Washington D.C.

Today, the American Center for Law and Justice announced that it had filed a brief on behalf of 39 Republican members of Congress against marriage equality in Washington DC, arguing that the "Board of Elections and Ethics wrongfully denied [the] proposed initiative and its decision should be reversed":

We have just filed an important amicus brief in defense of marriage. This time the venue is the District of Columbia, where the city council has authorized same-sex marriages. In our brief, we're representing members of Congress in a very significant legal challenge.

A group of citizens has applied for the right for D.C. residents to vote on an initiative to halt same-sex marriages in D.C. However, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics has wrongly rejected that application.

The D.C. residents have filed suit to challenge the Board’s ruling, and the ACLJ – with the support of 39 members of Congress – has filed an amicus brief with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in support of the citizens asking the court to reverse the decision of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.

The brief [PDF] lists the following Republican members of Congress as having signed on:

Amici United States Senators James Inhofe and Roger Wicker and Representatives Robert Aderholt, Todd Akin, Michele Bachmann, Gresham Barrett, Roscoe Bartlett, Marsha Blackburn, John Boehner, John Boozman, Eric Cantor, Jason Chaffetz, John Fleming, Randy Forbes, Virginia Foxx, Scott Garrett, Phil Gingrey, Louie Gohmert, Jeb Hensarling, Wally Herger, Walter Jones, Jim Jordan, Steve King, Jack Kingston, John Kline, Doug Lamborn, Robert Latta, Don Manzullo, Michael McCaul, Thaddeus McCotter, Patrick McHenry, Cathy McMorris Rogers, Jeff Miller, Jerry Moran, Randy Neugebauer, Mike Pence, Joe Pitts, Mark Souder, and Todd Tiahrt are currently serving in the One Hundred and Eleventh Congress. Under the United States Constitution, they serve as members of the ultimate legislative authority for the District of Columbia and the very body which delegated to the District its limited legislative power under home rule. As members of the District’s ultimate legislative body, amici are concerned about the extent of the District’s delegated legislative authority, the preservation of Congress’s constitutional authority, and the interpretation of home rule. Amici also support the right of the District electors to directly participate in the legislative process pursuant to the initiative and referendum rights, under the Initiative Referendum and Recall Charter Amendments Act of 1977. It is precisely these concerns which lead amici to support Petitioners in seeking a reversal of the denial of the proposed initiative.

While researching the Religious Right's newest start Lou Engle and his ties to the International House of Prayer which, as we noted last week, had recently canceled classes due to an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, I discovered something I had not known: namely, that Engle has a prayer house located right in Washington, DC known as the Justice House of Prayer, which is also the headquarters of Bound for Life:

In the Fall of 2004, the Lord led Lou Engle and a group of young people to fast and pray in our nation’s capitol with a focus on the upcoming elections and for righteousness and justice to be established in America’s government. The prayer mobilized before the elections soon became ongoing prayer for the ending of abortion and the reformation of our society. Since that time people of all ages continue the unending cry for justice and mercy in JHOP DC.

Our hope is for Jesus Christ to become the “desired of the nation.” We have faith for the reformation of society through revival and spiritual awakening. In the meantime, we contend in fasting and prayer in the cultural gate of America against false ideologies that are destructive to our nation and families.

Strategically located only a couple blocks away from the Supreme Court and the Capitol Building, JHOP DC facilitates training and corporate prayer and fasting through young adult internships and a network of local intercessors. While other interns in DC are learning the trade of government, our interns are learning the trade of governing through prayer. Luke 18 gives us a mandate to never give up in night and day prayer for justice. This draws us near the heart of God in His great desire to release justice in the earth and ultimately the return of Jesus–the Just One.

In addition, JHOP DC is the birthplace and headquarters for Bound4LIFE, a wide-spread grass roots prayer movement aimed at the ending of abortion, the increase of adoptions and the reformation of government and society through spiritual awakening.

I also discovered this Nightline segment from 2005 on Engle's DC-based prayer network that profiles the young men and women who have taken up the call to pray non-stop for the Supreme Court and our nation's government to end abortion:

Be sure to also check out this "mini-documentary" on JHOP uploaded to YouTube earler this year:

Keep in the mind that the man responsible for this has, in recent months, become one of the most influential Religious Right leaders in America, regularly rubbing shoulders with (and occasionally placing hands upon) current and former Republican members of Congress.

Bishop Harry Jackson, the man behind the effort to prevent gay marriage from coming to Washington DC, has long attempted to present himself as moderate and fair-minded while he battled the "satanic" gay agenda. 

But every once in a while the mask slips and we get a glimpse of Jackson the holy warrior - that is when we find him doing things like telling Dan Gilgoff that marriage equality in DC is going to lead to a "bloodletting" and right-wing activism like we have never seen before: 

We're going to have to start earlier and take straw polls earlier. Our opposition had been working with these [council members] for five years. They'd invested time and money, and, to their credit, my opposition applied extreme political pressure on 30 or 40 people in the city, in the mayor's office and the city council.

But they have not changed ordinary people's opinions. It's a faux change. For instance, they created a gay organization of clergy. Our side has done the opposite, mobilizing a grass-roots effort with 1,200 churches in D.C.

In future races, religious people are going to start going after people's political careers. In D.C., some very vulnerable black councilmen went along with the city council, and some of these guys will not be sitting in those chairs in 2010 elections. Many in our coalition are wising up, looking for candidates. Political action committees are going to be formed. You're going to see a bloodletting that is going to mark a new style of engagement for people who are against same-sex marriage.
 

Last month, a coalition of clergy formed to support marriage equality in Washington, DC.  Calling itself Clergy United for Marriage Equality, the coalition issued the following declaration:

We are District of Columbia clergy and religious leaders of many faiths, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. We represent religious institutions in every ward in the District. We have worked together over many years for peace and justice and now join our voices again to speak a faithful word for freedom and equality.

We declare that our faith calls us to affirm marriage equality for loving same-sex couples.

The declaration was signed by approximately 200 representing nearly every faith, but Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel, who is not a minister, isn't fooled and declares that every person who signed this declaration is not a real Christian:

Matt Barber, director of cultural affairs at Liberty Counsel, hopes the faith community is not fooled by the coalition known as D.C. Clergy United For Marriage Equality.

"Well, this is just a cheap political stunt," he responds. "These are a group of leftist secularists essentially dressed up in the garb of clergy....[W]hat do you do call clergy who abandon the fundamental tenets of their faith and adopt instead the lies of the world? I call them counterfeit clergy."

Barber adds that "they want to have their religion cake and eat it too." He explains.

"They are going to push a leftist political agenda that runs completely counter to biblical principles," he asserts. "The ridiculous and oxymoronic notion of same-sex marriage flies in the face of every major world religion."