The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party

Justice Sundays I and II illustrate how sympathetic churches are being used by dominionists to advance their political goals. Organized by the Family Research Council and broadcast by cable, satellite and Internet from a megachurch in Louisville, Justice Sunday I portrayed Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking President Bush's nominees. The Lousiville Courier-Journal called Justice Sunday I, Holy War Sunday:

At the rate things are going in American politics, next week will bring ads by the Noah's Ark Veterans for Truth claiming that the two Democrats on board were actually stowaways, whom God had intended for drowning but who snuck on cross-dressed as gayals.

    That wouldn't be much more bizarre than what's planned for today: Bill Frist, the majority leader of the United States Senate, is going to Sunday meeting to preach that some deeply flawed and highly ideological judicial nominees are actually bloodied victims of religious persecution.

    "Justice Sunday: Stop the filibuster against people of faith," the revival's being called.

    It should be called, "Injustice Sunday: Demean the holy and foment schism for partisan gain."

The event was described by columnist Frank Rich as A High-Tech Lynching in Prime Time and a "judge-bashing rally."

Joined by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), Justice Sunday II was described by the New York Times as an "angry sequel to the first event."

... another church-based rally railing against judges. It was offensive on many levels, from the inflammatory and inaccurate attacks on "activist" judges to the fact that it was held in a tax-exempt church. If the event's speakers ever got control of the legal system, the nation would be in real trouble. more