Justice Sunday II

“God Save this Honorable Court,” was the theme of last night’s “Justice Sunday II” event, held at the Two Rivers Baptist Church across from Opry Mills.

Sponsored by the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization, the gathering of evangelical leaders encouraged Christians to contact their elected representatives, in support of President George Bush’s Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts.

FRC President Tony Perkins says the court system has taken the law making authority out of the hands of Congress.

“This is not just about John Roberts. This is a rally and an event to draw attention to what the court has done to this country and where they have put us in the last 40-years.”

The debate over interpreting the constitution, while not limited to the religious community, takes on a special significance to Evangelicals, who feel society’s moral values are being eroded by what they term “liberal activist judges.”

National Association of Evangelicals President Ted Haggard says the constitution needs to be interpreted literally.

“What we’re facing right now is a trend to politicize the court on the part of liberal justices, under the guise of a living constitution. Living Constitution is code for the constitution doesn’t mean what it says.”

Another group of religious leaders gathered in protest at a different church in Nashville earlier in the day. Reverend Jerry Maynard, of a largely African-American congregation, says the courts have been instrumental in promoting civil rights.

“It was the courts that were able to lead the civil rights movement and the civil rights act of 1964. The southern legislatures would not vote to end segregation in schools. It took the court.”

There were also about 20-picketers waving signs at cars pulling into the church’s parking lot, supporting the separation of church and state as well as abortion rights. Nearly 2000 people attended last night’s event.