By Fred Jackson and Jim Brown
January 23, 2001
(AgapePress) - The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote tomorrow on whether to confirm John Ashcroft to be the country’s next Attorney General. The move comes in the wake of his confirmation hearings last week, which many pro-family groups regarded as nothing less than an open attack against Christianity.
During the hearings, Democrats on the committee attempted to paint Ashcroft as a racist and tried repeatedly to make the case that his strong Biblical-based values make him unfit to be Attorney General.
Pro-family groups have rallied to support Ashcroft. Andrea Lafferty is executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition. She says the Senate must make it clear that it will not tolerate charges of racism being hurled at Ashcroft by men such as Ted Kennedy. Lafferty says Senators must take a stand against “anyone using a religious test to keep a person from holding office.”
Dr. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, echoes that comment. He suggests Ashcroft has become the victim of religious profiling. Land says this form of “anti-evangelical bigotry” is no different than racial profiling, which Democrats are so quick to denounce.
“It is reprehensible that some of John Ashcroft’s critics accuse him of not being able to enforce laws that he personally disagrees with because of his moral convictions,” he says.
Land notes that Senator Joseph Lieberman’s Orthodox Jewish synagogue segregates the congregation by gender. However, according to Land, “No one assumes as a result that Senator Lieberman would discriminate against women in his public service role. Why then do Ashcroft’s critics assume that his evangelical convictions would cause him to ignore or violate the law?,” Land asks.
Lafferty is also concerned about the open anti-Christian bigotry of newspaper columnists who are attacking Christianity. “Syndicated columnist Norman Lockman has just written a column that condemns Ashcroft because of his Pentecostal faith,” she says. According to Lafferty, “Lockman is fearful of Ashcroft because he believes in Jesus Christ and promotes evangelism.”
Conservatives also point out that attacks on Ashcroft have not only come from liberal politicians and columnists, but also from numerous television anchors and reporters.
According to the Media Research Center, while interviewing Missouri state Supreme Court judge Ronnie White last week on The Early Show, Bryant Gumbel assumed Ashcroft was guilty of bad behavior.
“What do you think Senator Ashcroft's distortion of your record and tarnishing of your good name says about his character?,” Gumbel asked White.
In addition, over the weekend Time
Magazine national correspondent Jack White on Saturday’s Inside Washington pronounced Ashcroft a liar. "John Ashcroft came across as a major league liar,” White declared. “He lied about the Missouri school desegregation case that he was involved in, he lied about not knowing about ... the racial policies of Bob Jones University, he has lied about not knowing what kind of magazine Southern Partisan is, that he gave a terrible interview to. And he’s lied about any number of other things.”Despite the slanderous assault on Ashcroft, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has predicted Ashcroft will be confirmed, with 60-70 senators likely to vote for the born-again Christian.
© 2001 AgapePress all rights reserved.
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