![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdWell, now I know why they were playing this one down a bit, compared to the previous two; this one is much more religious even than the previous meetings. This one is a revival meeting in no uncertain terms, and they talk rather more forthrightly about their religious goals for the United States. Much of the session had a Christian Reconstructionist-lite feel to it, with Bishop Wellington Boone saying things like this: "How are the people gonna shut us up? How are a bunch of liberals who don't have a clue gonna shut us up? You were saying, that we are, we're intolerant? Intolerant?! We are become the nation that allowed for all these other people to come in here to be able to worship their God! Yes, we are Bible-believing, Bible-carrying people, you say you're trying to proselytise - what do you mean? Of course! What do you think, they're going to get saved by osmosis?! (applause starts) Of course we're gonna get people saved! Of course we're gonna talk about Jesus! (standing ovation starts) Of course we're gonna say the name of Jesus without compromise!" (All emphasis in original.)
There's also a recurring theme, particularly in the first hour, about needing to pray for authority, and respect authority. This fits in with the hierarchical worldview, and what we know about Alito's deference for anyone in a position of authority - his general assumption has been that the rich and/or powerful generally have very good reasons for doing what they do, and should be granted significant amounts of doubt and leeway in that regard.
In terms of the courts, they've moved the "bad judicial system" line further back again; it used to be the big focus was Roe v. Wade, but that's not even mentioned anymore; they went back to the rulings against teacher-led student prayer in 1961 last time; this time, they've moved the goalpost all the way back to 1947, in Everson v. Board of Education, where, "Justice Hugo Black changed the meaning of 'Separation of Church & State'" in a dissent where state funding for religious school bussing systems was upheld. They like the ruling, but point to this case as the start of a supposed judicial war on Christianity. Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Ed Meese (Reagan administration), and Alan Sears (Alliance Defense Fund, an anti-gay/fundamentalist legal group) spends a lot of time talking about this, in particular. IIRC, the ADF actually backs up the "bad decisions" line to 1812, Marlbury v. Madison, and do not think the courts should be able to rule laws unconstitutional at all. But that's not mentioned here and I may be confusing my fundamentalist legal entities.
The fundamentalist right as represented here firmly believe that Alito will rule in exactly the ways they want to. James Dobson issues one of several ACTION ITEMs to support Alito. Falwell calls the Alito nomination the culmination of 30 years of work - "I feel that this is a crucial, crucial time. Judge Alito. What we've worked on for 30 years, to mobilise people of faith and values in this country. And no one's done it better than Dr. Dobson in recent times. So what we have done through this years is coming to culmination, to consummation, right now. We were able to hold off Michael Moore, and most of Hollywood, and most of the national media, and George Soros, and the Kennedy and other crowds who fought so fiercely against the re-election of George Bush. That was just a year ago. And now, now we're looking at what we really started on 30 years ago; a reconstruction of a court system gone awry." (Emphasis his. Is this a Christian Reconstructionist/Dominionism message? I suspect so.)
Don Feder of "Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation," jews4fairness.org, says that the American government can't work without Christianity: "I think it's important for all religious people to work against anti-Christian defamation. Obviously, we're all in this together; America's a country that's 76% Christian, America's survival depends upon the survival of Christianity. I think John Adams, our second president, said it best, when he commented that our Constitution was made for a moral and a religious people; it is wholly inadequate for the government of any other. That religion happens to be Christianity. If Christianity fails in America, if the left has its way, America as we know it will cease to exist."
Rev. Herbert Lusk, one of the hosts, speaks pretty freely about abortion and being against marriage rights, and seems to equate the United States to the "rock" upon which Jesus builds his church, here: "The fact of the matter is the foundations [of our culture] will not be destroyed, because Jesus said, upon this rock, I build my church! And the very gates of hell shall not prevail against it!" Similarly, he's certainly colourful towards opponents: "Be careful how you fool with the church! When you start messing with the church, something stirs up inside of me! You be careful because the church has surviving power! My friends, you know this, and know this well, don't fool with the church, because the church has buried a many a critic! And all the critics that we have no buried, we're making funeral arrangements for them!" That's part of a long sequence that got a standing ovation.
Regardless - here's my transcript.
----- Begin transcript -----
Justice Sunday III
Proclaim Liberty!
It's On The Bell
Family Research Council
Focus on the Family Action
Greater Exodus Baptist Church
Philadelphia, PA
Sen. Rick Santorum
Dr. James Dobson
Dr. Jerry Falwell
Dr. Alvita King
Bishop Wellington Boone
Several others
Hosts: FRC president Tony Perkins, Rev. Herbert Lusk
Transcript by Dara Korra'ti. All quoted material is verbatim, except for (parenthetical comments) are descriptive inserts. All emphasis marks are as spoken. Material not in quotes may contain my notes and comments, particularly early in the transcription.
-- start --
Lusk starts with: "Let the church say AMEN!" then praises Tony Perkins quite a bit, talks about how he "set our souls on evangelical fire," then hands the mike over.
Perkins: Proclaims religious freedoms "under attack." Lists off some of the usual complaints. Lusk interjects, "Are we gonna do something about it?!" Crowd roars approval. Introduces "someone who knows a lot about religious liberty and freedom," Rick Santorum.
Santorum: religious freedom is at risk because of "liberal activist judges on the Supreme Court." Claims the founders established two of three branches of governments "elected by the people" (which is not in fact really true. Direct election only for the House of Representatives, and most people couldn't vote). Talks about liberal judges "destroying traditional morality" and "creating a new moral code." Court is "imposing its own... will upon the people." Praises Judge Alito, "A powerful intellect... yet grounded in that common sense." "Appropriately unwilling to impose his views upon the American people." Says Democrats will "continue their far-left judicial activism on the Supreme Court," saying that they are going to "[destroy] Penn's great experiment, and of the Constitution given to us some 219 year ago here in Philadelphia."
Pre-taped section by FRC president Tony Perkins. Talks about the Liberty Bell. "It's become an important symbol of our freedom." Talks about political correctness, "but, my friend, it is historically correct" and "atheist groups, aided by the Federal Courts, have made great progress in their efforts to eradicate all public displays of our religious history." The film is weirdly jerky (as I later noticed is true for all the prerecorded segments); presumably a technical issue. Rev. James Kennedy: "The name of god, on our currency and on our monuments, is an important reminder of the person to whom we owe all that we have, which is God Almighty, the ultimate hero of America, whose providence, according to George Washington, was the very reason why we succeeded at arms, and gained our liberty and independence to begin with. To remove all of those things, all of those reminders, is to soon forget this one to whom we owe our liberty, our freedom, and all that we enjoy in this world. Therefore, let us indeed enter into the debate and let known our opinions about such important matters as these." Patrick Korten: VP, Knights of Columbus: "Recently, we've been heavily involved in defending the Pledge of Allegiance in the Federal Courts. We were responsible for the campaign to have the words 'Under God' inserted in the pledge back in 1954. We have always believed that it's important for those words to be there, because, as it's said in the Declaration of Independence, 'we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.' That was a really important statement, because it said in America, we believe our rights come from our creator, from God, not from the state. It's not the state's to give and to take away." Invokes Communism.
Back to live footage in the church:
Dr. Alveda King, of "King for America": sings a spiritual. Crawl appears, noting Alito has the "highest rating" from the ABA. Also, "Alito has more priour judicial experience than any supreme court nominee in the last 70 years," "Leviticus 25:10-proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof..." and a continuing series of other key talking points, most of which come from the just-shown pre-taped section. (These continued throughout the live sections throughout the show.) King: "Liberty is a precious right that we must preserve. When truth cannot be absolutely proclaimed, worship of tolerance becomes tyranny. The lives of all people, including the lives of the unborn, are caught up in the battle for religious freedom before us." "The materialism in America has been an unconscious thing. We didn't mean to do it. ... We didn't just go up and say, 'now God, we're gone.' We have gone a whole day's journey, America; and then we came to see that we have unconsciously ushered God out of our universe. That is the danger confronting us tonight, my friends... that in a nation such as ours... that we will unconsciously forget about God." Quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. a bit, praises God a lot. Quoting MLK,Jr: "If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values, that all reality hinges on moral foundations, and that all reality has spiritual control." Alveda King: "We can affirm those words here in America right now!" Prays. Sings "We Shall Overcome."
Pre-taped section: Thomas Jefferson referenced the Christian God four times in the Declaration of Independence. (All quotes say "Our Creator," and so on, but hey.) Attacks courts. Lots and LOTS of painting Jefferson as requiring Christianity for democratic government.
Rev. Lusk: Quotes Psalms 11:3. "If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?" "I've been called a sellout, I've been called an Uncle Tom, and the New York Times called me 'a maverick to the black church.' Well, friends, I just want the Times to know, if a maverick can be defined as one who is pro-life, than I'm a maverick. (crowd cheers) And if being a maverick means that I am one who supports the original intent of God Almighty to have a husband and a wife (interrupted by cheers) then I want you to mark right next to my name, Herbert Hoover Lusk II, 'Maverick!'" "The foundations are being tampered with. ... 55 of the original signers of our Constitution were all men of God, but the foundation is being tampered with... like never before, this hostility against the people of God, and brothers and sisters, I want the people to know that I will not go down lightly!" (cheers)
"From the time 1963 until 1999, over 18 million African-American babies alone have been aborted! They've said that I don't speak for black people. Well, I may not speak for all black people. But there are some black folk that I speak for!" (cheers) (standing ovation) "We are against the redefinition of marriage! We are against abortion! We are against partial abortion! And we are against Christian bashing!" (cheers)
Talks about oppression against Christians, and how bad it is, and "it looks so bad that we just need to throw in the towel!" (roars of "no" from audience) "The fact of the matter is the foundations will not be destroyed, because Jesus said, upon this rock, I build my church! And the very gates of hell shall not prevail against it!" "Be careful how you fool with the church! When you start messing with the church, something stirs up inside of me! You be careful because the church has surviving power! My friends, you know this, and know this well, don't fool with the church, because the church has buried a many a critic! And all the critics that we have no buried, we're making funeral arrangements for them!" "We have surviving power, and we have thriving power! And I don't care how hard you hit us, the more you hit us, the stronger we get!" "We are persecuted, but not forsaken! Cast down, but not destroyed!" (All this is interrupted repeatedly by cheers.) "The church is the only organisation in the world that has arriving power! Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? We have arriving power. Everything else, you can put dead in on it (?) - nothing else goes past the graveyard but the church! Am I right about it? If you don't believe me, just walk through the gravesite of history for me. Walk with me and see all of the great men and women who came against the church and declared their name above Jesus, they are all passed away, like the pestilence of the storms, only to be remembered by the desolations they have made. Oh, my brothers and my sisters, there is nothing to compare with being a child of the King!" (standing ovation) (continually interrupted with cheers) "One day, one day, hope will be swallowed up in certainty. And one day, sight will be swallowed up in sights. And one day time will collapse at the foot of eternity. But the church of the living God will just be having breakfast!" "All hail the power of Jesus's name! Let angels prostrate towards him! Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him LORD!" (standing ovation) (cheers)
Pre-taped segment: FRC's Tony Perkins again: "For the first 150 years of our country's history, the nation's highest court was a great defender of religious principles being taught in our schools, protected by our laws, and honoured in public. Unfortunately, that began to change about 60 years ago, as religious questions came before the court; as religious questions came before the court, the court has grown increasingly hostile to religion and to religious liberties. Just in our schools alone, prayer was outlawed, the Bible was banned, the 10 Commandments removed, and members of the clergy prohibited from praying at graduations. America needs a court that will cease its hostility towards religion, and once again be a protector of religious faith and liberties."
Ed Meese: "From the beginning of our country in the 1780s, until about 1947, the role of religion in public life was recognised as both significant and also as very legitimate. And this was the position the courts uniformly took over most of that history of our nation."
Alan Sears, Alliance Defense Fund: "In 1947, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in Everson (Graphic flashes up: "Everson v. Board of Education, Justice Hugo Black Changed the meaning of 'Separation of Church & State'"), which has basically been the citation from then on of the words "The Separation of Church and State," even though Justice Hugo Black was in the minourity in that decision, did not persuade the entire court to go his way, he used a metaphor that has been now misused probably more than any other metaphor in American Constitutional law. In fact, in one man-on-the-street survey I saw not too long ago, a majority of Americans actually thought that phrase appeared in the Constitution. But it does not, and I'm glad to say that recently the 6th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, in a case involving the 10 Commandments, they're tired of hearing the ACLU's worn-out argument about the separation of Church and State, because that phrase is not in the Constitution of the Untied States."
David Barton, "US Government History Expert," wallbuilders.com: "It was 1947, Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court said, 'well, we think that the wall of separation concept should not apply to the free exercise clause, we think it ought to apply to the establishment clause.' So now they're saying, 'we think it's the role of the Federal government to stop public religious activities.' Jefferson used that phrase to say, 'no, it's going to protect expression,' but in 1947, the court said, 'No, we're going to use it to stop expression.' So now, using Jefferson's phrase, the court steps in and says, 'Oh, we've got to stop voluntary school prayer. Oh, by the way, we have to take 'under God' out of the pledge of allegiance. Oh, by the way, we can't have nativity scenes in public, or the Mt. Soledad Cross over in California, can't do that; Indiana legislature, say a prayer, we can't - so what we have now is that separation phrase that for 150 years protected religious expression is now used to secularise the society. And that's completely the opposite of what it was intended to do!"
Back to live, for another segment:
Dr. James Dobson: (Standing ovation) "I tell you what, you folks have got my blood pressure up. You are on fire! And you know what? There are millions of more out there out there who just the way we do, and I'm excited to be here." "I think that this effort to help get Judge Samuel Alito confirmed may be one of the most important issues that has occurred, one of the most important efforts that has occurred in recent history. Because of the issue of judicial tyranny. That's what we're faced with. The video that you've seen all come down to that. Because, as you have heard, for 60 years this court has forced its will on the American people. The decisions that have been made about religious concerns have not been chosen by the American people, they have been forced on the American people and it's time to put it to an end." (applause)
"So you heard some of the decisions that have been made, let me enter into a dialogue with you, may I do that? I'm going to ask some questions and I want you to answer me. Will you let me hear from you? (Yes) Do you think that schoolchildren should be allowed to read the Bible in school? (yes) Do you believe that schoolchildren should be able to prayer, pray in school (YES!) Do you believe that there should be prayer at graduation activities? (Yes) And sporting events? (YES!) Do you resent the fact that the courts has made it impossible for your kids to participate in that (YES!!) Do you believe that every child in this country should be able to pray or to say the pledge of allegiance (Yes) with 'under God' included? (YES!) Now, do you believe that every child in the world should be welcomed into this world and protected and given a chance at life? (YES!) (applause) You see, every one of those issues is here in the United States and in many places around the world, a 70% issue or more. Some of them are 80%, one of them having to do with the Pledge of Allegiance, is a 90% issue. The American people do not want what the Court has done to them! (Yes!)"
"Now, this is the point... we are the deciders of our government. This is a wonderful experiment in self-governing. And it is being undermined and representative government is being weakened and vilified and indeed made illegal. And that is why we are here, because there is so much at stake. It is just hard to get ahold of what we are facing at this time. This Supreme Court and certainly the next one, the next two or three years, is going to deal with some awesome issues. One of them is partial-birth abortion. That is going to be considered again by this court. That horrible, Nazi-esque procedure by which babies are delivered, all but the tops of their heads, and they're fully brimming with life! And a doctor inserts a canular, a tube in the back of the head, sucks the brains out of those babies, and collapses the head of the baby and delivers a dead baby. This Supreme Court's gonna decide that! That ought to be decided by us, because I know what the decision would be!" (applause)
"It is very likely that in the next few years the court is going to decide on the definition of marriage! Imagine that! Should not the American people make that decision? The beginning of the preamble to the Constitution says, "we, the people, of the United States," - we're supposed to decide the great moral decisions of our time. And all of them are being made for us! And it is wrong, and it has to stop!" ... "There are just so many other religious issues, going back to the matter of marriage; 19 states have now considered what the definition of marriage should be, and put it in their Constitution. 19 states! All 19 of them have said between one man and on woman!" (shouts of approval) (applause) "yet according to Justice Kennedy, in Lawrence vs. Texas, he made it pretty clear that the American people are not going to get a chance to make that decision, the court's going to make it for us! And I say NO!" (shouts of approval) "And I think they need to hear us loud and clear."
"Now folks, the good news, is that the President of the United States, George Bush, has appointed, or nominated, an outstanding judge to be a justice on the Supreme Court. Samuel Alito has all the qualifications. The American Bar Association, with which I don't agree on much, has given him the highest rating. He has more judicial experience than 105 out of 108 nominees to the Supreme Court. And he has made it very clear [FRC hotline flashes up: 877.FRC.4545], and I believe him, that he will be an originalist. An originalist is one who will not legislate from the bench, but who will interpret the Constitution, which is the limit of their ability." (applause)
"And there's gonna be an all-out effort to defeat him. It starts tomorrow. And you're going to hear all kinds of charges against him; we already heard on Meet the Press, or one of the talk shows this morning, Senator Schumer talking about all the evil that this man has done. Do not believe it! This is a good man who will make wise decisions, I'm thankful that he's been appointed, and now, I urge you, my friends and fellow Christian and neighbours and countrymen, I urge you to let your senators know how you feel about this. Tell them two things: DO NOT FILIBUSTER. (applause) Would you repeat that with me? DO. NOT. FILIBUSTER. (audience does.) And give this man the courtesy of an up or down vote. That's all we're requesting. Give him the courtesy of a simple up or down vote. And if we do that and we let our voices be heard, I believe we can put an end to judicial tyranny and once again we can have government of the people, by the people, and for the people, in this country. Thank you all." (standing ovation)
Pre-taped segment: Tony Perkins, FRC: points at Christ Church in Philadelphia, saying "it was the clergy" that were "a driving force in securing and defending America's liberty. Today, we often see formal complaints filed against pastors who speak out on the issues from a Biblical perspective. But the members of the Continental Congress and those who attended services here at Christ Church, would have thought that not only foolish, but they would have seen those complaints as downright dangerous." Talks about pastors being responsible for the spread of the independence movement and of the anti-slavery movement and the civil rights movement, and the anti-abortion movement. "Thank God there have always been religious people in our nation with God-given convictions for truth, justice, and religious freedom. They have kept our nation on course towards its high calling of being a beacon of freedom for all people, a strong nation, one nation, under God."
James Kennedy: "The founders of this country believed that religious liberty was the most important liberty that we have. That is why it is first in the bill of rights. Before any of the other liberties are mentioned, first of all, there is the guarantee of religious freedom. Without that, this nation would soon lose all of its liberty.
Don Feder, "Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation," jews4fairness.org: "I think it's important for all religious people to work against anti-Christian defamation. Obviously, we're all in this together; America's a country that's 76% Christian, America's survival depends upon the survival of Christianity. I think John Adams, our second president, said it best, when he commented that our Constitution was made for a moral and a religious people; it is wholly inadequate for the government of any other. That religion happens to be Christianity. If Christianity fails in America, if the left has its way, America as we know it will cease to exist." William Donohue, President & CEO, Catholic League: "You cannot talk about liberty in this country without talking about religious freedom. The most elementary form of freedom is religious freedom. If you don't have that, all other freedoms are meaningless. And Catholics and evangelicals have come together. We understand what's at state. Our culture is going south. And unless we rescue it, we're all going down together. And that's why we've reached out with observant Jews and people of faith of all faiths, because we have a war in this country between the secular supremacists who want to gut our society and out religious heritage of any expression of religion, and those people who understand the traditional understanding of freedom of religion going back to the time of James Madison. Look: the time for an alliance is now. Evangelicals, traditional Catholics, observant Jews, standing together against the secular supremacists. Either they win, or we win!"
Back to live segment:
"Chancellor of Liberty University, Dr. Jerry Falwell:" Thanks Rev. Lusk, Dr. Dobson, Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, "And the people who have worked so hard at this crucial time to deliver a message to people of faith in this country that it's now or never." Talks about meeting Dr. Tim LaHaye 30 years before in California, then head of Californians for Biblical Morality. "What can we do about what appeared to be a terrible move towards secularisation in our country. I had no idea how far we'd go, but with the Shemp (School District of Abbington Township v. Shemp) case, we had eliminated prayer, Bible-reading, but I didn't know what to do - I had been taught in school that religion and politics don't mix. I'd never bothered to look for the book chapter and verse - it isn't in there, it's like separation of Church and State, it's not in the Constitution - but we had been so brainwashed that I felt my hands were tied. Dr. LaHaye had done something spectacular out in California, and I wondered 'why can that not be done nationally?' So in 1979... we formed the Moral Majority. And we weren't intending to say that everyone else is of the immoral minourity. We were simply saying that we believe most Americans believe in matters of faith and family and decency and the Judeo-Christian ethic, that generally a majority at that time agreed with that position, and I think they still do. Well, the press, very quickly, in a pejorative way, dubbed us the 'Religious Right.' You could get most of our preachers in a phone booth at that time, who wanted to get involved in political issues, but I've never looked on abortion, and family values, as being political. First and foremost, and primarily, they're moral, and they're social issues (cries of support from audience), and if the pulpit is not to address those issues, what are we to address?" (support from audience)
"I feel that this is a crucial, crucial time. Judge Alito. What we've worked on for 30 years, to mobilise people of faith and values in this country. And no one's done it better than Dr. Dobson in recent times. So what we have done through this years is coming to culmination, to consummation, right now. We were able to hold off Michael Moore, and most of Hollywood, and most of the national media, and George Soros, and the Kennedy and other crowds who fought so fiercely against the re-election of George Bush. That was just a year ago."
"And now, now we're looking at what we really started on 30 years ago; a reconstruction of a court system gone awry. Robert, John Roberts, is now on the court, he's Chief Justice, and everybody thinks he's wonderful. But these same guys were calling him bad names just a few months ago. And now, today, on the talk shows everywhere, poor Judge Alito, didn't know how bad he was, how dishonest he is, he heard that today. [www.frc.org] But the fact is, he is a qualified justice. And all the president's trying to do is keep his promise to put on the court more men like Scalia, and Thomas, who will stand for a strict constructionist application of the Constitution, and stand for faith and family, and all the things that this nation under God has for plus 200 years been."
"I want to challenge every one of you watching by television. You have two senators. If you don't know their names, you ought to repent first (laughter), and then call the US Capitol, and talk with whoever you can talk with, and urge them to vote for the confirmation of this judge. The President has three more years, God willing, and there could be another, maybe two - who knows? And it could be that not only the House and the Senate and many of the state houses, and the people of course, would be getting their act together on moral and social issues; it could be that the court, after 30 long hard years, from people like you, there could be a reconstruction of the US Supreme Court in our immediate lifetime. What a wonderful thing that would be."
"The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, said, 'Living by God's principles brings, uh - violating God's principles brings shame. Living by those principles brings a nation to greatness.' We need to come back to what the founding fathers and David Barton was just telling us about - we are a nation under God. (support from audience) I was raised in the home of a man who didn't know God, I didn't know the Bible; my father was in business - oil, gas, nightclubs; I grew up without knowing a verse of scripture; and through hearing Charles E. Fuller's Old-Fashioned Revival Hour broadcast as a sophomore in college, 54 years ago, gave my heart to the Lord. (applause) I have to learn from scratch everything I know about him, about Christ. And now, some 54 years later, I want to see for my children and my grandchildren - and I have many of them - that they will enjoy the same America in which I was born. It can't be talked about, it must be acted upon. Go to the telephone. Write your letters. Get to your US senators. And let's, let's confirm this man, Judge Alito, to the US Supreme Court, and let's make one more step towards bringing America back to one nation under God. God bless you." (Standing ovation)
Tony Perkins: Quotes Luke Chapter 18, 'Men should not lose heart, but they should pray.' There are many difficult days ahead, and I want to challenge you here tonight to pray. We need to be praying for our nation. Can I hear an amen?" (Audience AMEN). Quotes Timothy: "'We are to pray for those in authority.' We need to be praying for our senators this week. We need to be praying for our president. (applause) We need to be praying for all those in authority. Scripture also tells us that we should pray for those who curse us (shouts of approval) and persecute us. And I want to challenge you this, over the next 21 days, to pray for those who say we shouldn't be here tonight. For those who would like to take away your voice. Let's pray for them that they too might experience the fullness of God's joy and his peace. And at a time when the Middle East stands at a crisis and turmoil with the illness of the Prime Minster, Psalm 1:22 instructs us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Points people to frc.org; asks people to join the "FRC Prayer Team," and get their weekly prayer team updates, particularly over the Alito nomination. "We've got to put feet to our prayers, and we've got to stand up, and we've got to take action. And we can help you do that, too, at the Family Research Council..." Plugs website again, and phone number (877.FRC.4545), to sign up to get prayer team reports and daily Washington Update bulletin. Asks audience to commit to praying over the next 21 days. Asks audience to commit to taking action over the next 21 days.
(Many broadcasters now leave; final 30 minutes not carried on all stations.)
Perkins pulls Collin Hannah out of the crowd - he's a county commissioner who fought to keep a courthouse 10 Commandments display (Credited as being with Let Freedom Ring); "We received a letter in 2001 from the ACLU... we were not intimidated; we did not go down lightly; we united, and we answered the letter with a letter that was very politely worded... but said no." Lost first round, appealed to the 3rd circuit (Alito's circuit) and won a reversal; "my message to other elected officials in a similar situation is, 'Do not go down lightly; you can win.'" Perkins again: "In your communities, pray that God would raise up men like Collin Hannah and others who fear God more than man, and will stand, because we stand, guess what happens? We win."
Pre-recorded section, Tony Perkins again: Carpenter's Hall, meeting place of the 1st Continental Congress. Portrays 1st Continental Congress as a prayer revival. "Our nation was born in public prayer, and it will be sustained by no less. Unfortunately, in the last 229 years, our nation has moved away from that prayer, in fact, to the point where the Supreme Court has said children cannot pray in our schools, and the practice of praying before high school football games is prohibited. The very clergy that our founders turned to in a time of need have now been turned away from the public square." (Note: Children can pray in schools. School officials can't lead them in prayer It's not the same thing, though they are intermixed for propagandistic effect.)
James Kennedy: "For courts to dictate how chaplains should pray in public is to deny religious liberty at its very heart. Because if we cannot appeal to our God in the way that our God has instructed us - and Jesus has said, 'Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do' - therefore, religious freedom and liberty are destroyed. Therefore, it's vitally important that not only chaplains, but pastors - even lay people, in various circumstances - would be free to pray according to what their religion teaches them. And as Christians, we know that that involves speaking to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, his only son, who alone promises us that our prayers, in his name, will be heard."
Brian Bosma, Speaker of the House, Indiana State Legislature: "We've had a 189-year tradition in the Indiana House of Representatives of having men and women of faith be invited to our chamber and pray in accordance with the dictates of their own conscience, uncensored by either elected officials or Federal courts, and that has resulted in a reverent opportunity for men and women of faith to open our session for nearly 200 years now. After we placed our sessions on the internet, which was one of the things that I did this last year, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union then took the opportunity to count the number of times that someone in our opening prayer mentioned the name of Jesus Christ or otherwise referred to their saviour or shepherd. And 29 out of 54 times was too much for the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. Along with the assistance of one legislator, they filed a lawsuit in Federal court that has sought and now has received an injunction directing me as the Speaker of the House, not to allow sectarian prayers, especially those that mention the name of Jesus Christ, or any reference to the second coming, the resurrection, or the fact that Jesus is our redeemer. The Indiana Civil Liberties Union, and, in fact, many of the local governments, have reacted to this ruling by saying that it applies to all units of government, and, if it's sustained and upheld by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, it will be applicable to every unit of government throughout the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. And if it's appealed to the Supreme Court, which we intend to do if necessary, and is upheld, then it applies to every unit of government throughout the United States. So this really is a larger issue of just what's happening in the Indiana House to the intersection of faith and government and the broader cultural war we find ourselves in today against those who want to take every bit of religion out of our state, local, and Federal government. Personally, I find this to be an intolerable ruling, it's one that I have directed our state Attorney General and our legal team to file an aggressive and immediate appeal of, and we will seek to defend the name of Jesus Christ, but more importantly, the ability of every citizen, perhaps in the United States, to pray in accordance with their own conscience. They should have uncensored speech and the ability to pray in accordance with their own conscience, and that's what we're going to seek to defend.
Back to live:
Fellowship International Churches, Bishop Wellington Boone: Quotes Psalms 84:5. "'Will thou not revive us again, that our people might rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.'" "Isaiah 56, verse 7, says 'My house should be called a house of prayer for all people.' I don't know, it seems to me that we're almost going out of our minds. In reality, we don't understand, seemingly, in this day, that America became America on the wings of somebody on their knees." (affirmation from audience)
"God is causing the whole nation - when Dr. Lusk got up and he talked about the foundations be destroyed - the basic foundation is the foundation of prayer. But you know the Lord is not going to come back and look to the government and look to even educational institutions - he's going to come back and look to the church (applause starts) and say, 'you're the sword and you're the light! you're the ones who have to make the difference right now!' (lots of applause) I believe the times are summoning the church to take its position in the marketplace, because it seems like the world, even in this nation, don't seem to understand what to do! How could we, in this particular day and time, not understand that we need revival again! We need the fires of prayer and the fires of revival to come back to this nation again!" (applause)
"You know good and well that this nation was started on the basis of somebody wanting religious freedom, somebody who would stand on the word, somebody who would, who would actually win people to Jesus, try to make a nation under God, that's why we ended up on our dollar bill with 'One Nation Under God!' I mean, how are we gonna, how're they going to think we're so weak that you're going to make us back down on something as basic as that? (affirmation) God is calling - I'm still mad right now, and I'm trying to calm down right now and not scream. But we're not going back - you heard it already. Look at all the documents. Look at what we're reminding ourselves of, as though we've forgotten. You can go back to the early 1700s and we used to be reading in our history classes, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards, messages he used to read, with thick glasses something like these, and it would seem as though that while he was reading that message, rote, not trying to be charismatic, just reading the message, that people would see themselves dangling over the fires of hell and scream out for God to come into their hearts. That began the first Great Awakening in the 1700s, which became the foundation for this nation, an awakening to God like never before. And when you think about it, every Ivy League school started by somebody praying and by somebody saying, 'we need training schools for ministers.'"
"It's intellectual dishonesty not to think that our whole nation began with God and with prayer. (affirmations) How can we be arguing with somebody who don't have a clue? God's just calling us to stand up! (affirmations) You go to the 1800s, in the beginning of the 1800s, and you saw that the claim to fame, really, of Jefferson, was the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States, but there were guys like Barton Stone and James McCreedy, that said, that 'when you guys went west' - because that's where we got the idea of 'Go West, Young Man' - he said, 'God went with you.' And out in Kentucky, there was, the people who said, 'we gotta pray, we got to call people together to pray again,' so they would go out into the woods and cut down trees and to pray and seek God, what happened? Red River, Muddy River, and the Cain River Revival, our nation was awakened again! Second Great Awakening in this country!
"Then Finney, preacher, didn't compromise the message - you know, Lymon Beecher, up there in the north (contemptuously) of this nation, would say Finney had these new measures, we weren't going to put up with this, because, you know, he's gone too far. But Finney was summoned to Philadelphia, which is where we are today, and he came to Philadelphia, because Philadelphia was the Harlem of that day, meaning that there was so much stuff going on, so many kinds of sins, so many drinking, so many kinds of crimes going on, he came here, sent Father Nash to pray for weeks in advance, he would call inquiry meetings, in the inquiry meetings, the place, the house that he would go into, they'd start crying, power of God would come, because God began to break the nation! This nation needed to be broken! Their hearts needed to be impacted by God again! Somebody gotta pray like never before!
"When Lymon Beecher heard what happened in Philadelphia, where this Great Awakening occurred, where this place was transformed, he said, 'would you please come to New England,' met him at the state line; as a result of that, Rome, New York was touched, Rochester, New York; whole cities were transformed. Crime dried up in whole cities! Why? Because somebody prayed and somebody preached. And Jesus called his disciples and he said to his disciples, 'Go into every city and town where I myself would come.' He sent his disciples out two by two. Look, just take a whole city, take a whole city in prayer, and then he said, 'Go ye, pray there before you go there.' How are the people gonna shut us up? How are a bunch of liberals who don't have a clue gonna shut us up? You were saying, that we are, we're intolerant? Intolerant?! We are become the nation that allowed for all these other people to come in here to be able to worship their God! Yes, we are Bible-believing, Bible-carrying people, you say you're trying to proselytise - what do you mean? Of course! What do you think, they're going to get saved by osmosis?! (applause starts) Of course we're gonna get people saved! Of course we're gonna talk about Jesus! (standing ovation starts) Of course we're gonna say the name of Jesus without compromise! Of course we're gonna pray, like never before! That's what I'm talking about! (sustained applause)
"It's on the wings of prayer that our nation has become what it is. So sure, I applaud big politicians who are praying. I applaud, like, the one that just finished, Bosma, there in Indiana, and I applaud the senators and I applaud men like Senator Santorum standing up for the Lord. But you know what? If you don't stand for anything, you won't die for anything. It's time for us to stand like never before now, and come to this place of prayer. Our nation needs you now, like never before. African-Americans, we're not going to put up with this - let's face it. We're called religious people. And where some of the other people are worried about, you understand, this matter of prayer, we're not worried about being political. It's time now for us to stand up. (shouting now) God will not (?! - best I could make out, he distorted the mike) revive us again, you can't tell me that abortion and this matter of all this, is a white man's issue! It is an issue of unrighteousness! And black people who are the ones who are aborting at a rate as nobody else, where sin does abound, grace must more abound, black people have to stand up! and pray! (standing ovation starts) We will not die! We will not give in to this same old stupid stuff we're sayin'.
"'Judge Alito will turn back the hands of civil rights a hundred years.' (boos) Don't spit in my face and call it rain! That's the same old stupid stuff we've been saying for years. Have you read his record? Have you looked at what he's done? If you haven't done your research, stop looking to man and look to God, and stand up now and be the people God called you to be. This is our day!" (still standing, audience cheers more, sits)
Tony Perkins: "That prayer begins with us. And we must pray, and again, I want to encourage you to be a part of praying intently over the next 21 ays, over the next three weeks, commit to pray..." plugs FRC.org again, and daily prayer updates, and daily Washington Update, and copy of "Publicly Honouring God," the dissent of Justice Thomas Scalia in a recent 10 Commandments case, "It gives you the history, the Christian history, of America, and I encourage you to do that as you sign up." Calls assembly to corporate (his word, means "as a body") prayer. (There are about 15 minutes left.)
Pastor Lusk calls a a variety of preachers all come up to pray. Starts with the Lord's Prayer as a boatload of preachers slowly head up to the front of the church, then starts handing the microphone around.
Pastor Craig gives a prayer thanking for not being forsaken and asking for God to "come to the aid of your people;" "And now Lord, like never before, we stand in the place of need, for your mercy, and your justice;" calls for "justice to be in the standard of God;" asks for God to "touch the hearts of your people, that we will be the conscience and the voice of those that are unborn, that we would be the voice and the conscience to those that are unseen, that we would let men and women know, that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ," etc.
Bishop Morris: "We ask Christians boldly proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, for we believe that Jesus died that we might live..." "Jesus Christ is Lord and saviour. And every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord."
Pastor Lobek(?): "We come tonight as the free children of God... come to this country that you've created, because your word has been given the liberty to be heard, to be believed, and to be lived out. Father, we ask that once again in the name of Christ that liberty would be proclaimed throughout the land, unto every inhabitant thereof, that you would free your people, that you'd allow your word to be mighty and powerful, and that you'd sanctify us, through your word and by your spirit. ... You have said that you will build your church, and therefore may not secularism or unbelief, or a hostile Supreme Court, prevail against your word. Sanctify us through your word, for your word is true. We come in faith, trusting this, in the name of every one that trusts in Jesus. We come as Christians, trusting in the name that's above every name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."
Jerrod(?) Paradise(?): "Father, it's so clear; that your hand has been upon this nation from the very beginning; father, we are your experiment; father thank you for the founders, thank you for those who shed blood, to grant us freedom; thank you for all the years, thank you for the multiplied thousands of churches; thank you for the millions of Christians; thank you for all the scriptures, all the missioners, all the work that has gone out from this nation. And father, now, we're threatened, our liberties are threatened, but you're greater, and your hand is still upon us. I pray, pour out your holy spirit empower, and give to your church a spirit of courage, a spirit of conviction, a spirit of revival, a spirit that loves the truth and takes a stand for righteousness. God, put your hand upon us in a powerful, powerful way, and in all things father we pray that you are honoured, your son Jesus Christ is glorified and magnified and exalted and praised and put on display. We are the light, we are the salt, we are your people. In your great name we pray, Lord Jesus, amen and amen."
Bishop Coleman: "Heavenly father, your word says, that you have not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And father, as we come tonight, united as the Body of Christ, I pray O God that you'll bring America back to holiness. Bring America back to righteous living. Bring America back to the Godly standard that is the foundation of this nation. And most of all father and Lord(?), I pray that you'll touch the heart of every believer, and that we'll rise together and stand together with one voice, and to be able to say that we've taken it long enough, we're not gonna take it anymore, that we're not going to stand and allow all of the liberties that we have been given by you almighty God, to be taken away from us any longer. Because father, your word says, 'by the blessing of the upright, the city shall be exalted. Jesus Christ will be Lord!"
Back to Rev. Lusk, who starts a "YES!" chant, to "YES LORD!" and more song. "YES to your will! YES to your way! YES to your word!" with audience response and singing. (mass applause as music ends)
Tony Perkins again: "Let's pray together, join hands with those standing next to you, let's thank God for tonight, and pray that we don't have to wait for Justice Sunday IV to see congregations across this nation standing hand in hand, black American, white American, Christians standing together, for if we stand together, we'll never be divided. Father, thank you for this evening; thank you for the opportunity that we have had together, together in your house, to praise your name. We pray indeed for this nation, we pray for those in authority, we pray Lord that you, will turn this nation back to you, we pray for our president, we pray for those senators who will be deciding about the judges who sit on the Federal courts, we pray Lord that your name be glorified in this nation again. We lift you up tonight, we thank you, we praise you, and Lord, we wait with great anticipation of what you are going to do in our nation. Thank you, Lord. Can somebody say Amen!" (Congregation is led in song as credits roll.)
-- 30 --
There's also a recurring theme, particularly in the first hour, about needing to pray for authority, and respect authority. This fits in with the hierarchical worldview, and what we know about Alito's deference for anyone in a position of authority - his general assumption has been that the rich and/or powerful generally have very good reasons for doing what they do, and should be granted significant amounts of doubt and leeway in that regard.
In terms of the courts, they've moved the "bad judicial system" line further back again; it used to be the big focus was Roe v. Wade, but that's not even mentioned anymore; they went back to the rulings against teacher-led student prayer in 1961 last time; this time, they've moved the goalpost all the way back to 1947, in Everson v. Board of Education, where, "Justice Hugo Black changed the meaning of 'Separation of Church & State'" in a dissent where state funding for religious school bussing systems was upheld. They like the ruling, but point to this case as the start of a supposed judicial war on Christianity. Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Ed Meese (Reagan administration), and Alan Sears (Alliance Defense Fund, an anti-gay/fundamentalist legal group) spends a lot of time talking about this, in particular. IIRC, the ADF actually backs up the "bad decisions" line to 1812, Marlbury v. Madison, and do not think the courts should be able to rule laws unconstitutional at all. But that's not mentioned here and I may be confusing my fundamentalist legal entities.
The fundamentalist right as represented here firmly believe that Alito will rule in exactly the ways they want to. James Dobson issues one of several ACTION ITEMs to support Alito. Falwell calls the Alito nomination the culmination of 30 years of work - "I feel that this is a crucial, crucial time. Judge Alito. What we've worked on for 30 years, to mobilise people of faith and values in this country. And no one's done it better than Dr. Dobson in recent times. So what we have done through this years is coming to culmination, to consummation, right now. We were able to hold off Michael Moore, and most of Hollywood, and most of the national media, and George Soros, and the Kennedy and other crowds who fought so fiercely against the re-election of George Bush. That was just a year ago. And now, now we're looking at what we really started on 30 years ago; a reconstruction of a court system gone awry." (Emphasis his. Is this a Christian Reconstructionist/Dominionism message? I suspect so.)
Don Feder of "Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation," jews4fairness.org, says that the American government can't work without Christianity: "I think it's important for all religious people to work against anti-Christian defamation. Obviously, we're all in this together; America's a country that's 76% Christian, America's survival depends upon the survival of Christianity. I think John Adams, our second president, said it best, when he commented that our Constitution was made for a moral and a religious people; it is wholly inadequate for the government of any other. That religion happens to be Christianity. If Christianity fails in America, if the left has its way, America as we know it will cease to exist."
Rev. Herbert Lusk, one of the hosts, speaks pretty freely about abortion and being against marriage rights, and seems to equate the United States to the "rock" upon which Jesus builds his church, here: "The fact of the matter is the foundations [of our culture] will not be destroyed, because Jesus said, upon this rock, I build my church! And the very gates of hell shall not prevail against it!" Similarly, he's certainly colourful towards opponents: "Be careful how you fool with the church! When you start messing with the church, something stirs up inside of me! You be careful because the church has surviving power! My friends, you know this, and know this well, don't fool with the church, because the church has buried a many a critic! And all the critics that we have no buried, we're making funeral arrangements for them!" That's part of a long sequence that got a standing ovation.
Regardless - here's my transcript.
----- Begin transcript -----
Justice Sunday III
Proclaim Liberty!
It's On The Bell
Family Research Council
Focus on the Family Action
Greater Exodus Baptist Church
Philadelphia, PA
Sen. Rick Santorum
Dr. James Dobson
Dr. Jerry Falwell
Dr. Alvita King
Bishop Wellington Boone
Several others
Hosts: FRC president Tony Perkins, Rev. Herbert Lusk
Transcript by Dara Korra'ti. All quoted material is verbatim, except for (parenthetical comments) are descriptive inserts. All emphasis marks are as spoken. Material not in quotes may contain my notes and comments, particularly early in the transcription.
-- start --
Lusk starts with: "Let the church say AMEN!" then praises Tony Perkins quite a bit, talks about how he "set our souls on evangelical fire," then hands the mike over.
Perkins: Proclaims religious freedoms "under attack." Lists off some of the usual complaints. Lusk interjects, "Are we gonna do something about it?!" Crowd roars approval. Introduces "someone who knows a lot about religious liberty and freedom," Rick Santorum.
Santorum: religious freedom is at risk because of "liberal activist judges on the Supreme Court." Claims the founders established two of three branches of governments "elected by the people" (which is not in fact really true. Direct election only for the House of Representatives, and most people couldn't vote). Talks about liberal judges "destroying traditional morality" and "creating a new moral code." Court is "imposing its own... will upon the people." Praises Judge Alito, "A powerful intellect... yet grounded in that common sense." "Appropriately unwilling to impose his views upon the American people." Says Democrats will "continue their far-left judicial activism on the Supreme Court," saying that they are going to "[destroy] Penn's great experiment, and of the Constitution given to us some 219 year ago here in Philadelphia."
Pre-taped section by FRC president Tony Perkins. Talks about the Liberty Bell. "It's become an important symbol of our freedom." Talks about political correctness, "but, my friend, it is historically correct" and "atheist groups, aided by the Federal Courts, have made great progress in their efforts to eradicate all public displays of our religious history." The film is weirdly jerky (as I later noticed is true for all the prerecorded segments); presumably a technical issue. Rev. James Kennedy: "The name of god, on our currency and on our monuments, is an important reminder of the person to whom we owe all that we have, which is God Almighty, the ultimate hero of America, whose providence, according to George Washington, was the very reason why we succeeded at arms, and gained our liberty and independence to begin with. To remove all of those things, all of those reminders, is to soon forget this one to whom we owe our liberty, our freedom, and all that we enjoy in this world. Therefore, let us indeed enter into the debate and let known our opinions about such important matters as these." Patrick Korten: VP, Knights of Columbus: "Recently, we've been heavily involved in defending the Pledge of Allegiance in the Federal Courts. We were responsible for the campaign to have the words 'Under God' inserted in the pledge back in 1954. We have always believed that it's important for those words to be there, because, as it's said in the Declaration of Independence, 'we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.' That was a really important statement, because it said in America, we believe our rights come from our creator, from God, not from the state. It's not the state's to give and to take away." Invokes Communism.
Back to live footage in the church:
Dr. Alveda King, of "King for America": sings a spiritual. Crawl appears, noting Alito has the "highest rating" from the ABA. Also, "Alito has more priour judicial experience than any supreme court nominee in the last 70 years," "Leviticus 25:10-proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof..." and a continuing series of other key talking points, most of which come from the just-shown pre-taped section. (These continued throughout the live sections throughout the show.) King: "Liberty is a precious right that we must preserve. When truth cannot be absolutely proclaimed, worship of tolerance becomes tyranny. The lives of all people, including the lives of the unborn, are caught up in the battle for religious freedom before us." "The materialism in America has been an unconscious thing. We didn't mean to do it. ... We didn't just go up and say, 'now God, we're gone.' We have gone a whole day's journey, America; and then we came to see that we have unconsciously ushered God out of our universe. That is the danger confronting us tonight, my friends... that in a nation such as ours... that we will unconsciously forget about God." Quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. a bit, praises God a lot. Quoting MLK,Jr: "If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values, that all reality hinges on moral foundations, and that all reality has spiritual control." Alveda King: "We can affirm those words here in America right now!" Prays. Sings "We Shall Overcome."
Pre-taped section: Thomas Jefferson referenced the Christian God four times in the Declaration of Independence. (All quotes say "Our Creator," and so on, but hey.) Attacks courts. Lots and LOTS of painting Jefferson as requiring Christianity for democratic government.
Rev. Lusk: Quotes Psalms 11:3. "If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?" "I've been called a sellout, I've been called an Uncle Tom, and the New York Times called me 'a maverick to the black church.' Well, friends, I just want the Times to know, if a maverick can be defined as one who is pro-life, than I'm a maverick. (crowd cheers) And if being a maverick means that I am one who supports the original intent of God Almighty to have a husband and a wife (interrupted by cheers) then I want you to mark right next to my name, Herbert Hoover Lusk II, 'Maverick!'" "The foundations are being tampered with. ... 55 of the original signers of our Constitution were all men of God, but the foundation is being tampered with... like never before, this hostility against the people of God, and brothers and sisters, I want the people to know that I will not go down lightly!" (cheers)
"From the time 1963 until 1999, over 18 million African-American babies alone have been aborted! They've said that I don't speak for black people. Well, I may not speak for all black people. But there are some black folk that I speak for!" (cheers) (standing ovation) "We are against the redefinition of marriage! We are against abortion! We are against partial abortion! And we are against Christian bashing!" (cheers)
Talks about oppression against Christians, and how bad it is, and "it looks so bad that we just need to throw in the towel!" (roars of "no" from audience) "The fact of the matter is the foundations will not be destroyed, because Jesus said, upon this rock, I build my church! And the very gates of hell shall not prevail against it!" "Be careful how you fool with the church! When you start messing with the church, something stirs up inside of me! You be careful because the church has surviving power! My friends, you know this, and know this well, don't fool with the church, because the church has buried a many a critic! And all the critics that we have no buried, we're making funeral arrangements for them!" "We have surviving power, and we have thriving power! And I don't care how hard you hit us, the more you hit us, the stronger we get!" "We are persecuted, but not forsaken! Cast down, but not destroyed!" (All this is interrupted repeatedly by cheers.) "The church is the only organisation in the world that has arriving power! Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? We have arriving power. Everything else, you can put dead in on it (?) - nothing else goes past the graveyard but the church! Am I right about it? If you don't believe me, just walk through the gravesite of history for me. Walk with me and see all of the great men and women who came against the church and declared their name above Jesus, they are all passed away, like the pestilence of the storms, only to be remembered by the desolations they have made. Oh, my brothers and my sisters, there is nothing to compare with being a child of the King!" (standing ovation) (continually interrupted with cheers) "One day, one day, hope will be swallowed up in certainty. And one day, sight will be swallowed up in sights. And one day time will collapse at the foot of eternity. But the church of the living God will just be having breakfast!" "All hail the power of Jesus's name! Let angels prostrate towards him! Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him LORD!" (standing ovation) (cheers)
Pre-taped segment: FRC's Tony Perkins again: "For the first 150 years of our country's history, the nation's highest court was a great defender of religious principles being taught in our schools, protected by our laws, and honoured in public. Unfortunately, that began to change about 60 years ago, as religious questions came before the court; as religious questions came before the court, the court has grown increasingly hostile to religion and to religious liberties. Just in our schools alone, prayer was outlawed, the Bible was banned, the 10 Commandments removed, and members of the clergy prohibited from praying at graduations. America needs a court that will cease its hostility towards religion, and once again be a protector of religious faith and liberties."
Ed Meese: "From the beginning of our country in the 1780s, until about 1947, the role of religion in public life was recognised as both significant and also as very legitimate. And this was the position the courts uniformly took over most of that history of our nation."
Alan Sears, Alliance Defense Fund: "In 1947, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in Everson (Graphic flashes up: "Everson v. Board of Education, Justice Hugo Black Changed the meaning of 'Separation of Church & State'"), which has basically been the citation from then on of the words "The Separation of Church and State," even though Justice Hugo Black was in the minourity in that decision, did not persuade the entire court to go his way, he used a metaphor that has been now misused probably more than any other metaphor in American Constitutional law. In fact, in one man-on-the-street survey I saw not too long ago, a majority of Americans actually thought that phrase appeared in the Constitution. But it does not, and I'm glad to say that recently the 6th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, in a case involving the 10 Commandments, they're tired of hearing the ACLU's worn-out argument about the separation of Church and State, because that phrase is not in the Constitution of the Untied States."
David Barton, "US Government History Expert," wallbuilders.com: "It was 1947, Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court said, 'well, we think that the wall of separation concept should not apply to the free exercise clause, we think it ought to apply to the establishment clause.' So now they're saying, 'we think it's the role of the Federal government to stop public religious activities.' Jefferson used that phrase to say, 'no, it's going to protect expression,' but in 1947, the court said, 'No, we're going to use it to stop expression.' So now, using Jefferson's phrase, the court steps in and says, 'Oh, we've got to stop voluntary school prayer. Oh, by the way, we have to take 'under God' out of the pledge of allegiance. Oh, by the way, we can't have nativity scenes in public, or the Mt. Soledad Cross over in California, can't do that; Indiana legislature, say a prayer, we can't - so what we have now is that separation phrase that for 150 years protected religious expression is now used to secularise the society. And that's completely the opposite of what it was intended to do!"
Back to live, for another segment:
Dr. James Dobson: (Standing ovation) "I tell you what, you folks have got my blood pressure up. You are on fire! And you know what? There are millions of more out there out there who just the way we do, and I'm excited to be here." "I think that this effort to help get Judge Samuel Alito confirmed may be one of the most important issues that has occurred, one of the most important efforts that has occurred in recent history. Because of the issue of judicial tyranny. That's what we're faced with. The video that you've seen all come down to that. Because, as you have heard, for 60 years this court has forced its will on the American people. The decisions that have been made about religious concerns have not been chosen by the American people, they have been forced on the American people and it's time to put it to an end." (applause)
"So you heard some of the decisions that have been made, let me enter into a dialogue with you, may I do that? I'm going to ask some questions and I want you to answer me. Will you let me hear from you? (Yes) Do you think that schoolchildren should be allowed to read the Bible in school? (yes) Do you believe that schoolchildren should be able to prayer, pray in school (YES!) Do you believe that there should be prayer at graduation activities? (Yes) And sporting events? (YES!) Do you resent the fact that the courts has made it impossible for your kids to participate in that (YES!!) Do you believe that every child in this country should be able to pray or to say the pledge of allegiance (Yes) with 'under God' included? (YES!) Now, do you believe that every child in the world should be welcomed into this world and protected and given a chance at life? (YES!) (applause) You see, every one of those issues is here in the United States and in many places around the world, a 70% issue or more. Some of them are 80%, one of them having to do with the Pledge of Allegiance, is a 90% issue. The American people do not want what the Court has done to them! (Yes!)"
"Now, this is the point... we are the deciders of our government. This is a wonderful experiment in self-governing. And it is being undermined and representative government is being weakened and vilified and indeed made illegal. And that is why we are here, because there is so much at stake. It is just hard to get ahold of what we are facing at this time. This Supreme Court and certainly the next one, the next two or three years, is going to deal with some awesome issues. One of them is partial-birth abortion. That is going to be considered again by this court. That horrible, Nazi-esque procedure by which babies are delivered, all but the tops of their heads, and they're fully brimming with life! And a doctor inserts a canular, a tube in the back of the head, sucks the brains out of those babies, and collapses the head of the baby and delivers a dead baby. This Supreme Court's gonna decide that! That ought to be decided by us, because I know what the decision would be!" (applause)
"It is very likely that in the next few years the court is going to decide on the definition of marriage! Imagine that! Should not the American people make that decision? The beginning of the preamble to the Constitution says, "we, the people, of the United States," - we're supposed to decide the great moral decisions of our time. And all of them are being made for us! And it is wrong, and it has to stop!" ... "There are just so many other religious issues, going back to the matter of marriage; 19 states have now considered what the definition of marriage should be, and put it in their Constitution. 19 states! All 19 of them have said between one man and on woman!" (shouts of approval) (applause) "yet according to Justice Kennedy, in Lawrence vs. Texas, he made it pretty clear that the American people are not going to get a chance to make that decision, the court's going to make it for us! And I say NO!" (shouts of approval) "And I think they need to hear us loud and clear."
"Now folks, the good news, is that the President of the United States, George Bush, has appointed, or nominated, an outstanding judge to be a justice on the Supreme Court. Samuel Alito has all the qualifications. The American Bar Association, with which I don't agree on much, has given him the highest rating. He has more judicial experience than 105 out of 108 nominees to the Supreme Court. And he has made it very clear [FRC hotline flashes up: 877.FRC.4545], and I believe him, that he will be an originalist. An originalist is one who will not legislate from the bench, but who will interpret the Constitution, which is the limit of their ability." (applause)
"And there's gonna be an all-out effort to defeat him. It starts tomorrow. And you're going to hear all kinds of charges against him; we already heard on Meet the Press, or one of the talk shows this morning, Senator Schumer talking about all the evil that this man has done. Do not believe it! This is a good man who will make wise decisions, I'm thankful that he's been appointed, and now, I urge you, my friends and fellow Christian and neighbours and countrymen, I urge you to let your senators know how you feel about this. Tell them two things: DO NOT FILIBUSTER. (applause) Would you repeat that with me? DO. NOT. FILIBUSTER. (audience does.) And give this man the courtesy of an up or down vote. That's all we're requesting. Give him the courtesy of a simple up or down vote. And if we do that and we let our voices be heard, I believe we can put an end to judicial tyranny and once again we can have government of the people, by the people, and for the people, in this country. Thank you all." (standing ovation)
Pre-taped segment: Tony Perkins, FRC: points at Christ Church in Philadelphia, saying "it was the clergy" that were "a driving force in securing and defending America's liberty. Today, we often see formal complaints filed against pastors who speak out on the issues from a Biblical perspective. But the members of the Continental Congress and those who attended services here at Christ Church, would have thought that not only foolish, but they would have seen those complaints as downright dangerous." Talks about pastors being responsible for the spread of the independence movement and of the anti-slavery movement and the civil rights movement, and the anti-abortion movement. "Thank God there have always been religious people in our nation with God-given convictions for truth, justice, and religious freedom. They have kept our nation on course towards its high calling of being a beacon of freedom for all people, a strong nation, one nation, under God."
James Kennedy: "The founders of this country believed that religious liberty was the most important liberty that we have. That is why it is first in the bill of rights. Before any of the other liberties are mentioned, first of all, there is the guarantee of religious freedom. Without that, this nation would soon lose all of its liberty.
Don Feder, "Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation," jews4fairness.org: "I think it's important for all religious people to work against anti-Christian defamation. Obviously, we're all in this together; America's a country that's 76% Christian, America's survival depends upon the survival of Christianity. I think John Adams, our second president, said it best, when he commented that our Constitution was made for a moral and a religious people; it is wholly inadequate for the government of any other. That religion happens to be Christianity. If Christianity fails in America, if the left has its way, America as we know it will cease to exist." William Donohue, President & CEO, Catholic League: "You cannot talk about liberty in this country without talking about religious freedom. The most elementary form of freedom is religious freedom. If you don't have that, all other freedoms are meaningless. And Catholics and evangelicals have come together. We understand what's at state. Our culture is going south. And unless we rescue it, we're all going down together. And that's why we've reached out with observant Jews and people of faith of all faiths, because we have a war in this country between the secular supremacists who want to gut our society and out religious heritage of any expression of religion, and those people who understand the traditional understanding of freedom of religion going back to the time of James Madison. Look: the time for an alliance is now. Evangelicals, traditional Catholics, observant Jews, standing together against the secular supremacists. Either they win, or we win!"
Back to live segment:
"Chancellor of Liberty University, Dr. Jerry Falwell:" Thanks Rev. Lusk, Dr. Dobson, Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, "And the people who have worked so hard at this crucial time to deliver a message to people of faith in this country that it's now or never." Talks about meeting Dr. Tim LaHaye 30 years before in California, then head of Californians for Biblical Morality. "What can we do about what appeared to be a terrible move towards secularisation in our country. I had no idea how far we'd go, but with the Shemp (School District of Abbington Township v. Shemp) case, we had eliminated prayer, Bible-reading, but I didn't know what to do - I had been taught in school that religion and politics don't mix. I'd never bothered to look for the book chapter and verse - it isn't in there, it's like separation of Church and State, it's not in the Constitution - but we had been so brainwashed that I felt my hands were tied. Dr. LaHaye had done something spectacular out in California, and I wondered 'why can that not be done nationally?' So in 1979... we formed the Moral Majority. And we weren't intending to say that everyone else is of the immoral minourity. We were simply saying that we believe most Americans believe in matters of faith and family and decency and the Judeo-Christian ethic, that generally a majority at that time agreed with that position, and I think they still do. Well, the press, very quickly, in a pejorative way, dubbed us the 'Religious Right.' You could get most of our preachers in a phone booth at that time, who wanted to get involved in political issues, but I've never looked on abortion, and family values, as being political. First and foremost, and primarily, they're moral, and they're social issues (cries of support from audience), and if the pulpit is not to address those issues, what are we to address?" (support from audience)
"I feel that this is a crucial, crucial time. Judge Alito. What we've worked on for 30 years, to mobilise people of faith and values in this country. And no one's done it better than Dr. Dobson in recent times. So what we have done through this years is coming to culmination, to consummation, right now. We were able to hold off Michael Moore, and most of Hollywood, and most of the national media, and George Soros, and the Kennedy and other crowds who fought so fiercely against the re-election of George Bush. That was just a year ago."
"And now, now we're looking at what we really started on 30 years ago; a reconstruction of a court system gone awry. Robert, John Roberts, is now on the court, he's Chief Justice, and everybody thinks he's wonderful. But these same guys were calling him bad names just a few months ago. And now, today, on the talk shows everywhere, poor Judge Alito, didn't know how bad he was, how dishonest he is, he heard that today. [www.frc.org] But the fact is, he is a qualified justice. And all the president's trying to do is keep his promise to put on the court more men like Scalia, and Thomas, who will stand for a strict constructionist application of the Constitution, and stand for faith and family, and all the things that this nation under God has for plus 200 years been."
"I want to challenge every one of you watching by television. You have two senators. If you don't know their names, you ought to repent first (laughter), and then call the US Capitol, and talk with whoever you can talk with, and urge them to vote for the confirmation of this judge. The President has three more years, God willing, and there could be another, maybe two - who knows? And it could be that not only the House and the Senate and many of the state houses, and the people of course, would be getting their act together on moral and social issues; it could be that the court, after 30 long hard years, from people like you, there could be a reconstruction of the US Supreme Court in our immediate lifetime. What a wonderful thing that would be."
"The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, said, 'Living by God's principles brings, uh - violating God's principles brings shame. Living by those principles brings a nation to greatness.' We need to come back to what the founding fathers and David Barton was just telling us about - we are a nation under God. (support from audience) I was raised in the home of a man who didn't know God, I didn't know the Bible; my father was in business - oil, gas, nightclubs; I grew up without knowing a verse of scripture; and through hearing Charles E. Fuller's Old-Fashioned Revival Hour broadcast as a sophomore in college, 54 years ago, gave my heart to the Lord. (applause) I have to learn from scratch everything I know about him, about Christ. And now, some 54 years later, I want to see for my children and my grandchildren - and I have many of them - that they will enjoy the same America in which I was born. It can't be talked about, it must be acted upon. Go to the telephone. Write your letters. Get to your US senators. And let's, let's confirm this man, Judge Alito, to the US Supreme Court, and let's make one more step towards bringing America back to one nation under God. God bless you." (Standing ovation)
Tony Perkins: Quotes Luke Chapter 18, 'Men should not lose heart, but they should pray.' There are many difficult days ahead, and I want to challenge you here tonight to pray. We need to be praying for our nation. Can I hear an amen?" (Audience AMEN). Quotes Timothy: "'We are to pray for those in authority.' We need to be praying for our senators this week. We need to be praying for our president. (applause) We need to be praying for all those in authority. Scripture also tells us that we should pray for those who curse us (shouts of approval) and persecute us. And I want to challenge you this, over the next 21 days, to pray for those who say we shouldn't be here tonight. For those who would like to take away your voice. Let's pray for them that they too might experience the fullness of God's joy and his peace. And at a time when the Middle East stands at a crisis and turmoil with the illness of the Prime Minster, Psalm 1:22 instructs us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Points people to frc.org; asks people to join the "FRC Prayer Team," and get their weekly prayer team updates, particularly over the Alito nomination. "We've got to put feet to our prayers, and we've got to stand up, and we've got to take action. And we can help you do that, too, at the Family Research Council..." Plugs website again, and phone number (877.FRC.4545), to sign up to get prayer team reports and daily Washington Update bulletin. Asks audience to commit to praying over the next 21 days. Asks audience to commit to taking action over the next 21 days.
(Many broadcasters now leave; final 30 minutes not carried on all stations.)
Perkins pulls Collin Hannah out of the crowd - he's a county commissioner who fought to keep a courthouse 10 Commandments display (Credited as being with Let Freedom Ring); "We received a letter in 2001 from the ACLU... we were not intimidated; we did not go down lightly; we united, and we answered the letter with a letter that was very politely worded... but said no." Lost first round, appealed to the 3rd circuit (Alito's circuit) and won a reversal; "my message to other elected officials in a similar situation is, 'Do not go down lightly; you can win.'" Perkins again: "In your communities, pray that God would raise up men like Collin Hannah and others who fear God more than man, and will stand, because we stand, guess what happens? We win."
Pre-recorded section, Tony Perkins again: Carpenter's Hall, meeting place of the 1st Continental Congress. Portrays 1st Continental Congress as a prayer revival. "Our nation was born in public prayer, and it will be sustained by no less. Unfortunately, in the last 229 years, our nation has moved away from that prayer, in fact, to the point where the Supreme Court has said children cannot pray in our schools, and the practice of praying before high school football games is prohibited. The very clergy that our founders turned to in a time of need have now been turned away from the public square." (Note: Children can pray in schools. School officials can't lead them in prayer It's not the same thing, though they are intermixed for propagandistic effect.)
James Kennedy: "For courts to dictate how chaplains should pray in public is to deny religious liberty at its very heart. Because if we cannot appeal to our God in the way that our God has instructed us - and Jesus has said, 'Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do' - therefore, religious freedom and liberty are destroyed. Therefore, it's vitally important that not only chaplains, but pastors - even lay people, in various circumstances - would be free to pray according to what their religion teaches them. And as Christians, we know that that involves speaking to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, his only son, who alone promises us that our prayers, in his name, will be heard."
Brian Bosma, Speaker of the House, Indiana State Legislature: "We've had a 189-year tradition in the Indiana House of Representatives of having men and women of faith be invited to our chamber and pray in accordance with the dictates of their own conscience, uncensored by either elected officials or Federal courts, and that has resulted in a reverent opportunity for men and women of faith to open our session for nearly 200 years now. After we placed our sessions on the internet, which was one of the things that I did this last year, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union then took the opportunity to count the number of times that someone in our opening prayer mentioned the name of Jesus Christ or otherwise referred to their saviour or shepherd. And 29 out of 54 times was too much for the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. Along with the assistance of one legislator, they filed a lawsuit in Federal court that has sought and now has received an injunction directing me as the Speaker of the House, not to allow sectarian prayers, especially those that mention the name of Jesus Christ, or any reference to the second coming, the resurrection, or the fact that Jesus is our redeemer. The Indiana Civil Liberties Union, and, in fact, many of the local governments, have reacted to this ruling by saying that it applies to all units of government, and, if it's sustained and upheld by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, it will be applicable to every unit of government throughout the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. And if it's appealed to the Supreme Court, which we intend to do if necessary, and is upheld, then it applies to every unit of government throughout the United States. So this really is a larger issue of just what's happening in the Indiana House to the intersection of faith and government and the broader cultural war we find ourselves in today against those who want to take every bit of religion out of our state, local, and Federal government. Personally, I find this to be an intolerable ruling, it's one that I have directed our state Attorney General and our legal team to file an aggressive and immediate appeal of, and we will seek to defend the name of Jesus Christ, but more importantly, the ability of every citizen, perhaps in the United States, to pray in accordance with their own conscience. They should have uncensored speech and the ability to pray in accordance with their own conscience, and that's what we're going to seek to defend.
Back to live:
Fellowship International Churches, Bishop Wellington Boone: Quotes Psalms 84:5. "'Will thou not revive us again, that our people might rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.'" "Isaiah 56, verse 7, says 'My house should be called a house of prayer for all people.' I don't know, it seems to me that we're almost going out of our minds. In reality, we don't understand, seemingly, in this day, that America became America on the wings of somebody on their knees." (affirmation from audience)
"God is causing the whole nation - when Dr. Lusk got up and he talked about the foundations be destroyed - the basic foundation is the foundation of prayer. But you know the Lord is not going to come back and look to the government and look to even educational institutions - he's going to come back and look to the church (applause starts) and say, 'you're the sword and you're the light! you're the ones who have to make the difference right now!' (lots of applause) I believe the times are summoning the church to take its position in the marketplace, because it seems like the world, even in this nation, don't seem to understand what to do! How could we, in this particular day and time, not understand that we need revival again! We need the fires of prayer and the fires of revival to come back to this nation again!" (applause)
"You know good and well that this nation was started on the basis of somebody wanting religious freedom, somebody who would stand on the word, somebody who would, who would actually win people to Jesus, try to make a nation under God, that's why we ended up on our dollar bill with 'One Nation Under God!' I mean, how are we gonna, how're they going to think we're so weak that you're going to make us back down on something as basic as that? (affirmation) God is calling - I'm still mad right now, and I'm trying to calm down right now and not scream. But we're not going back - you heard it already. Look at all the documents. Look at what we're reminding ourselves of, as though we've forgotten. You can go back to the early 1700s and we used to be reading in our history classes, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Jonathan Edwards, messages he used to read, with thick glasses something like these, and it would seem as though that while he was reading that message, rote, not trying to be charismatic, just reading the message, that people would see themselves dangling over the fires of hell and scream out for God to come into their hearts. That began the first Great Awakening in the 1700s, which became the foundation for this nation, an awakening to God like never before. And when you think about it, every Ivy League school started by somebody praying and by somebody saying, 'we need training schools for ministers.'"
"It's intellectual dishonesty not to think that our whole nation began with God and with prayer. (affirmations) How can we be arguing with somebody who don't have a clue? God's just calling us to stand up! (affirmations) You go to the 1800s, in the beginning of the 1800s, and you saw that the claim to fame, really, of Jefferson, was the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States, but there were guys like Barton Stone and James McCreedy, that said, that 'when you guys went west' - because that's where we got the idea of 'Go West, Young Man' - he said, 'God went with you.' And out in Kentucky, there was, the people who said, 'we gotta pray, we got to call people together to pray again,' so they would go out into the woods and cut down trees and to pray and seek God, what happened? Red River, Muddy River, and the Cain River Revival, our nation was awakened again! Second Great Awakening in this country!
"Then Finney, preacher, didn't compromise the message - you know, Lymon Beecher, up there in the north (contemptuously) of this nation, would say Finney had these new measures, we weren't going to put up with this, because, you know, he's gone too far. But Finney was summoned to Philadelphia, which is where we are today, and he came to Philadelphia, because Philadelphia was the Harlem of that day, meaning that there was so much stuff going on, so many kinds of sins, so many drinking, so many kinds of crimes going on, he came here, sent Father Nash to pray for weeks in advance, he would call inquiry meetings, in the inquiry meetings, the place, the house that he would go into, they'd start crying, power of God would come, because God began to break the nation! This nation needed to be broken! Their hearts needed to be impacted by God again! Somebody gotta pray like never before!
"When Lymon Beecher heard what happened in Philadelphia, where this Great Awakening occurred, where this place was transformed, he said, 'would you please come to New England,' met him at the state line; as a result of that, Rome, New York was touched, Rochester, New York; whole cities were transformed. Crime dried up in whole cities! Why? Because somebody prayed and somebody preached. And Jesus called his disciples and he said to his disciples, 'Go into every city and town where I myself would come.' He sent his disciples out two by two. Look, just take a whole city, take a whole city in prayer, and then he said, 'Go ye, pray there before you go there.' How are the people gonna shut us up? How are a bunch of liberals who don't have a clue gonna shut us up? You were saying, that we are, we're intolerant? Intolerant?! We are become the nation that allowed for all these other people to come in here to be able to worship their God! Yes, we are Bible-believing, Bible-carrying people, you say you're trying to proselytise - what do you mean? Of course! What do you think, they're going to get saved by osmosis?! (applause starts) Of course we're gonna get people saved! Of course we're gonna talk about Jesus! (standing ovation starts) Of course we're gonna say the name of Jesus without compromise! Of course we're gonna pray, like never before! That's what I'm talking about! (sustained applause)
"It's on the wings of prayer that our nation has become what it is. So sure, I applaud big politicians who are praying. I applaud, like, the one that just finished, Bosma, there in Indiana, and I applaud the senators and I applaud men like Senator Santorum standing up for the Lord. But you know what? If you don't stand for anything, you won't die for anything. It's time for us to stand like never before now, and come to this place of prayer. Our nation needs you now, like never before. African-Americans, we're not going to put up with this - let's face it. We're called religious people. And where some of the other people are worried about, you understand, this matter of prayer, we're not worried about being political. It's time now for us to stand up. (shouting now) God will not (?! - best I could make out, he distorted the mike) revive us again, you can't tell me that abortion and this matter of all this, is a white man's issue! It is an issue of unrighteousness! And black people who are the ones who are aborting at a rate as nobody else, where sin does abound, grace must more abound, black people have to stand up! and pray! (standing ovation starts) We will not die! We will not give in to this same old stupid stuff we're sayin'.
"'Judge Alito will turn back the hands of civil rights a hundred years.' (boos) Don't spit in my face and call it rain! That's the same old stupid stuff we've been saying for years. Have you read his record? Have you looked at what he's done? If you haven't done your research, stop looking to man and look to God, and stand up now and be the people God called you to be. This is our day!" (still standing, audience cheers more, sits)
Tony Perkins: "That prayer begins with us. And we must pray, and again, I want to encourage you to be a part of praying intently over the next 21 ays, over the next three weeks, commit to pray..." plugs FRC.org again, and daily prayer updates, and daily Washington Update, and copy of "Publicly Honouring God," the dissent of Justice Thomas Scalia in a recent 10 Commandments case, "It gives you the history, the Christian history, of America, and I encourage you to do that as you sign up." Calls assembly to corporate (his word, means "as a body") prayer. (There are about 15 minutes left.)
Pastor Lusk calls a a variety of preachers all come up to pray. Starts with the Lord's Prayer as a boatload of preachers slowly head up to the front of the church, then starts handing the microphone around.
Pastor Craig gives a prayer thanking for not being forsaken and asking for God to "come to the aid of your people;" "And now Lord, like never before, we stand in the place of need, for your mercy, and your justice;" calls for "justice to be in the standard of God;" asks for God to "touch the hearts of your people, that we will be the conscience and the voice of those that are unborn, that we would be the voice and the conscience to those that are unseen, that we would let men and women know, that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ," etc.
Bishop Morris: "We ask Christians boldly proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, for we believe that Jesus died that we might live..." "Jesus Christ is Lord and saviour. And every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord."
Pastor Lobek(?): "We come tonight as the free children of God... come to this country that you've created, because your word has been given the liberty to be heard, to be believed, and to be lived out. Father, we ask that once again in the name of Christ that liberty would be proclaimed throughout the land, unto every inhabitant thereof, that you would free your people, that you'd allow your word to be mighty and powerful, and that you'd sanctify us, through your word and by your spirit. ... You have said that you will build your church, and therefore may not secularism or unbelief, or a hostile Supreme Court, prevail against your word. Sanctify us through your word, for your word is true. We come in faith, trusting this, in the name of every one that trusts in Jesus. We come as Christians, trusting in the name that's above every name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."
Jerrod(?) Paradise(?): "Father, it's so clear; that your hand has been upon this nation from the very beginning; father, we are your experiment; father thank you for the founders, thank you for those who shed blood, to grant us freedom; thank you for all the years, thank you for the multiplied thousands of churches; thank you for the millions of Christians; thank you for all the scriptures, all the missioners, all the work that has gone out from this nation. And father, now, we're threatened, our liberties are threatened, but you're greater, and your hand is still upon us. I pray, pour out your holy spirit empower, and give to your church a spirit of courage, a spirit of conviction, a spirit of revival, a spirit that loves the truth and takes a stand for righteousness. God, put your hand upon us in a powerful, powerful way, and in all things father we pray that you are honoured, your son Jesus Christ is glorified and magnified and exalted and praised and put on display. We are the light, we are the salt, we are your people. In your great name we pray, Lord Jesus, amen and amen."
Bishop Coleman: "Heavenly father, your word says, that you have not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And father, as we come tonight, united as the Body of Christ, I pray O God that you'll bring America back to holiness. Bring America back to righteous living. Bring America back to the Godly standard that is the foundation of this nation. And most of all father and Lord(?), I pray that you'll touch the heart of every believer, and that we'll rise together and stand together with one voice, and to be able to say that we've taken it long enough, we're not gonna take it anymore, that we're not going to stand and allow all of the liberties that we have been given by you almighty God, to be taken away from us any longer. Because father, your word says, 'by the blessing of the upright, the city shall be exalted. Jesus Christ will be Lord!"
Back to Rev. Lusk, who starts a "YES!" chant, to "YES LORD!" and more song. "YES to your will! YES to your way! YES to your word!" with audience response and singing. (mass applause as music ends)
Tony Perkins again: "Let's pray together, join hands with those standing next to you, let's thank God for tonight, and pray that we don't have to wait for Justice Sunday IV to see congregations across this nation standing hand in hand, black American, white American, Christians standing together, for if we stand together, we'll never be divided. Father, thank you for this evening; thank you for the opportunity that we have had together, together in your house, to praise your name. We pray indeed for this nation, we pray for those in authority, we pray Lord that you, will turn this nation back to you, we pray for our president, we pray for those senators who will be deciding about the judges who sit on the Federal courts, we pray Lord that your name be glorified in this nation again. We lift you up tonight, we thank you, we praise you, and Lord, we wait with great anticipation of what you are going to do in our nation. Thank you, Lord. Can somebody say Amen!" (Congregation is led in song as credits roll.)
-- 30 --
