HOUSTON -- Pastors from all denominations and people from all walks of life gathered for a lunch-hour protest Thursday in front of the downtown Civil Courthouse in support of a Bible monument displayed on state property.

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Group Rallies In Support Of Bible Monument

A lawsuit has been filed to remove the monument, but the flocks of people downtown said they will do anything to keep that from happening.

"The issue isn't just this Bible or the history behind this display. The issue is, 'Can we acknowledge God in the public square?' We are here to say, "Yes we can,'" Clear Lake's Grace Community Church Pastor Steve Riggle said.

Riggle is one of several pastors that showed up Thursday in support of keeping the King James version of the Bible where it is -- outside the Civil Courthouse.

"We represent the majority of the nation," Riggle said. "We are really not a fringe group. We are the American mainstream. We still believe in God and we still want this to be a one nation under God."

A recent lawsuit -- based on new efforts to purge all religious expressions from public property -- states the display violates a separation of church and state.

The suit states, "Harris County's lit (King James Version) Bible display violates the First Amendment to the Constitution whose first clause is Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. In displaying the neon lit Bible in front of the Harris County Civil Courthouse, Harris County, Texas promotes, endorses and entangles itself with the religion of Protestant Christianity."

"I want to support the word of God," supporter Esther Vallerio said.

The people who gathered downtown Thursday said they are there to show support for their county judge and attorney who are in support of the monument remaining outside the courthouse.

News2Houston reported that in all the people talked to at the protest, no one seemed to be in support of the lawsuit.