The Republican leadership in the Senate will attempt this week to silence minority voices in the debate over the president’s ultra-conservative judicial nominations by ending the right of senators to filibuster. No political party has ever tried to silence the minority party in such a manner. The right of the US Senate to advise and consent on presidential nominations will be forever compromised.
The religious right has argued – with the support of Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist – that opposing the president’s judicial nominations is tantamount to being “against people of faith.” Groups like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council have misused the Christian faith to promote a narrow and conservative partisan political agenda.
FaithfulAmerica.org – the advocacy arm of the National Council of Churches USA – has joined many pro-democracy groups in the United States in asking citizens to defend the Constitution and take a stand against religious extremism:
SEND A MESSAGE to your Senator saying the filibuster is NOT anti-faith and that preserving it is an important way for every voice to be heard. We must never allow social and religious fundamentalists of any faith to silence the voices of those holding different beliefs. Take action using the link below. Thanks!
The National Council of Churches USA is made up of: African Methodist Episcopal Church, The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Churches in the USA, The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Church of the Brethren, The Coptic Orthodox Church in North America, The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Friends United Meeting, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Hungarian Reformed Church in America, International Council of Community Churches, Korean Presbyterian Church in America, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Mar Thoma Church, Moravian Church in America Northern Province and Southern Province, National Baptist Convention of America, National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, Orthodox Church in America, Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Polish National Catholic Church of America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., Reformed Church in America, Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. and Canada, The Swedenborgian Church Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America, United Church of Christ, and The United Methodist Church.
Many of the denominations part of NCC have issued statements that speak to their own members critical of the efforts of the religious right. Pax Christi USA, the Roman Catholic organization, has also been critical of the move to end the filibuster.
Click here to read more about the judges the president wants to appoint.
