NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Evangelical leaders James Dobson and Pat Robertson came down on opposing sides of the Alabama Ten Commandments controversy Aug. 25, while a third evangelical, Richard Land, released a further elaboration of his position.

Speaking on his daily Focus on the Family radio program, Dobson said he supports Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and "strongly" disagrees with evangelicals who have criticized Moore's legal strategy.

Robertson and Land both said that while they believe Moore's Ten Commandments display is constitutional, they think he should have obeyed a federal court order and removed the monument. Robertson made his comments on the "Jay Sekulow Live!" radio program, while Land did so in a column posted on Baptist Press' website, The day's events highlight a divide on the issue among evangelicals.

"We're at a turning point, a pivotal point in the history of this country," said Dobson, who discussed the issue with Moore, former presidential candidate Alan Keyes and Focus on the Family President Don Hodel. "This is just not another issue.... There are times when you have to respond to a higher law."

Dobson encouraged listeners to go to Montgomery, Ala., where more than 100 of Moore's supporters are camped out in front of the state judicial building, hoping to stop the monument's removal. Moore's eight associate justices overruled him Aug. 21 and ordered the monument removed.

Dobson even mentioned Land by name, saying that Land is a "great friend and I agree with him on almost everything. I just think he's making a mistake here."

But Land, noting that the issue "has sadly and sharply divided evangelical Christians," said the court order must be followed and the judicial system allowed to work.

"Do evangelical Christians really want to say that this United States government is no longer a legitimate government and that we are no longer obligated to obey its courts when we disagree with their rulings?" Land wrote. "If so, let us understand it for what it is. It is insurrection. I want to reform this government, not rebel against it as an illegitimate government beyond repair."

Land repeated his support for the public display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings and said he will "continue to do everything" he can "to encourage evangelical Christians to rise up and reform this government and its courts."

Christians must not "support defiance of the law by officials sworn to uphold the law," Land said. He then gave a list of hypothetical situations he said could occur if Moore's actions are followed elsewhere.