National Religious Leaders Voice Concern Over 'Justice Sunday'
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 8/16/2005
The religious community has a number of different perspectives on the nomination of John Roberts and the future of the Supreme Court, national religious leaders said in one of the many responses over the weekend to "Justice Sunday II: God Save the United States and This Honorable Court," a rally held in Nashville, Tennessee on August 14."Justice Sunday II," organized by Family Research Council (FRC), was the second attempt to shift discussion about the future of the Supreme Court to a perceived hostility to religion and charges that the Court has overstepped its bounds in interpreting the Constitution. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senator Zell Miller, D. Ga., were among the many speakers rallying around the charge that liberal "judicial activism" has overtaken the courts.
"No person or group can honestly claim to represent 'the' single authentic faith perspective on a given issue," Rev. Bill Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association said in a teleconference sponsored by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) last week, "We will not remain silent when any group falsely claims to speak for all people of faith. There is no one 'religious' position on the Roberts nomination, no one religious view on the future of the Court or the cases it will hear."
The RAC-sponsored teleconference featured leaders of national religious and faith-based organizations, who said that the need for a thorough, consultative review of John Roberts' record is getting lost in the shuffle.
Participants in the teleconference said that the confirmation process should focus on Roberts' views on upholding provisions of the First Amendment relating to freedom of religion, stressing their vital importance in protecting everyone's right to practice their religion freely.
Alluding to comments made by FRC President Tony Perkins that inappropriate questions about personal beliefs have made their way into the confirmation process, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance said, "Everyone has the right - I would argue even the duty - to question if or how a judicial nominee's personal beliefs about religion will affect decisions and rulings related to the Constitution."
Other speakers at the teleconference included: Rabbi David Saperstein, director of RAC; Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar of the National Council of Churches USA; and Mirin Kaur Phool, President, Board of Directors, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Several national and local religious leaders in Nashville held a service right before the "Justice Sunday II" telecast to express their disapproval of what they said was an attempt by conservative religious leaders to impose their beliefs on government.
The first "Justice Sunday," held in late April, focused on claims that Senate Democrats were using the filibuster as an attack on "people of faith."
