US conservative Christians slam “judicial autocracy”
By Pat Harris
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Christian conservative
leaders and U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay rallied on
Sunday to condemn activist judges and heap praise on U.S.
President George W. Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court, John
Roberts.
Organizers of the rally, which featured a packed audience
at a Baptist church swaying and singing hymns beneath two huge
American flags, said they hoped to use the gathering as a
“launching pad” to mobilize Christians against judges they say
are overriding the Constitution with their decisions.
Televised to churches across the country and broadcast over
the Internet, “Justice Sunday II: God Save the United States
and This Honorable Court” was co-sponsored by the prominent
Christian conservative groups Family Research Center and Focus
on the Family.
Speaking from the pulpit, DeLay, a Texas Republican,
decried what he called “the judicial autocracy” that was
“casting aside moral values” to rewrite the law instead of
interpreting it.
DeLay praised Roberts as someone who is “intelligent,
judicious and open-minded and I think he understands the
critical but limited role of the courts.”
Dr. James Dobson, the head of Focus on the Family, said in
a videotaped address projected onto a giant screen above the
altar that Democrats such as Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy and
other “minions on the left” would try to turn Roberts’ upcoming
senate confirmation process into a “circus.”
Among the other speakers at the two-hour rally were Robert
Bork, a conservative who was nominated for the Supreme Court by
Ronald Reagan but rejected by the Senate; the Catholic League’s
Bill Donohue, who proposed that all high court rulings
overturning an act of Congress should be unanimous; and former
Georgia Democratic senator turned Republican firebrand Zell
Miller.
DRIVING THE BUS
“Catholics and other Christians together, we are going to
move to the front of the bus and take command of the wheel,”
Donohue said.
Bush nominated Roberts to replace the retiring moderate
conservative Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and there soon may be
additional retirements that could give Bush additional slots to
fill and turn the court farther to the right.
“The recent nomination of John Roberts has spurred our
country into a conversation about the court’s role in our
society,” DeLay said.
“Wisdom does not reside in nine persons in black robes,” he
said. “We respect the judges but our respect does not grant
judges the powers many have assumed.”
Cathy Cleaver Ruse of the Family Research Center called for
emphasis on three issues — a procedure that its critics call
“partial-birth” abortion, abortion in general and euthanasia.
The first “Justice Day” rally in April attacked Democrats
who were filibustering against Bush’s federal court nominees,
saying the Democrats were opposed to people of faith.
Several groups have voiced opposition to the rallies,
especially some Christians critical of what they see as a
mingling of religion and politics.
“We live in a complex society and theirs is a simplistic
approach,” said the Rev. Bill Sherman, a Baptist minister in
nearby Fairview, Tennessee.
“To identify your church with a party, to push your agenda
is not the proper function of the church. I don’t like for any
church to try to manipulate a political party. Politicians
should be elected, not chosen by the church. There are plenty
of Baptists who feel as I do and do not feel this is
appropriate,” he said.