Letters to the Editor
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numb3rs
Does anyone know the approximate live attendance? Are we talking hundreds? Dozens? Over a thousand?
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Just curious.
I have been trying to find this information to no avail. Am I correct that MLK Jr. and his wife Coretta had four children, and that none of them has ever been married or had children?
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What next?
Now there's a "Christian flag"?! God, save us from your followers.
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Numbers and other nuggets
According to the AP, there was a racially mixed crowd of about 500 and 150 protesters across the street.
I live in Philadelphia and, to say the least, was mildly surprised when I saw the front page of the paper this morning. It looked like an April Fool's day issue or a headline from the Onion - Santorum and Falwell being cheered on in an event in predominantly black North Philadelphia (not center city).
Lusk, the pastor and friend of Bush, said "This is not, for me, a black issue or a white issue or a left issue or a right issue, but a righteous issue. It is all about doing the right thing." If Lusk is right, God help us all.
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And We Try So Hard Not To Hate These People
Anyone has the right to be an "ungodly secularist" -- which is a hard choice to make, knowing that he or she is passing up property tax breaks and faith-based ATM money.
Why aren't the true, loving Christians loudly speaking out against these self-annointed spokesmen?
Oh, and by the way: What has Pat Robertson to say about the Dick Cheney shortness of breath on the same weekend the U.S. lost 17 troops (and how many on the one or two days before?). Coincidence, Pat? You decide -- that is, if you can pull your eyes away from the "Ungodly Secularist = Liberal = Pro-abortionist = Terrorist Sympathizer" poster on your wall.
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There's a name for these people
Actually, there are several. You could call them "house niggas" or you could call them "Judas goats" or you could call them "Judases" or you could just call them "Uncle Toms".
They are stabbbing their own people in the back to earn money.
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Philadelphia
This morning in Philadelphia while riding the elevator taking me to my cubicle, my cube neighbor riding with me, excitedly told me how yesterday there were protests across the street from her church during services. Me, not reading or watching local news, was taken aback. She proudly told me how she learned it was "proven" that this country was founded as a Christian nation and says exactly that in the constitution. I hesitated to say too much other than that could not be true. Avoidance of political discussions at work is practiced by me fervently. Also, I live in Society Hill and anyone who knows anything about Philadelphia knows what that means and may understand why I would chose my words, if I chose words at all, very carefully about the Exodus church.
But what to do when one is faced with such deliberate ignorance and/or disinformation?
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who shall overcome?
My, my, my.
What these wingnuts seem unable to understand is that a vast majority of Americans have moved on. If the wingnut agenda is ever foisted on the country is a systematic way, it'll be rejected with no hesitation.
The dumping of the Dover School Board, and the rescinding of the dumb "intelligent design" mandate is a sign of the times.
Americans may not be overly bright as a people, but even the most average among them will reject control by religious wingnuts.
Which is why Republicans in Congress are making damned sure the SCOTUS won't vote to overturn Roe. It'll never be overturned. It'll just be eviscerated on a state-by-state basis, as it happening now.
And leave us not forget that the wingnuts have always been a convenient pawn in GOP partisan politics... if the GOP goes too far (and they're getting very close to doing just that I think), they'll be rejected wholesale. Just watch.
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justice sunday III
Does anyone know how I might get a copy of the Justice Sunday III broadcast? I would very much like to be able to watch it for research.
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How fitting!
I think my favorite part about this whole thing (and it was really hard to narrow it down just one, believe me) was the part where Rev. Herb Lusk -- that's REVEREND Herb Lusk -- threatens to kill and bury everybody who criticizes Alito and, by extension, the church.
Yeah. Well. Reason #207 why I'm not a Christian anymore.
~AS~
Deism rocks!
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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.
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Tax Exempt Status
If Ms. Goldberg in a future column could answer a follow-up question to this story: Doesn't this type of political activity by law put these churches tax exempt status in jeopardy?