c. 2005 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ After watching decades of disappointing court decisions on divisive social issues like abortion, school prayer and gay rights, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council says religious conservatives can enthusiastically endorse President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee.

Hours after Bush announced Tuesday (July 19) that he had selected John Roberts to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the bench, Perkins praised the federal appeals court judge as “an exceptionally well-qualified and impartial nominee” in a news release.

Speaking in a conference call with reporters Wednesday (July 20), Perkins pledged to mobilize “citizens who are concerned about the activist bent of the court.”

The FRC’s choreographed response to Bush’s choice illustrates not only the emphasis Christian conservatives place on the Supreme Court, but the movement’s general, if somewhat muted, approval of Roberts _ even though he has not expressed a personal opinion on abortion or some of the other social issues these groups hold dear.

For the Family Research Council, considered one of the most effective of a myriad of Christian conservative groups, the Roberts nomination is an opportunity to mobilize a sophisticated operation that has evolved from a public policy think tank in the 1980s to more of a grass-roots network similar to the Christian Coalition in its heyday.

“They have a growing sense of confidence, growing networks, growing media savvy and sophistication, and they are going to continue to be a very effective political tool,” said Randall Balmer, a religion professor at Barnard College in New York.

On Wednesday, the FRC sent an e-mail alert to thousands of Americans, urging them to thank Bush for nominating Roberts. Even before the nomination was announced, the group released plans for “Justice Sunday II,” an anti-filibuster rally on Aug. 14.

The event, to be held at a church in Nashville, Tenn., is the sequel to a similar rally in April that galvanized opposition to the Democratic filibuster of Bush’s judicial nominees. Justice Sunday II will be telecast to television and radio stations, as well as to hundreds of churches around the country. Appearing with Christian music stars, Perkins and other conservative leaders will campaign for Roberts.

“They feel as though they’ve done their time, they’ve done their work, and they deserve to be rewarded with someone who marches down the line in their camp,” said Randall Balmer, a religion professor at Barnard College in New York.

In Perkins, the Family Research Council has an experienced political operative.

During his seven years as a state representative in Louisiana, Perkins pushed for laws intended to make divorce and abortion more difficult, but he said that influencing the makeup of the Supreme Court is a far more significant fight.

“A lot of these things that we pass are simply dealing with the symptoms of our cultural decay. Today, what I see before me is an opportunity to deal with one of the major sources of our cultural decay,” he said in an interview.

With e-mail alerts that go out to more than 100,000 people, the FRC appears to be positioning itself to fill the void left by the demise of the Christian Coalition, the activist group founded by Pat Robertson and later led by Ralph Reed. The group was at its most influential in the mid-1990s, but declined in fundraising, visibility and networking after Reed left in 1997.

“I think that Tony Perkins is very ambitious and that he wants to be the new Ralph Reed _ one of the new leaders of the religious right,” said Balmer. “I think the Family Research Council is up there in the vanguard, at least.”

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The FRC coordinates it all from plush headquarters in Washington, where the motto “Faith, Family, Freedom” is inscribed in stone over the front door, a Ten Commandments statue decorates a waiting room, and a showcase in the lobby displays an antique wedding dress as part of a tribute to marriage.

Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based conservative group led by James Dobson, began sponsoring the FRC in 1983 to promote “pro-family” legislation. Although the two organizations are now financially independent, they remain close allies.

During the 1990s, former Reagan domestic policy adviser Gary Bauer led the FRC to become one of the country’s most visible Christian research organizations. Since joining the FRC as president in 2003, Perkins has helped the organization regain its former status and has shifted its focus from generating policy papers to what Perkins described as “raising up educated activists.”

Calling his organization, which has an annual budget of about $10 million, “a hybrid between the Heritage Foundation and the Christian Coalition,” Perkins said he is tapping into the American public’s increasing awareness of the importance of the judiciary.

The FRC has made pastors a major focus of its activism campaign. Two years ago, the group began inviting groups of ministers to Washington for a policy briefing. Perkins said his group identifies receptive pastors through major donors and its 40 state-based offices.

The religious leaders receive weekly prayer reports asking them to pray for timely issues on Capitol Hill. They are encouraged to register voters at annual “Christian Citizenship Sundays” and to preach sample sermons about “America’s Christian heritage” that the FRC provides through its Web site.

“We very much see ourselves as an organization that is helping educate activists around the country, not just for elections, but for the whole public policy debate,” Perkins said.

MO/PH END RNS

Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for a file photo of Perkins to accompany this story.