Millions Tune In for 'Justice Sunday II,' Hear Call to Action on Judicial Activism
by Allie Martin
August 15, 2005
(AgapePress) - Christian activists were encouraged to make their voices heard from the White House to the ballot box in order to rein in activist judges.
Focus on the Family Action and Family Research Council sponsored the Sunday evening event (August 14) called "Justice Sunday II." Speakers such as Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson, Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Lanham, Maryland, FRC president Tony Perkins, Catholic League president William Donohue, and others addressed thousands at Nashville's Two Rivers Baptist Church and an estimated audience of 79 million through television, radio, and the Internet. Others speaking included former Georgia Senator Zell Miller, Ted Haggard of the National Association of Evangelicals, and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Those attending and those watching or listening were urged to pray to God and to call their senators about the upcoming confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts. None of the speakers explicitly called for Roberts' confirmation, but Zell Miller said people of faith should take action before those hearings begin early next month.
"Call and write your senators and organize your friends to do the same," Miller said. "Cover this confirmation process with a blanket of prayer."
And he encouraged that same group of men and women of conscience to stand up and speak out. "For too long the Supreme Court has been handing down decisions that people of faith simply cannot accept," the former Georgia governor said. "Isn't it strange that a government requires a 'No Smoking' sign around gas pumps to remind us of that danger, but then thinks we don't need to be reminded of the danger of living a sinful life."
The NAE's Haggard said Christians must not be silent on cultural issues. "If we believe in civil liberties, we must speak out. If we believe that people have dignity, we must speak out," he said.
"We as Christians need to speak up, we need to debate, we need to vote, we need to present our best case. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., reminded us all -- 'All it takes is a God-intoxicated people, one generation, to alter the course of history from then on.'" Haggard also encouraged believers to become informed, articulate, and accurate, and to run for public office.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), noted the clear purpose of the gathering in Nashville. "Justice Sunday ... isn't a protest against anything; it's a rally in support of a constitutional judiciary that respects and adheres to the co-equal role it was given by our founders," the Texas lawmaker said. "That role is to interpret and apply the laws -- not rewrite them."
Roberts' nomination, DeLay continued, has put the nation's focus on the proper role of the courts. And that nomination, he said, is about as "uncontroversial as one could imagine." Roberts, he said, is "by all accounts ... intelligent, judicious, open-minded" -- but above all "appears to understand and appreciate the critical, but limited, role of the judicial system in our constitutional government."
It is upon that last point the national conversation will hinge, DeLay opined. "The constitution is clear on the point that the power to make laws is vested in Congress -- and that the federal courts are limited solely to their power to interpret and apply those laws," he said. "In light of the debate over Judge Roberts' confirmation, all Americans should look closely at the issue of judicial activism and make their voices heard."
The Family Research Council is preparing "Save the Court" kits, with information on judicial activism, along with a DVD of Sunday's event (available August 29).
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
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