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Justice Sunday II - August 14, 2005
"God Save the United States and this Honorable Court!"

The Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., will host the Family Research Council's "Justice Sunday II - God Save the United States and this Honorable Court" on Sunday, August 14. This follow-up to "Justice Sunday - Stopping the Filibuster Against People of Faith" will be broadcast live in churches across the country, and carried on hundreds of radio and "Christian TV" stations, and via a live webcast.

The theme is "How activist judges subvert the family, undermine religious freedom and threaten our nation's future."

NOW objects to this cynical use of churches to promote a highly partisan message. The right wing is trying to claim that feminist and progressive groups are opposed to Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts because he is a man of faith. These cronies of George W. Bush are implying, as they often do, that liberals cannot also be people of faith. Their "one faith fits all" dogma is insulting.

By holding this event in a church and broadcasting it to churches across the country, political extremists are also making clear that they will use evangelical religion to promote ultra-conservative Supreme Court nominees and trample on women's rights. The separation of church and state will also become history if their agenda succeeds.

Speakers at the event will include Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family), Phyllis Schlafly (Eagle Forum), Bill Donohue (Catholic League), Bishop Harry Jackson (Hope Christian Church) and former Senator Zell Miller (D-GA), among others, and are featured on their web site.

At the first Justice Sunday on April 24, Dr. James Dobson claimed that "the biggest Holocaust in world history came out of the Supreme Court" because of the Roe v. Wade decision. Two weeks earlier, he had compared the Supreme Court justices to members of the Ku Klux Klan.

In April, Perkins said, "The Court has become increasingly hostile to Christianity, and it poses a greater threat to representative government — more than anything, more than budget deficits, more than terrorist groups."

Perkins said in regard to the upcoming event that "Justice Sunday II is intended as a 'pre-emptive strike' to warn Democrats not to question a Supreme Court nominee" about the nominee's personal beliefs on abortion and other issues.

Background Information on Select Speakers:

Tony Perkins
Tony Perkins is President of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council. Perkins is a former member of the Louisiana legislature, where he was author of the nation's first "Covenant Marriage Law." He hosts a weekly national radio program, "Washington Watch Weekly," and sends daily updates to tens of thousands of grassroots activists. In 1996, Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,500 (allegedly for his small mailing list), as campaign manager for a right wing candidate - who was later fined for trying to hide the payment to Duke. In 2001, Perkins addressed one of America's leading white supremacist organizations, the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), successor to the White Citizens' Councils which battled integration in the South.

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
Tom DeLay is the Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has a pattern of repeated legal and ethical scandals. As The New York Times reported, "Almost every Republican in the House owes Mr. DeLay for something - a job, a piece of legislation or a large campaign contribution." He is being investigated for campaign finance violations associated with his TRMPAC (Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee) and international trips with lobbyists. He has said, "A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure, to provide stability."

Dr. James Dobson
Dr. James Dobson is a conservative psychologist who hosts a daily radio show called Focus on the Family on over 6,000 radio stations. In 1977, he founded a non-profit organization of the same name of which he is currently chair of the board. His programs are estimated to be heard by more than 200 million people every day. The Family Research Council is the political arm of Focus on the Family. Dobson is one of the most influential evangelical leaders in America today.

Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum, has been a national leader of the conservative movement since 1964. She rose to prominence while opposing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) during the 1970s and early 1980s. Since then, she has been a regular spokesperson against progressive causes, particularly women's rights and LGBT rights.

Sen. Zell Miller
Zell Miller is the former Democratic senator and former governor of Georgia. Miller was appointed to Georgia's open Senate seat in 2000 and his conservative conversion gained strength. In 2004, he published A National Party No More, a tirade against the Democratic Party. He endorsed Bush for the presidency in 2004 and gave a keynote address at the Republican National Convention in New York last summer. He has become the Republican's symbol of what they call the "out-of-touch Democratic Party."

More on the Supreme Court.