More than 5,000 people are expected to attend Focus on the Family’s first “Stand for the Family” rally, Monday at Cricket Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported Carolina’s News Channel 14.
The rallies are intended to encourage more Christians to be good citizens by participating in the 2004 election process.
John Paulton, director of family policy councils at Focus Action, listed three main purposes for the rallies.
"The first is Christian citizenship," Paulton told CitizenLink. "We're encouraging people to register to vote, to get fellow church members to register, and then follow up by voting responsibly; the second is we want to raise the importance of some of the issues we care about -- especially marriage. People can get sidetracked so easily on so many issues that may or may not be important. We want to make sure they are talking about life and marriage and judicial tyranny and things that have enormous consequences. Finally, we want to talk clearly about where major candidates stand on the issues."
Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family and host of his daily radio program which broadcasts to more than 2 million people daily, will be speaking at “Stand for the Family” rallies.
Focus on the Family also recently reported sending out 1.3 million voter registration packets in an unprecedented effort to get its constituents to vote. The initiative was part of the organization’s "I Vote Values" campaign operated through a resource site for voters, ivotevalues.org.
"He (Dobson) has been stressing strongly the importance of voter registration, getting people to vote and using the term ‘voting your values,’" News 14 quoted Phil Anderson, a minister who sold more than 180 tickets to members of First Baptist Church in uptown Charlotte, as saying.
Paulton told CitizenLink that while the rallies will not be “electioneering,” the speakers will inform voters on where both presidential candidates stand on certain issues such as same-sex “marriage” and abortion.
Eric Woods, a local resident who will be attending the event, told News 14 he hoped those in attendance will realize that “a moral war” is being waged in America.
“It’s essential,” he said, “this is probably the most crucial election of our era, to put in a candidate that supports our moral views and to stand up against things that tear us down, such as homosexuality, abortion -- the sanctity-of-life issues."
He added that the big thing right now is homosexual marriage.
“I think that's really going to devastate this country if we allow such things,” said Woods in a New 14 report.
Woods isn’t the only one who sees homosexual marriage as a threat to the nation.
Dobson will be supporting a same-sex “marriage” ban alongside other high-profile evangelicals such as Family Research Council’s President Tony Perkins during the Sept. 19 broadcasted “Battle for Marriage III” rally.
The “Stand for the Family,” in Charlotte will begin at 6:30 p.m. On Sept 7, the rally will head to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Other rallies will be held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, (Sept. 27), Shreveport, La. (Sept. 28), Sioux, S.D. (Oct. 4), and Rapid City, S.D. (Oct. 5). Each event will begin at 6:30 p.m.
