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Religious leaders oppose Alito confirmation Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006 By Aaron Sadler Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Several Arkansas religious leaders said Tuesday they feared Samuel Alito would tear the veil between church and state if confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Speaking from the same political pulpit, members of the Arkansas Interfaith Alliance announced their opposition to President Bush's nominee to the nation's highest court. They labeled Alito as a conservative activist who would chip away at privacy rights and would not respect the separation between church and state. The coalition is spreading word of their opposition to Alito through sermons and newsletters, hoping parishioners will contact U.S. Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both D-Ark. The senators have said they are undecided how they would vote on Alito's nomination. Senate confirmation hearings for the federal appeals court judge from Philadelphia began Monday. Members of the Interfaith Alliance said Alito would provide the swing vote on a variety of issues, such as abortion rights, voting rights and civil rights. Bishop Larry Mays of the Episcopal Diocese said he feared Alito's decisions would lead to erosion of the barrier between church and state, and to fewer individual liberties. "There are more than a few voices that are coming from this population that are not as excited in this nomination as the religious right seems to be," Mays said. Alliance members said they had spoken to Lincoln and said she was open to their concerns. They said they hope to talk to Pryor soon. In addition to the Episcopalian church, representatives of United Methodist, Presbyterian and Unitarian-Universalist churches appeared at Tuesday's news conference, as were officials of the Union for Reform Judaism and the National Conference for Community and Justice. The news conference was held as the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee continued a 36-city tour of the state in support of Alito's nomination. Jerry Cox, the organization's executive director, said he was discouraged by the in-state Alito opposition. Opponents have bought into a false characterization of the judge, he contended. "It's really disappointing to see people of faith misrepresent a person by saying things like that," Cox said. He attributed attacks on Alito to a dislike for President Bush. "I think what people need to do is look at his record that's been established, look objectively and leave partisan politics out of it," Cox said. "They will realize he's an excellent nominee. I believe some people would oppose any nominee by President Bush because it's partisan politics." Rabbi Gene Levy of Little Rock said support for Alito among conservative activists was evidence that the nominee held an activist, conservative agenda. "If he were not an activist to overturn Roe v. Wade and tilt the bench to the right, they wouldn't have nominated him," Levy said. "They wouldn't be supporting him, especially as wholeheartedly, I think, as they are now." He noted that conservatives forced the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' earlier nomination to the high court. Conservatives were unsure about Miers' philosophy, but they can track Alito's through his 15 years on the federal bench, Levy said. "If they didn't want an activist judge, they would have settled for Harriet Miers," he added. Alito's nomination is the first Supreme Court pick that Unitarian-Universalists have opposed in the organizations more than 40-year history, said Bob Klein, a Unitarian minister. "We need to hear a voice for civil rights," he said. "This nomination could turn the court in a way that would take away any balance." |
