July 21, 2003
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Civil liberties ...fundamentalism...women's place in society, no matter your perspective on how the world should be, people on every side of the fence are scared. While some of us watch in horror as our civil liberties are slowly whittled away, there are others who believe we are heading for hell in a liberal hand basket.
At the center of the issues stands the Supreme Court, with many of us fearing that our appointed president may have the opportunity to change the make-up of his electoral body. Unfortunately, the force may not be with us: Pat Robertson of the 700 Club and Christian Broadcasting Network has declared war and unleashed a 21-day prayer offensive to enlist God to inspire some justices to retire. It seems that the recent Supreme Court vote that decriminalized sodomy was the last straw for Robertson -- what the HELL is this world coming to... gay sex by Texans, for God's sake -- so he took his complaint straight to the Top Man and launched Operation Supreme Court Freedom. "Would you join with me and many others in crying out to our Lord to change the Court?," he pleaded to the world on July 14, 2003. "If we fast and pray and earnestly seek God's face, then He will hear our prayer and give us relief. One justice is 83 years old, another has cancer, and another has a heart condition. Would it not be possible for God to put it in the minds of these three judges that the time has come to retire? With their retirement and the appointment of conservative judges, a massive change in federal jurisprudence can take place. We can have a court that no longer legislates from the bench the wishes of The New York Times and The Washington Post, but which will earnestly seek to interpret the Constitution as it is written and to give meaning to the centuries of moral standards which have undergirded this wonderful country called the United States of America." Whew -- that's one tall prayer order. This author was unable to confirm whether Robertson and God were responsible for the recent retirements of The New York Times editors Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd as the first phase in taking control of the Court. But our sources do confirm that the Constitution made no reference to God's authority to remove or appoint the justices of the Supreme Court, nor did the Bible grant God the authority to appoint conservative judges to influence federal jurisprudence in America. We also have unconfirmed information that Pat Robertson's next campaign will be Operation Expurgation, an all-out prayer blitzkrieg for the Catholic and Episcopal churches to implode over issues of molestation and gay bishops, for their congregations to flock on bended knee (with tithe) to the 700 Club, and all the gays and lesbians to move to Canada where they'll marry and live happily ever after behind the newly-erected Great Wall of North America. Why the Fuss? Although Pat Robertson decries the disappearance of God and morality in this country, Bush, Ashcroft et al. and the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives are going strong and spreading the gospel. As the president said in his July 16 discussion of faith-based initiatives with urban leaders, "...We're always trying to improve. And we base it, our history, and our decision making, our future, on solid values. The first value is, we're all God's children. God Bless You." If you've followed recent Swans articles on fundamentalists and the Christian Right, it's enough to make you start praying for a secular shift. · · · · · ·
Resources Christian Broadcasting Network http://www.cbn.com Operation Supreme Court Freedom http://www.cbn.com/special/supremecourt/pledgetopray.asp Scriptural guide to praying for the Supreme Court http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/Intercession/court_prayer_scriptures.asp White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/ Kimberly Blaker's "The Fundamentals of Extremism," - Book Review by Gilles d'Aymery Your Body . . . Is Not Your Body - Book Excerpt by Kimberly Blaker Jan Baughman on Swans (with bio). Do you wish to share your opinion? We invite your comments. E-mail the Editor. Please include your full name, address and phone number. If we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country. Please, feel free to insert a link to this cartoon on your Web site or to disseminate its URL on your favorite lists. However, please DO NOT steal, scavenge or repost this work without the expressed written authorization of Swans. This material is copyrighted. All rights reserved. |
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