Justice Sunday (conservative Christian event)

Justice Sunday is the term used for a series of religious conferences organized by the Family Research Council

Family Research Council

The Family Research Council is a conservative or right-wing Christian group and lobbying organization formed in the United States in 1981 by James Dobson. It was fully incorporated in 1983...

, founded by James Dobson

James Dobson

James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family , which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesman for conservative social positions in American public life...

and headed by Tony Perkins

Tony Perkins (politician)

Anthony Richard "Tony" Perkins is president of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian think tank and public policy foundation based in Washington, D.C...

, and Dobson's Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...

organizations. According to FRC, the purpose of the events was to "request an end to filibusters of judicial nominees that were based, at least in part, on the nominees' religious views or imputed inability to decide cases on the basis of the law regardless of their beliefs."

So far three such conferences have taken place. Perkins and Dobson have been present as speakers at all events, and some conservative politicians, including Zell Miller

Zell Miller

Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....

, Tom DeLay

Tom DeLay

Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...

and Bill Frist

Bill Frist

William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...

have also made appearances.

Justice Sunday: April 24, 2005

The first Justice Sunday, subtitled "Stopping the Filibuster Against People of Faith," was organized primarily to protest a perceived bias on the part of the Federal Judiciary

United States federal courts

The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...

of the United States. The organizers hoped to provoke large numbers of evangelical

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

Christians to place pressure on U.S. Senators

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

to bring an end to the filibuster

Filibuster

A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...

of nominees to the Federal Judiciary made by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

. Their web site featured a letter dated April 20, 2005, four days before the event took place, which sought to assuage churches' fears of challenges to their tax-exempt status under laws prohibiting political activity by tax-exempt churches http://www.frc.org/img/adf_js.pdf. The two sponsoring organizations did not choose to sponsor the program directly, but did so through their legally separate lobbying organizations FRC Action http://www.frcaction.org/ and Focus on the Family Action http://www.focusaction.org/.

The nationally televised event took place at Highview Baptist Church

Highview Baptist Church (Louisville, Kentucky)

Highview Baptist Church is a multi-site megachurch based in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and Southern Baptist Convention.The church has multiple campuses located throughout metro Louisville...

in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. The program featured James Dobson, R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

Mohler's approach to Muslims is driven by his belief in the relevance of the Christian Gospel to all people.-Media appearances:Mohler appeared on MSNBC's Donahue on August 20, 2002. The subject was Christian evangelization of Jews...

, Watergate-figure-turned-evangelical Charles Colson

Charles Colson

Charles Wendell "Chuck" Colson is a Christian leader, cultural commentator, and former Special Counsel for President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973....

and, via videotape, Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist

Bill Frist

.

The organizers of the event were criticized for holding this event, dubbed "Just-us Sunday" by some critics. Some felt that this was an attempt to demonize opponents of conservatives as being against religion; others felt that this was an attempt to politicize religion. Still others felt that this was an attempt to undermine the independence of the Federal Judiciary. Among those opposed to the event were a number of religious leaders from a wide spectrum of faiths — including Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

, and Eastern Orthodox leaders.

An equally successful counter rally was held at Central Presbyterian Church in Louisville, KY called "Social Justice Sunday." Here, speakers such as Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis is an American evangelical Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name....

reaffirmed their support of the United States Justice System towards people of faith. Furthermore, they voiced their opinions that the actions at Highview Baptist Church did not speak for them.

Justice Sunday II: August 14, 2005

A sequel to the first Justice Sunday, subtitled "God Save the United States and this Honorable Court" event was held on August 14, 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

. Conspicuously absent from the event was U. S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist

Bill Frist

, who had recently drawn fire for departing from U. S. President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

's policy on stem cell research.

Speakers included Tony Perkins, James Dobson

James Dobson

, Robert H. Bork, Tom DeLay

Tom DeLay

, Zell Miller

Zell Miller

, Chuck Colson, Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis McAlpin Stewart Schlafly is a Constitutional lawyer and an American politically conservative activist and author who founded the Eagle Forum. She is known for her opposition to modern feminism ideas and for her campaign against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment...

, William A. Donohue

William A. Donohue

William Anthony "Bill" Donohue is the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in the United States, a position he has held since 1993.-Life and career:...

, Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Harry R. Jackson Jr., is an African American Christian preacher and Pentecostal bishop who serves as the senior pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, and serves as a regional bishop in the Fellowship of International Churches...

, and Dr. Jerry Sutton.

Justice Sunday III: January 8, 2006

A third Justice Sunday event, subtitled "Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land" took place January 8, 2006, the day before Samuel Alito's

Samuel Alito

Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....

confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court began. The event took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

at the Greater Exodus Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

Church.

Greater Exodus is led by Pastor Herbert H. Lusk, II. Lusk explains his reasoning by saying, that he wants the government to "appoint people to the justice system
that would be attentive to the needs I care about - stopping same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

, assisted suicide

Assisted suicide

Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...

and abortions for minors

Minor (law)

In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...

and supporting prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

and Christmas celebrations in school."

James Dobson

James Dobson

, Tony Perkins and Jerry Falwell

Jerry Falwell

Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...

took part as speakers, as well as Alveda King

Alveda King

Alveda Celeste King is an American Christian minister, conservative, pro-life activist, and author. She is a niece of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and daughter of the late civil rights activist Rev. A. D. William King, Sr. and his wife Naomi Barber King...

and Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum

Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...

. Members from the local community and various organizations including Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...

and The World Can't Wait

The World Can't Wait

The World Can't Wait is a group in the United States dedicated to mobilizing mass resistance to what it describes as crimes committed by the US government.-Formation and goals:...

stood outside and protested the event.

External links

Official Justice Sunday site
Justice Sunday Preachers - Max Blumenthal in The Nation.
Liberal Religious intolerance in the media
Justice Sunday Reloaded, editorial in the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

(August 16, 2005)
Who Are Justice Sunday's Ministers of Minstrelsy? (Max Blumenthal in the Huffington Post)
Conservative Christian Organizations Stage Pro-Alito Rally at Justice Sunday III
Alito '72 joined conservative alumni group
Conservative Christian Organizations Stage Pro-Alito Rally at Justice Sunday III
Minister, a Bush Ally, Gives Church as Site for Alito Rally (NY Times)
Reverend Herbert Lusk Pleads Guilty to Five Felony Offenses
Justice Sunday III: Hosted by Church That Rec'd $1M from Bush

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