In Washington on Sunday, Aug 14, political leaders joined with conservative church leaders to encourage evangelicals to help advance the nomination of John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court.
Broadcasted in a 90 minute evening service with the theme, "Justice Sunday II: God Save the United States and This Honorable Court," 2,300 seats were filled at Two River Baptist Church, which was viewed live on the web by Christian churches around the country.
The leaders who spoke at this event held themselves back when saying Roberts name and only mentioned it once or twice. Before Sunday, Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council commented on this event and said in front of a gathering of reporters on Friday, that the event was not meant to support Roberts, The Los Angeles Times wrote. In addition, James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family remarked, "For now at least, he looks good."
Perkins stated that the event hopes to urge Christian and evangelical leaders to include "[Saving] the Court" into their rallies before the Judiciary Court rules in September. By launching an effort that may go on for a period of two to three years regarding the several Supreme Court nominations, Perkins said that this is necessary because, "We need to be praying for the future of the court," according to the LA Times.
In addition, Tom Delay, a house majority leader from Texas, said, "The American people have heard the arguments for state-sanctioned same-sex marriage; we've heard the arguments for 'partial-birth' abortion and for ridding the public square of religion; we've heard the arguments; we just disagree."
A press conference was held for reporters to better understand the event, and with leaders such as Tony Perkins and Harry Jackson, the senior pastor for Hope Christian Church representing the perspective of the African-American community, they said that their participation in who the Supreme Court nominates matters to their churches and their organizations and their participation is important.
Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, paralleled the bible with the constitution and said, "the standard for the church is the Bible" and "the standard for the state is the Constitution," therefore, he said we need to understand the roles and the standards of the constitution and "keep the country on track."
With more air time, the event was later broadcasted on the Christian satellite network, Sky Angel.
