Posted on 10/07/2005 1:37:16 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican
If Harriet Miers is confirmed, evangelicals can finally claim one of their own on the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet the spiritual journey that led her to be born again and spend 25 years affiliated with a conservative church has not eased concerns among Christians about her views on abortion, gay rights and other key social issues.
"Our lack of knowledge about Harriet Miers, and the absence of a record on the bench, give us insufficient information," said Tony Perkins, of the conservative Family Research Council.
But members of her longtime congregation, Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, say the White House counsel's strong faith is clear from her dedication to their community.
Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, Miers' friend for 30 years, said he brought her to the church, which he attended, when she expressed interest in "a deeper commitment to faith."
"She was just doing some soul searching," Hecht said. "She was just thinking about life. There wasn't any trauma or anything."
After a childhood attending both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, she underwent a full-immersion baptism at Valley View in 1979, and later taught Sunday school classes.
Hecht said Miers has given the church more than the 10 percent tithe asked of congregants. She also served on the missions committee and took a deep interest in its programs in central India, according to minister Barry McCarty, inviting him and an Indian mission director to lunch at the White House last March.
Miers also served on the board of Pioneer Bible Translators, which has missions worldwide, according to Jack Straus, general counsel for the group and chairman of the Valley View church council.
About 150 of Valley View's 1,200 active members recently left to create their own congregation and Hecht says he and Miers are among those leaving. Valley View is changing its governance and worship to a more contemporary style under McCarty, who started in March 2004 and wants to attract young families. The breakaway group favors a more traditional approach, Hecht said.
When in Washington, Miers attends St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House, which President Bush also attends.
McCarty said Miers has not sent official word that she is leaving Valley View and he said she has many friends and supporters there. She most recently attended services with the congregation about a month ago. "Even after moving away to Washington, she was always very faithful in coming back," McCarty said.
But church involvement alone has not been enough to assuage Christian conservatives.
John Green, an expert on religion and politics at the University of Akron, said evangelicals are acutely aware of the diverse beliefs within their own movement; someone who shares their faith may not necessarily hold the same political outlook. "Does she connect her beliefs up to politics in the way that they would like? I think the answer is they just don't know," Green said.
Valley View is part of a movement known as Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. These conservative congregations grew from a 19th century reform movement that aimed to break down denominational barriers among Christians.
The churches tend to be more focused on evangelizing than social issues, although Valley View ministers have preached about the sanctity of marriage and against abortion from the pulpit, and the congregation has provided voter registration information to members.
"We probably aren't a real capital 'A' activist church," said Ron Key, a longtime Miers friend who recently left as Valley View minister and now leads Sunday services for the breakaway group. "That does not mean we don't believe strongly in pro-life. We take a public stance, but we believe this is sort of a grass roots, individual thing."
Valley View's mission statement says the church believes the Bible is the infallible word of God and salvation can be found only through Jesus. But, reflecting the movement's historic rejection of creeds, states "we try not to be dogmatic about matters on which believers hold divergent views."
Doug Foster, an Abilene Christian University historian who specializes in the independent Christian church movement, said it would be "highly unlikely" for a member of a congregation like Valley View to support abortion rights.
"The overall sentiment is that this is not something that a true Christian can support," Foster said. "Yet, there are people who sit in the congregation and think, `I don't buy that.' I know that for a fact."
None of the Valley View leaders interviewed for this story said they had spoken with Miers about her views on abortion, but Hecht insisted "she is pro-life."
And while Miers served as the first woman president of her law firm, the Dallas Bar Association and Texas Bar Association, Valley View bars women from serving as church elders. Straus, who met Miers on church singles retreats, said he never heard her challenge that restriction.
That's right. Her religious beliefs are fine with me. But I fail to see that they automatically transfer into good and responsible jurisprudence. Playing up her beliefs might do well to energize a certain portion of the GOP base to get behind her, but it's also going to energize the other side. And I'm not convinced that we want to go there with this nomination.
>Her belief system will most certainly transfer to her jurisprudence, because she submits 100% to the ultimate lawgiver<
I suspect a lot of the "conservative"opposition comes from members of mainline churches that this concept is foriegn to.
I'd say she stands a better chance than Thomas, but I don't know how much better.
The problem is clearly, precisely, and accurately stated in the article, when someone makes the comment that they don't know if her political beliefs and her "faith" hook up. IMHO, if you genuinely have the Holy Spirit residing within your soul, it's virtually impossible NOT to take God's views into account when you vote. That said, there are those who claim EVANGELICAL Christianity and still support every evil plank in the Democrat party. If you don't believe that, take a quick read of Jimmy Carter's stance:
Jimmy Carter, America's first evangelical Christian president...
I think that view is horrendously misguided. For example, Carter, like most liberals, makes the leap across logic when he claims Republicans have no interest in helping the poor, and are therefore unChristian. Hard cold reality is that you do NOT help people by giving them perpetual handouts. You HURT them, you ruin their lives, and you rob others to do it. Liberals, however, virtually never have any interest in the reality of logic. Their lives are run by EMOTION.
Truth: We DON'T know that this nominee will hold conservative views, and there's history there to suggest she does not. I desperately hope to be wrong.
MM
Faith brother and I don't mean in G.W.B.
My faith in God is strong, and I know we're seeing a lot of things that must play themselves out; the Bible told us plainly to expect it.
It is still, however, painful to watch.
MM
I would agree with the above. CoC's and Christian churches are consistently pro-life.
I agree. I know Dr. Dobson, and he is rock solid.
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