Recent eyewitness to desert war memorial says federal courts making mountain out of molehill

Rev. Rob Schenck (pronounced SHANK), who recently visited the controversial Mojave Desert war memorial that’s constitutionality will be considered by the US Supreme Court this Wednesday, Oct 7, will hold a news conference with attorneys and other religious leaders Tuesday, Oct 6, at 11:00 AM.

Rev. Schenck’s organization, Faith and Action, filed a brief in the impending case Salazar vs. Buono, arguing the simple cross along a lonely stretch of desert road comports with the Constitution and reflects long-held American traditions

A federal district court and appeals court ruled against the cross made of common pipes and ordered it covered with a plywood box.

After driving into the desert to see the cross for himself, Rev. Schenck said, “This small, unimposing, humble, almost makeshift tribute to America’s fallen heroes has stood quietly in the desert for 75 years. Because of the complaint of one person, the federal courts have wasted thousands of tax dollars and critical man-hours making a mountain out of a molehill.”

Wednesday’s news conference will take place in front of another contested monument in the garden of the ministry center operated by Faith and Action. Schenck fought a legal battle with the District of Columbia that claimed the 3-foot sculpture of the Ten Commandments violated the so-called “separation of church and state.” Schenck and his group won that contest when the DC Legal Department conceded he had a right under the First Amendment to display the timeless words.

Schenck will also participate in a prayer service in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning just before he goes inside to take his reserved seat for the arguments.

Details:

News Conference on Mojave Desert War Memorial Cross Supreme Court Case (Salazar vs. Buono)

Tuesday, October 6, 11:00 Am

Front garden of Faith and Action Ministry House, 109 2nd St, NE, Washington, DC 20002

Participating: President of National Clergy Council and Faith and Action Rev. Rob Schenck (Amici), Constitutional attorney and author of case brief, Bernard Reese, National Director of Christian Defense Coalition Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney and other religious liberty advocates

Prayer service for Supreme Court justices

Wednesday, October 7, 9:00 AM

Sidewalk in front of West Steps of the US Supreme Court

Participating, National Clergy Council president Rev. Rob Schenck, National Director of Christian Defense Coalition Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney and other religious leaders and First Amendment advocates

For more information or interviews contact Peggy Nienaber of Faith and Action at 202-546-8329, ext 104, peggy@faithandaction.org or mobile 202-236-0953.

The Mojave Desert cross is now obscured under threat from a Supreme Court lawsuit.

The Mojave Desert Cross, erected in 1934 as a memorial in honor of the brave men and women who gave their lives to defend freedom during the First World War, has been officially designated by Congress as a War Memorial. However, the ACLU has declared that this cross is an offensive religious symbol on government land that violates the Constitution, and they want it removed!

This case has now reached the US Supreme Court. If the ACLU succeeds in tearing down the Mojave Desert Cross, no religious symbol on public land will be safe!

We need at least 50,000 Americans to join their voices together to tell the justices to protect the Mojave Desert Cross. Please click here to sign our petition and fill in the form to add your signature. Then forward the petition to five of your family, friends, and fellow worshippers.

Also, you may click here for a digital copy of Faith & Action’s amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court.

The US Supreme Court, whose building sits immediately across the street from the ministry center of

Rob Schenck directly center behind Sonia Sotomayor during Senate hearing.

Faith and Action, is about to change markedly. This week Judge Sonia Sotomayor is expected to be confirmed by the US Senate as the next sitting associate justice on the High Court. The seat she will occupy was vacated after the retirement of Justice David Souter.

“Judge Sotomayor has a very different personality from Justice Souter,” said Rob Schenck, who met the nominee during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Justice Souter was a reserved, almost reclusive, reticent New Englander. Judge Sotomayor is a passionate and outspoken New Yorker to the core. My father was born in Manhattan, my mother’s from Brooklyn and I served my first church in Queens. I know what that means, a very different temperament indeed.”

The Supreme Court forms an important part of the mission focus of Faith and Action. Rev. Schenck expects to be with the presumptive Justice Sotomayor many times in sometimes intimate settings.

“I think we’ll get along nicely,” said Rev. Schenck. “I certainly be pray that’s the case, and that we’ll have many meaningful conversations about important things.”

This week, Rob Schenck was featured in an MSNBC interview with David Shuster on the topic of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Rob calls these media opportunities his “other pulpit.”

Rob Schenck is interviewed by David Shuster on CNBC, May 27th.

“Long ago I learned the media can be a curse or a blessing. I decided to make it a blessing by using it to preach what I call sermons in a minute. Even when the interviewer is hostile you can get your message through. I’m always my own worse critic, but I think I succeeded at that today.”

In the live broadcast, Rob emphasized he and other moral conservatives actually celebrate the nomination of an Hispanic woman to the High Court. He noted his own strong ties to the Hispanic community and repeated the Spanish message he sent to Judge Sotomayor, “Felicitaciones a la jueza, y la familia y la comunidad. Congratulations to the judge, the family and the community.”

He also stressed what he likes about the Judge, “She had a thorough Christian education in Catholic schools, which is important for many reasons, and she ruled against Planned Parenthood and affirmed the right of the federal government to favor a pro-life position over a pro-abortion position.”

Still, Rob pointed out there are many unknowns about Judge Sotomayor that need to be thoroughly investigated. He noted one big negative about the pro-choice candidate, “Judge Sotomayor seems comfortable with excluding certain persons from their constitutionally protected rights. That mainly involves the pre-born. Every human being has a right to live his or her life, it’s the first right enumerated in the Declaration of Indepedence and protected in the Constitution.”

Host David Shuster attempted several times to force Rob to address the question of same-sex marriage. He didn’t take the bait. He said afterwards, “Same-sex marriage, while in the news, is not the critical issue with Judge Sotomayor. It may be a question for the future, but it’s largely hypothetical. I did tell Mr. Shuster that if the Judge supports same-sex marriage, it will be a big problem. The bigger problem, though, is her present opinions on the value of life and extending full God-given rights to every human being, including the pre-born.”

The interview was cut short, but Mr. Shuster did say he looked forward to Rob returning to continue the debate.

“It may only last a few minutes. I always spend more time preparing than doing the interview, but people have short attention spans, so these are important times of ministry to a much wider audience than I would have normally.”

By Rev. Rob Schenck

Monday, December 1, marked the official Christmas outreach season at Faith and Action. For most Christians in the United States and around the world, Sunday, November 30, was the First Sunday in Advent, the period set aside on the Western Christian calendar to contemplate the announcement of a coming savior.

Here at Faith and Action, we’ll unveil our Advent banner that reads, “Behold, He is coming!” from Malachi 3:1. The banner’s Christmas colors of green, red and white, and its size-two stories high-will command a lot of attention on Capitol Hill. Below it is our custom Crèche, a beautiful hand crafted manger scene depicting the real “reason for the season.”

You may have caught the news stories about our November 20, launch of dual Christmas outreach programs “Operation Nativity” and “The Nativity Project.” Both promote Christmas manger scenes by encouraging Americans to set them up on their private properties and in public venues, respectively. For our launch ceremony, we set up the only manger scene ever erected in front of the United States Supreme Court. (Check out this photo gallery by Getty Images photojournalist Alex Wong.)

Anyone can set up a Christmas display on their front lawn, in their picture window, at their place of business, or whatever other site they legally own or control. Public sites, such as town and city halls, county seats, parks, state capitols, etc., usually require either formal permission or even a permit. Contact your local government office to find out more.

Oddly, in the Federal District of Columbia (D.C.), where, of course, Washington is located, front “yards,” or, on Capitol Hill, “front gardens,” are deemed “public space.” It’s not quite the same as deeming them “public property,” in that owners must maintain them, but the Federal District ultimately government controls these areas. (If I had another life, I’d argue in court that compelling citizens to take care of government property is a form of slavery! Oh well, you’ve got to wisely pick your battles.) Anyway, this does mean the government can challenge our Nativity display. So far, it has not. Perhaps after capitulating on our Ten Commandments sculpture in the same garden, they don’t want a replay of a losing match.

Our Crèche is the only one you will see prominently displayed for the entire Christmas season within full view of the US Supreme Court, the US Capitol and the House and Senate office buildings.

One year we caught one of the Supreme Court Justices standing in front of Crèche, staring at the Baby Jesus and pondering. Perhaps the Justice was thinking about a possible future case in front of the High Court, or, better yet, perhaps about the meaning of the Child of Bethlehem!