Washington, USA - Stepping up efforts to rally churchgoers for a Supreme Court confirmation battle, Christian conservatives are organizing a telecast to churches and religious broadcasters denouncing the Supreme Court as hostile to religion and families.
The event, scheduled for Aug. 14 and called Justice Sunday II after a similar telecast in April, will focus on "the court's hostility toward religion and Christianity in particular," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and the principal organizer of the event. Its subtitle is a prayer said each time the court meets: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court."
The telecast was organized by some of the most influential conservative Christian supporters of the Bush administration after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement. But its organizers are evidently disregarding White House requests not to inject talk of a culture war into the debate over a Supreme Court nominee.
"People have to understand, this is not just about a process," Mr. Perkins said. "This is about the future of the country, it is about our families, it is about the freedom of religion."
Still, the event's organizers have shifted their approach in at least one respect, quieting their opposition to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales as a potential nominee for the court.
Just a week ago, Focus on the Family, an evangelical self-help group closely allied with the Family Research Council, was threatening to oppose the White House if President Bush nominated Mr. Gonzales, whom many social conservatives view as not committed enough to opposing abortion rights.
But Mr. Perkins said many conservatives had heeded Mr. Bush's comments this month about his friendship with Mr. Gonzales.
"The president came out and said, 'Look, I don't like you talking about my friend,' and I think a lot of people have honored that," he said.
Mr. Perkins said that he and his allies were confident enough about the president's intentions that they were planning the telecast to energize support for a nominee, even though Mr. Bush has not yet named one.
Asked if the administration had offered assurances that Mr. Gonzales would not be nominated, Mr. Perkins said: "I think they may have. They certainly have encouraged us to stay focused on the process."
But he added, "I couldn't give you any confirmation that 'thus sayeth the White House.' "
James Manley, an adviser to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, welcomed the telecast, arguing that invoking religion in a political fight was more likely to hurt Republicans than to help them. "Faith is not a partisan issue," Mr. Manley said.
Scheduled speakers in the telecast include James C. Dobson, the influential founder of Focus on the Family; former Senator Zell Miller, Democrat of Georgia; Charles W. Colson, the former Watergate figure and the founder of an evangelical group, Prison Fellowship; the veteran Christian conservative organizer Phyllis Schlafly; and William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Mr. Perkins said the organizers planned to include a Jewish speaker as well.
The event will be in the Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, and the country music singers Lee Greenwood, Jet Williams and Rebecca St. James are scheduled to perform.
The last Justice Sunday criticized Democrats for being "against people of faith" because they opposed judicial nominees based on their views on abortion and religious issues. Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, the majority leader, contributed a videotaped statement to that telecast, and Democrats and liberal religious groups accused Mr. Frist of politicizing matters of faith and of demeaning his opponents' personal devotion.
Mr. Perkins said that the organizers of Justice Sunday II had not decided whether to include elected officials. "It was pretty hot last time for them, so I don't want to put them on the spot again," he said.
But he said the new telecast would again say that questions posed by Democrats about a nominee's personal beliefs on abortion and other issues would amount to an unconstitutional "religious test."
Justice Sunday II, Mr. Perkins said, is intended as a "pre-emptive strike" to warn Democrats not to question a Supreme Court nominee in the same way.
Mr. Perkins said he had conceived the event while listening to Justice Antonin Scalia deliver his dissent to a recent 5-to-4 Supreme Court ruling against displaying the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse. Justice Scalia said the majority had used the case "to ratchet up the court's hostility to religion."
The announcement that Justice O'Connor, the swing vote on many social issues, was retiring made the event urgent, Mr. Perkins said. He said the telecast would call attention to 5-to-4 decisions about subjects like public displays of religion, aid to religious schools, assisted suicide and abortion.
The first Justice Sunday simulcast reached hundreds of churches via satellite as well as a potential audience of 60 million households over Christian television and radio stations. Mr. Perkins said the broadcasters were ready for a replay.