No Philliness Here!

A fight over courts staged in Phila.
By Carrie Budoff
Inquirer Staff Writer

A North Philadelphia church and the surrounding blocks became the staging ground last night for a national battle over the federal judiciary - between conservatives who see it as hostile to religious freedom and liberals who characterize the political right as bullies of the court.

(snip)

The timing and location of yesterday's event, titled "Justice Sunday III - Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land," were not coincidental.

Philadelphia is home to Sen. Arlen Specter, the moderate Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the federal bench on which Alito has served for 15 years. Organizers also found a welcoming host in the Rev. Herbert Lusk, a longtime Bush supporter whose African American church has twice hosted the President and has received more than $1 million in federal grants for church community programs.

But more than anything, said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which organized the event, Philadelphia was chosen because of its history - as the birthplace of the Constitution and religious freedom under the state's Quaker founders.

TrekMedic's Musings:

• First reason why this attracted the TrekMedic's attention? Rev Lusk is a former Philadelphia Eagle who gave back to the Philadelphia community when he became a minister.
• Second reason? Conservatives holding forth in a black church?? In Philadelphia?? The Lord truly works in mysterious ways, eh?
• Third (and most important) reason? Rallies like this are needed to send a message to America's liberals that there is a difference between religious freedom and tolerance (and the Constitutional right to express it) and the exclusion of religion from our lives and the laws under which we live!