By DAVID ROYER

The Brunswick News

Moses carried them from Mount Sinai in the Book of Exodus. Alabama carted them out of its Supreme Court building last year.

Wednesday, the Ten Commandments reached Brunswick, where city and Glynn County leaders gathered to throw their support behind what rally organizers called the "foundation of our moral law."

About 40 people were at Overlook Park to get a glimpse of the a two-and-a-half-ton carved granite block — the controversial monument that cost Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore his seat on the state's Supreme Court last November, after he refused court orders to remove the display from the rotunda of the Alabama judicial building.

Representatives from both city and county police departments and business owner Pete Vivenzio eagerly mounted the stage and used the opportunity to affirm their belief that Christian fundamentals formed the basis for secular laws in America.

"We were founded upon the laws of God," Brunswick Mayor Brad Brown told the audience. "We were not founded on the laws of Islam, or Buddha, or Hinduism, or any other '-ism' out there. We were founded upon the principles that were found in the Ten Commandments."

Vivenzio called on "the few, the proud, the brave" to stand with him behind "God's word."

"This is God's word and it has power," he said.

If citizens would only follow the laws outlined in the Ten Commandments, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said, there would be no need for his department.

A veteran's group, American Veterans Standing for God and Country, acquired Moore's monument in July and began a nationwide tour of it in Dayton, Tenn. Since then, the flag-draped flatbed truck carrying the monument has made stops in 53 cities, including Savannah on Tuesday.

The group plans to end the tour with a vigil Oct. 21 in Washington, D.C., where leaders say they hope to get the Ten Commandments placed in the rotunda of the Capitol.

Jim Cabaniss, president of umbrella organization American Veterans in Domestic Defense, told the audience that his group's challenge was to seek out "domestic enemies" and "neutralize their negative power."

Those enemies, he said, include Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a group backed by mainline churches, which helped provide the legal challenge against Moore's display last year.

Cabaniss publicly called for an apology from the group's leader, the Rev. Barry Lynn, who has likened the veterans' group to a far-right fringe organization.

"It will snow 6 feet in Brunswick, Ga., in July before we apologize," replied Robert Boston, spokesperson for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, from the group's Washington, D.C. office. "If anything it's Roy Moore who owes an apology for making a mockery of the judicial system."

Local governmental support of Moore's display has not been an unusual sight as the monument passes through small Southern towns, Boston said, but officials walked a fine line in their endorsement of an explicitly religious symbol.

"If Roy Moore supporters want to drag (the monument) all over the country like a carnival exhibit, that's their business. But I would hope that our elected officials would have the good sense not to endorse activity that could lead to the establishment of a theocracy in the United States."

Boston's secular views, however, do not resonate widely with the American public. A CNN-Gallup poll taken last year at the height of the Roy Moore controversy showed that only about one in five Americans agreed with a U.S. District Court judge's ruling that the Ten Commandments be removed from the courthouse in Montgomery, Ala.

"We're trying to take our country back," said Lezle Denson, an Army veteran from Hortense who brought her son, Justin, a student at Brunswick Christian Academy, to view the monument in Brunswick.

"The judges should not dictate what the majority wants. It's time we stand up."

Brown, who said he felt like he was in a battle to restore morality to the American conscience, acknowledged that his unabashedly conservative stance might invite detractors.

Still, he was unfazed after his speech in front of the monument.

"What's another stone thrown at me?" said Brown, known for his outspoken views. "I sleep well at night."

The Ten Commandments monument moved to Christian Renewal Church of Brunswick on U.S. Highway 341 Wednesday afternoon after its appearance at Overlook Park. It will be on display today in St. Marys.