Letters to the Editor
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attendance
I was covering this event for Campus Progress (www.campusprogress.org) and inside there seemed to be about 500-600 people attending. I was told by church staffers that the main sanctuary seats 500, and there seemed to be a few empty seats and a few people standing.
The absurdity of the event was palpable. To be constantly invoking the loaded imagery of the civil-rights struggle in support of a racist, bigoted agenda seems outrageous, but no depths are too low. Several of the parishioners I approached after the evening's events told me that they were proud of Justice Sunday III and their pastor. Most of them seemed not deluded but misled; all of the video presentations throughout the night heavy-handedly espoused the idea that our founding fathers were fundamentalist Christians. Most of the congregants seemed to take this at face value. I shudder to think of African American North Philadelphia becoming a reliable Republican stronghold, but apparently it could happen.
Fortunately, many of Philadelphia's black clergymen aligned against the event, and the Reverend Lusk is currently held in low esteem by most responsible pastors.
The overall tone of the evening was inspirational but empty; thousands of dollars of production with very little underneath. To be honest, the whole thing was a bit of a bore. The only moments that redeemed it were watching Rick Santorum and company's hilarious attempts to look "casual" while watching the other speakers, and the truly, truly bizarre sight of the Reverend Herbert Lusk holding hands with James Dobson and Tony Perkins at the same time. Creeeeeepy.