By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown

(AgapePress) - Christians around the country are praying for Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft as he prepares for tomorrow's Senate confirmation hearings.

From the day President-elect Bush nominated Ashcroft, his religious beliefs have been the target of a who's who list of liberal organizations and their allies in Congress. Pro-abortionists hate his pro-life views, and he has been painted as a racist for rejecting a black man for a federal judgeship -- even though no one has provided a shred of evidence that skin color had anything to do with that decision.

And as was the case with George W. Bush, Ashcroft's decision to speak at Bob Jones University has become a lightening rod for his political enemies.

At the same time he is being accused by liberals of racism, Ashcroft is being vigorously defended by blacks who served as members of his Cabinet when he was governor of Missouri. They are saying the charges of racism are "generalizations" for which no one can find any specific examples. According to The Washington Times, Ashcroft's defenders include his former head of the Missouri State Department of Labor. Jerry Hunter says Ashcroft's attackers "can offer nothing, no proof, that this man is a racist."

"His opponents know that to label him as a racist is so repugnant that he can never recover," Hunter says. The Times reports that Hunter, a Republican lawyer now in private practice, was Ashcroft's point man on black judicial appointments.

Still, many Christians believe the real matter which will be on trial in these Senate confirmation hearings is Christian values, and whether someone who is bold enough to say he lives by those values is somehow no longer qualified to hold high office in this country. Such boldness, however, does not appear to be a problem for 150 different organizations around the country who have endorsed Ashcroft's nomination.

The Free Congress Foundation, which is enlisting grassroots organizations that support Ashcroft, points out that the wide variety of issues those groups associate themselves with -- military readiness, education, pro-life issues, tax reform, property rights, family and social issues, constitutional and civil liberties, and victim's rights -- demonstrates the "broad base of support" for the nomination. The list of organizations, published on the Free Congress Foundation's website, includes groups such as American Family Association, Focus On The Family, Campaign For California Families, Family Research Council, Citizens For Community Values, Law Enforcement Alliance of America, National Association Of Christian Educators, and American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Meanwhile, a report today shows that many of the liberal and left-wing groups who have joined forces against Ashcroft have benefited from the generosity of the U.S. government -- and U.S. taxpayers. CNSNews reports that organizations such as the National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- all of whom have been vocal in their opposition to Ashcroft's nomination -- have received nearly $150 million in taxpayer money since 1996 to fund their operation. CNSNews says it is unclear to what degree that money is being used to fund the anti-Ashcroft efforts.

© 2001 AgapePress all rights reserved.

E-mail this page to a friend

Printer-Friendly Version

Read all of our current headlines