually found employment that allowed Joann to return to managing our home and to begin home schooling our three children, Robert, Christopher and Suzanne. I continued studying sculpture in the evenings. My desire was still to somehow use this gift in the Lord's work. I continued to pray for ideas and direction. And though I had many ideas that I thought had potential, I never felt they were inspired.

After a few more years of continuing to develop my skills and praying for God to lead me, I added in my prayers that if I was foolish in this pursuit, that He make it clear to me. I had spent many hours away from Joann and the children pursuing this notion of being a sculptor. Seven years had now passed since I began sculpting, and five years of prayer had delivered nothing in regard to the right subject to present the Christian message I was looking for. I was certainly questioning the time I had invested and was wondering if this was all a foolish mid-life crisis and was beginning to be embarrassed when discussing my endeavor to be a sculptor with friends and family. This was weighing very heavily on my heart.

Then one afternoon at work, I received a phone call from a gentleman in Michigan, Dennis Pape.

An answer to prayer

Dennis asked me if I knew of Judge Roy Moore. I was vaguely familiar with his stand on the Ten Commandments in his courtroom in Gadsden, Alabama. He told me of how Judge Moore had just been elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and how he needed a sculptor to help him build a monument for the Alabama Supreme Court building--and that it would represent the "Moral Foundation of Law" and would include the Ten Commandments.

Dennis then asked me if I would be interested in serving in that capacity. Dennis could not see what was happening on my side of the phone, but there must have been an extended pause because my whole prayer life was racing through my mind at that moment.

When I began to speak I didn't know what would come out. I was overcome with emotions of joy, elation, the incredible realization of God answering my prayers so powerfully, a nobody of nobodies, true to His word. I know I wanted to cry, and at the same time I wanted to shout with joy. God had blessed me in so many ways in life with my wife and children and so much more that we as Americans are able to obtain in life. But now He was calling me to a task far greater and more direct to my prayers than I could possible have imagined.

When I did speak, I told Dennis how pleased I was to be asked and that I would surely serve. I also told him that I was a Christian. I am not sure, but I believe that Dennis had a similar response on his side of the phone. Dennis, who has been a good friend of Judge Moore, told me of how busy the judge was in preparing to close down his Gadsden office and home and begin anew in Montgomery, and how he needed to find a sculptor but did not know where to start. Dennis volunteered to take that burden from him.

Dennis searched the internet and found many sculptors, my name among them. He told me how my name had stood out somehow among the rest. He decided to pray about it for a few days and then returned to search again. He says the Lord was just telling him to pick my name among the list.

I tell you this because it illustrates how the Lord's hand has been obvious in this mission.

Working with Chief Justice Moore

I contacted Judge Moore and made an appointment to meet him a day or two later in his office in Gadsden, a two-hour drive from Huntsville. I took my oldest son, Robert with me, who was fourteen at the time. I did not tell judge Moore I was bringing Robert. I was certain that it was the right thing to do because that is what this is all about. It is about our families, our children and the Godless influences the world has on them. If Judge Moore wanted a sculptor to help him in this effort and if he was true to his stance, then he would appreciate a father who would bring his son to witness God's people in His service. If he was uncomfortable with it, then I would know something was not straight up.

I believed I surprised him a little, but his natural reaction was one of delight and enthusiasm. He witnessed to Robert and treated him with the kindness and attention. He spent a long time with us, explaining the circumstances that had brought us all to this point in time and what was needed to continue. I agreed wholeheartedly with his reasoning and convictions, though I had great difficulty keeping up with him.

The Chief Justice quoted scripture, law, and history faster than I could comprehend at times. On the drive home, I had an uncomfortable feeling about our meeting and I wasn't sure why. I had never been around anyone like Judge Moore before. He had such a passion for God and an incredible ability to recall paragraphs of scripture, American History, quotations of our founding fathers, and legal arguments word for word. His intellect and communication skills were far beyond the abilities of anyone I had ever met before.

This all happened so fast for me. I really did not know much at all about Judge Moore before I met him. I still needed a sanity check. I needed to bounce this off someone I respected and who would keep our discussion in confidence. I called my pastor from my cell phone and was able to meet with him when I arrived back in Huntsville. I think I just needed him to tell me that yes he is for real, which is what he told me to the best of his knowledge. I have not had any doubts since.

RENEWAMERICA.US:

Tell us what Judge Moore wanted you to create--and how you responded.

HAHNEMANN:

Chief Justice Moore (at the time, Chief Justice-elect Moore) wanted a monument that was worthy of the beautiful building it was going into, would please the people of Alabama, and most important would honor God. The monument was to reflect the "Moral Foundation of Law." It was to do so using quotations from our founding fathers and historical documents relating the creation of our law with the moral codes derived from God and identified in the Ten Commandments.

He had drawn up the design for the monument. We reviewed it together. I asked him if he would mind if I tried out some ideas also. He was graciously receptive. I basically stuck with his design but embellished the presentation in some areas. When I visited with him the next time, I presented him with my drawing. He and his wife Kayla both reviewed it and were pleased with the additions I had made.

This made a significant impression on me. This was the first of what was to be a number of occasions that I witnessed the Chief Justice offer an opinion, sometimes passionately as he does so often, but graciously listen and accept the opinion of others with complete humility.

RENEWAMERICA.US:

What would you say to those who agree that the Ten Commandments monument should remain in public view--but who consider Judge Moore a law-breaker for refusing to obey a federal court order to remove the monument?

HAHNEMANN:

We as Christians who have surrendered are lives to Christ believe strongly in the law, both secular and spiritual. So it is easy to understand how this action is interpreted as wrong. You have to be willing to put the effort into understanding what is being said by Justice Moore, Dr. Alan Keyes, Dr. James Dobson, and others on this issue. It requires more effort than most people are willing to exercise.

Without trying to understand more deeply than the surface issue of not obeying the federal judge's order, of course it would seem wrong. When you study Chief Moore's position, you may agree that it is the federal judge who is the lawbreaker and Juctice Moore who is actually standing by his oath of office and rights granted to him in the Alabama Constitution.

RENEWAMERICA.US:

Do you agree with Justice Moore, Alan Keyes, James Dobson, and others that the federal judiciary has itself become lawless, and that it's time for our elected officials to stand up to such "judicial tyranny"?

HAHNEMANN:

Chief Justice Moore, Dr. Keyes and Dr. Dobson are men of gifted intellect and integrity. They see the issues very clearly. I believe they are correct in their assessment of the federal courts.

RENEWAMERICA.US:

What do you think of the so-called "separation of church and state" doctrine that the federal courts have adopted over the years--and on which the courts base their crusade to remove God from the public arena?

HAHNEMANN:

The Founding Fathers did not write it into the Constitution. Congress did not write it into law. The Supreme Court is not supposed to write law, but interpret it.

How did we jump from the First Amendment, which specifically tells Congress (federal, not the state) to stay out of all matters relating to the establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof, to a federal judge saying a monument that depicts the factual historical significance of God in the creation of our legal system is an establishment of religion and is not allowed in a state judicial building?

Since when did the acknowledgement of factual history become an illegal issue? Are we to deny history or apologize for the Country our founding fathers created? The Chief Officer of our state courts was overwhelmingly elected by the people of Alabama based on his promise to place the monument in the State Supreme Court building. Since when does a federal judge have a right to overrule the people's elected sponsor in state business?

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling in the appeal case, wrote, "If we adopted his position, the chief justice would be free to adorn the walls of the Alabama Supreme Court's courtroom with sectarian religious murals and have decidedly religious quotations painted above the bench. Every government building could be topped with a cross, or a menorah, or a statue of Buddha, depending upon the views of the officials with authority over the premises."

These federal judges took a leap of judgment just like the concocted separation of church and state issue. A cross or menorah or statue of Buddha is not relative to the creation of our legal system, which is the main criterion for this monument to be placed in the State Supreme Court building. For these men to call themselves judges and totally discount this criterion is reprehensible and insulting to their office. Making such a statement reveals how much they avoided addressing the true issue.

The building they heard the appeal case in has as its focal point, in the main entry courtyard, a prominent monument and fountain to Themis, the Greek goddess of Justice. Is not the hypocrisy of such judgments evidence of judicial tyranny?

RENEWAMERICA.US:

How would you describe the recent rallies you've attended in Montgomery, Alabama? How have they influenced you personally? How have they affected others?

HAHNEMANN:

Anyone who has attended the rallies has felt the power and love of the Lord at work. The fellowship of brothers from the many faiths represented has been a tremendous blessing. The prayers and praise singing are unlike any I have ever experienced. Please attend when you can and bring your children to witness Christians and Jews united in God's service.

RENEWAMERICA.US:

What do you see as the solution to the current controversy surrounding the Ten Commandments monument? U.S. Supreme Court action? Congressional action? Presidential intervention? Growing public outrage?

HAHNEMANN:

I believe God's people need to stand up and be counted. We have sat by passively as our Country's moral values have been undermined time and time again. I have heard that when Roe vs. Wade was passed that it was said we will turn it around in the court system. Some 40 million destroyed lives later we have accomplished nothing. There is no doubt God is in control. How will He judge us when we have never stood up for Him?

RENEWAMERICA.US:

Finally, since 77% of Americans have been reported by a recent Gallup poll as wanting your monument put back on public display, how successful do you believe upcoming rallies will be in galvanizing public opinion to force Congress to resolve this problem by limiting the jurisdiction of the courts, as Alan Keyes has proposed? Will Congress respond to public pressure?

HAHNEMANN:

I did not witness it, but I understand that Congressmen ran all over themselves to find a microphone on the congressional steps to denounce the federal court ruling on the denial of the Pledge of Allegiance in California schools. This is the same issue. There is power in expressing outrage over these rulings.

RENEWAMERICA.US:

Richard, thank you so much for sharing with us your unique insight into this critical public policy issue.

HAHNEMANN:

It's been my pleasure.