DeLay to Be on Christian Telecast on Courts
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: August 3, 2005
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 - Stepping into the debate over the Supreme Court nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr., Representative Tom DeLay, the majority leader, has agreed to appear in a telecast called "Justice Sunday II" to rally conservative Christian support for remaking the court.
Mr. DeLay's planned appearance adds the imprimatur of a top Republican elected official to the event, which seeks to call attention to what its organizers say is the Supreme Court's hostility to Christianity and traditional families in its decisions about abortion, homosexuality and government support for religion. It will be broadcast to churches and Christian television stations and distributed as a video....
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The event is part of a broader campaign by prominent Christian conservatives to mobilize churchgoers for Judge Roberts's confirmation and other battles over the courts, battles that many see as the climax of a 30-year culture war. But their efforts may be out of step with the choreography and measured statements of the White House.
In a televised prayer on Tuesday for Judge Roberts's confirmation, for example, the television evangelist Pat Robertson asked his viewers to pray: "Take control, Lord! We ask for additional vacancies on the court." (A "prayer point" on the Web site for Mr. Robertson's "Supreme Court Freedom Project" includes "additional vacancies" as well.)
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called the prayer "ghoulish," saying, "The only way people leave the court these days is through death or infirmity."...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/politics/politicsspecial1/03delay.html