Justice Sunday Divides Christians Over Judiciary

April 25, 2005

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0504250132apr25,1,2838690.story

On April 25, 2005 the Chicago Tribune reported, "[Louisville] in the heart of the Bible Belt became ground zero Sunday for a battle over the federal judiciary between Christians who support President Bush and Christians who oppose him.

The trigger for the fight was 'Justice Sunday,' an event that was simulcast to fundamentalist churches across the nation, organized by Christian conservative leaders and featured a videotaped appearance by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).

Speakers at the event at Highview Baptist Church, a megachurch in Louisville, took aim at Senate Democrats and their use of a parliamentary maneuver called a filibuster to prevent the confirmation of several judges the Democratic minority views as extreme...

The Freedom and Faith speakers condemned the conservatives for charging that people opposed to Bush judicial nominees were against 'people of faith.' They said they were fighting to reclaim the moral high ground from religious conservatives who, they charged, wrongly defined their faith as the only true form of Christianity.

About 1,700 attended the event at Highview, while several hundred joined a 'Freedom and Faith' counter-rally at the Central Presbyterian Church in Louisville. Speakers declared that it was the leadership behind Justice Sunday, not the judiciary, that was arrogant."