| By Bob Weaver
Clay County's three county commissioners voted unanimously before an audience of over 200 yesterday to leave a plaque of the Ten Commandments on the wall of their chambers, declaring Clay a "nation under God."
Commissioner Jimmy Sams told the audience the Commandments will stay in place, where they have hung for six years.
A member of Clay's Library Board, Jacob Nichols, defended the religious symbol, saying "The reason we don't want other religions is because they are false." He said Jews and Buddhists shouldn't have the same constitutional rights as "the one true religion."
The overcrowded meeting had to be moved from the court house to the local high school auditorium. It lasted three hours.
"There is no such thing as a Christian Muslim. There is no such thing as a Christian Buddhist. A Christian is a person who has their faith in Jesus Christ," proclaimed a Clay minister.
Sheriff Randy Holcomb received a standing ovation when he told the audience that man-made laws are secondary to God's laws, indicating he will not follow constitutional rulings - "I don't have to go by man-made law."
While hands were held upward with praise and hymns were sung, one of the few speakers for separation of church and state, Jesse Sizemore, said constitutional law must be followed, otherwise the law becomes meaningless and open to interpretation by many different religions and groups.
This standard is what has allowed America to flourish, respecting many different religions and beliefs, he said.
Hecklers disrupted Sizemore several times during his alloted five minutes, while he was saying this county should not have a "state religion."
Several speakers, including local ministers, called the American Civil Liberties Union an "arm of Satan."
The ACLU is familiar to Clay countians, bringing a suit after an elementary school principal was having altar calls during school assemblies.
The ACLU has been threatening to go to court against Clay officials for violating rulings related to separation of church and state.
Rev. Jimmy Duffield said "That UCLA is the cause of the problem," apparently referring to the ACLU.
Andrew Schneider, executive director of the West Virginia chapter, says there's no question the display is illegal but says litigation is always a last resort.
The US Supreme Court has handed down split rulings on the legality of displaying the Ten Commandments at public buildings. At issue is whether there is a religious or historical purpose behind each display.
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