Yeah, Right, Whatever

Since I last posted... well... everything else happened. Silly me for forgetting the power cord!!!

Chuck Colson was next. He was powerful, talking about how everyone should be persuing justice. He also told an interesting story about a friend of his. His friend is a pastor, and some gay rights protesters threw a bunch of condoms on the alter of the church. His friend just smiled and said that being angry with them would be like being angry with a blind man for stepping on your foot- they just don't see.

Bishop Harry Jackson was next. Wow. Talk about a powerful speaker.

"Justice is not broken, and She is not blind. She is not blindfolded. She is sitting down on the job!" (a reference to one of the statues of Justice)

As an aside, several of us had the opportunity to sit down with Bishop Jackson after the event. His idea of how to bring what he calls the New Black Church (old fashioned values with laptops) and the white Evangelical churches was amazing in its... well... simplicity. You start with Scripture. Take the topics at hand, show the ministers how the Scripture applies to those topics, and then the ministers- who have more influence over their congregations than many nationally known "faces."

A lot has been made of Bill Donohue's part of the program last night (just scan through what the other bloggers wrote live) , and I don't have much to add. I'm just glad he's on our side. He was a bit snarky (always a good thing), and he made one interesting point (which I've heard before, but bears repeating again and again.

"If any other segment of the US population was demonized like Evangelicals are, it would be called bigotry."

Zel Miller received standing ovations at the beginning and end of his speech. That man missed his calling- he would make a powerful preacher. There were some great quotes, most notably:

We have no smoking signs at gas pumps to warn us of that danger, but we are not allowed to have warning signs posted about the dangers of living a sinful life.

And:

When they make it harder for us to pray, we'll just pray harder.

Phyllis Schlafly spoke as wonderfully as ever, and ended with an admonishment that everyone should tell Congress to do their duty and reign in the out of control judiciary.

Cathy Cleaver Ruse spoke about some of the issues that will be coming before the SCOTUS this term- parental rights (in relation to underage girls seeking abortions), euthanasia, and partial birth abortion. (Three subjects sure to fire up the audience- and she was very effective).

Ted Haggard discussed whether politics and religion should go together. He commented again that it's not a matter of wanting to impose a theocracy on the nation, but to put more arguments into the debate.

Dr. Sutton wrapped up the event. Because of time issues, he had to talk very quickly, and maybe cut part of his speech. He ended with the proclamation, "Let the Church arise."

Rebecca St. James sang "This Is Our Time" as the credits rolled.

That wraps up what happened. Next I'll dive into what I thought about it.