Ministers urge cancellation of 'Justice Sunday'

Ministers urge cancellation of 'Justice Sunday'
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Saturday, April 23, 2005

Ministers urge cancellation of 'Justice Sunday'
Group says event mixes faith, politics
By James Bruggers
jbruggers@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal



A group of ministers representing about 17 Baptist churches in the Louisville area and a national Baptist committee that supports separation of church and state yesterday called on a Louisville church to cancel its planned "Justice Sunday" tomorrow.

"We see 'Justice Sunday' as part of a larger effort to link church and state in ways not seen in America since the Puritans were hanging Quakers on Boston Commons and exiling Baptists to Rhode Island," the Rev. Joe Phelps, pastor of Highland Baptist Church, said during a news conference yesterday.

But there are no plans to cancel the event, said the Rev. Kevin Ezell, senior pastor of Highview Baptist Church, where the national Christian telecast will be based.

"I don't know Joe Phelps," Ezell said in a telephone interview. "He's never called me. The biggest story here is that he wants to be on TV, he wants to be in the paper. He needs to spend more time reaching people than criticizing other churches."

Phelps said during his news conference that he'd welcome a future "honest, Christian dialogue" with Highview leaders.

The sometimes heated rhetoric between the two ministers came two days before a planned telecast from Highview in which conservative Christian leaders say they will depict Senate Democrats as being "against people of faith" for blocking 10 of President Bush's judicial nominations.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will not be in town but will contribute a four-minute videotaped speech to the telecast, which will be simulcast to more than 500 radio stations and 130 churches. More than 2,000 individuals also have signed up to watch the broadcast over the Internet, according to the church, which says all tickets for the event have been distributed.

"Justice Sunday: Stop the Filibuster Against People of Faith" is being organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council to rally support for dropping a Senate rule that has let Democrats block Bush's nominees.

Ezell said tomorrow's telecast was not meant to be a political event, and he blamed "the national media" for turning it into one.

At the same time, Ezell said, "It's America. We shouldn't be expected to check our citizenship in at the church door. And we are doing nothing illegal here."

The leaders of such Baptist churches as Lyndon, Deer Park, Crescent Hill, Buechel Park and Broadway who attended yesterday's news conference at Highland had a different view.

"What's happening alienates people … and keeps us from our purpose and mission," said Derik Hamby, pastor at Ridgewood Baptist Church.

Phelps, describing Highview Baptist as a "sister church," read a statement that said the ministers "stand together with Highview Baptist Church and Christian churches in holding up Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life. … But as people who take Scripture seriously, we believe truth must be spoken, and spoken in love. We do not believe Sunday's rally meets either test."

He went on to say, "Churches are for the worship of God and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Convention halls are for political rallies and party wrangling. To confuse the two is to violate the First Amendment that 18th-century Baptists fought to include in our nation's Constitution."

Phelps said there's no support for the premise that judicial nominees are being "persecuted" for their Christian faith, and that the ministers want the public to know the event does not represent "all Baptists in this city, or people of faith everywhere."

The Rev. Reba Cobb, a board member of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and former executive director of the Kentuckiana Interfaith Community, said: "No one faith or political party holds a monopoly on morality in this country. … Characterizations of public policy issues as the faithful versus the faithless are divisive, misleading and, perhaps worst of all, exploit religion for political purposes."

Ezell said the goal of the event is to "educate our people about the issues, and what we believe; our faith affects every area of our lives. Does that affect political issues? Of course it affects political issues."

All people have a right to express their views, he said, adding that the church will accommodate protesters tomorrow by offering them beverages and a place to meet.

He also denied that Highview is a "sister church," saying they were more like "very, very distant cousins," with different beliefs, different congregations, and in different branches of the Baptist faith.

"Nobody who goes to his (Phelps') church would ever go to mine," he said.