And don’t forget, “Just Us” Sunday begins in just a few hours:
Two Rivers Baptist Church in Donelson, is hosting the evangelical rally on religion and the Supreme Court on Sunday.
Organizers say they want to educate people about judicial matters.
“It’s great to have both points of view, but what we’re trying to do is wake people up to how important judges are in all of our lives,” said George Uribe, Justice Sunday producer.
The event is a follow-up to the first Justice Sunday, held in April at a mega-church in Louisville, Kentucky. At that event, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called for an end to filibusters of judicial nominees.
At Justice Sunday II, other well known political figures including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will speaking to a crowd of 3,000 in person and to many more watching the telecast on stations throughout the country.
But not all churches in town agree with the message behind the rally.
An event aimed at countering the message of Justice Sunday II will be held at the Cathedral of Praise Church. Bishop Jerry L. Maynard said several churches decided to organize “Community of Faith and Unity” after hearing that Justice Sunday II was going to take place in Nashville. They believe Justice Sunday blurs the line that separates church and state.
Personally, I can’t wait to hear what Tom DeLay will have to say.
Or maybe I can.
Jim Caputo
Perhaps he’ll say something like this…
“The time has come that the American people know exactly what their Representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know…I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation.”
At least that’s what Tom Delay said on November 16, 1995.
Defense Guy
It is not being done in secret, so I am not sure why it should be considered a problem.
Jackson
I am live-blogging it.
Joe
I wonder just how many ‘pastors’ are in violation of IRS rules requiring churches to not engage in political activity in order to maintain their tax exempt status.
I believe the neo-cons have HR235 which would allow the churches to divert up to 20% of the sunday offerings to direct political activity.
WTF, over
-Joe
Darrell
Sincere, but naive question – what’s the big deal with Justice Sundays? Is everybody’s main beef that a religious leader is taking political positions?
If so, given pastor Jesse Jackson’s former prominence, and the fact that Dems use black churches all the time for political rallies and fund raising, this doesn’t seem to be such a big deal, or maybe it is.. I’ve probably missed something… perhaps some foolish statements were made in the first Justice sunday or something
Jim Caputo
The beef is about political leaders taking their religious beliefs and making them law, or using them as the basis for law (i.e. stem cells, morning after pill, etc.). My religion, the Not So Holy Church of Jim (find out more here), doesn’t consider an egg fertilized two days ago to be a living, breathing child, therefore, I don’t see stem cell research or using the morning after pill as murder.
Now please don’t go spouting off about how this is a country formed on Judeo-Christian beliefs. It’s not. Of the 10 “laws” supposedly handed down to Moses, only two are actually criminal acts in this country: stealing and murder. The one about bearing false witness is only a crime when done under oath, so that’s like a part-timer. The other seven you can break at will with no criminal penalty. Just look…
Darrel, Holy Zeus, I want to do your goddamned wife!
That one statement just broke three commandments. Nothing bad is going to happen to me because our justice system isn’t founded on the laws of the Bible.
If you do the research, you’ll find that the enlightenment period philosophers had much more influence on the formation of this country than did the Bible. After all, we didn’t need to break away from England to become a “Christian” country; we already were one.