There is not going to be some
magical “pendulum swing.” People who steal elections and believe
they’re on a “mission from God” will not go without a fight.
– from
the Call to Drive Out the Bush Regime
On Sunday, January 8th, World
Can’t Wait organizers from New York,
Philadelphia and DC, along with hundreds more gathered in Philadelphia to protest and deliver a “No!” to the
fascist Bush agenda at the grotesquely misnamed fundamentalist pep rally being
billed as “Justice Sunday III” at
Greater Exodus Baptist Church.
Christian Fascist ideologues
gathered to cheerlead in front of TV cameras and packed pews of supporters for
Bush’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Samuel Alito. The previous Justice Sunday II
reached into 79 million homes through Christian television networks and radio
stations.
The event’s sordid cast of
characters included powerful Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a leading
figure in the Republican Party most (in)famous for comparing homosexuality to
bestiality – along with the likes of James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Greater
Exodus’ opportunist pastor Herbert Lusk. These forces are leading figures in
Bush and the Christian fundamentalist right’s drive to radically remake society
in a fascist way – including banning abortion, denying women and gays their
basic rights, and waging endless war on the people of the world.
Canvassing began on Saturday,
and continued into Sunday morning and afternoon. We started with the area where
Justice Sunday was going to take place, a predominantly black impoverished
neighborhood in Philadelphia. We noticed that the Greater Exodus Baptist Church,
the church where the event was to be held, was the nicest-looking and most well
maintained building in the area. Later we found out that the church actually
owned the entire block, including a credit union and a computer technology
training center. This is how many of these churches create a support base,
especially in minority or poverty-stricken areas – by offering basic needs and
social services that the government has been negligent in providing.
The rest of the World Can’t
Wait activists, around 20, arrived on Sunday morning and began going out in
teams to different places around the city. The whole crew went to a Planned
Parenthood rally on Market Street against Alito, where we took out the Call to around
50 demonstrators and told people about the Justice Sunday demos a few hours
later.
Shortly thereafter the WCW
organizers gathered close to Greater Exodus and marched to the site, carrying
World Can’t Wait signs and a giant banner which read “Bush Step Down”
in red lettering. Fliers were distributed and people signed up with WCW along
the way. When we got to the church a number of people were already there. For
about 15 minutes we led a crowd of about 50 people in chants of “No, no,
no theocracy, drive out the Bush Regime!” and “Bush Step Down, and
take Alito with you!” Many people took up our chants and signs, and we
were heartened to see many of the people we’d talked to at the Planned
Parenthood event and during canvassing at the rally. Several WCW organizers wore
bloody white gowns, representing the botched back alley abortions that will
result from a repeal of Roe.
At about 6:45, the Act Up
contingent arrived, marching behind a
banner and flares attached to tiki torches, bringing with them a crowd
of 100
to 150 people, and their speakers took to the megaphone. Sunsara Taylor
spoke,
as did a pastor from Philadelphia’s progressive and predominantly black
Metropolitan Community Church. In an interview with this pastor he
astutely noted
that this particular Justice Sunday event at Greater Exodus, a
predominantly
black church, was in fact a political ploy – not just to win black
Philly
voters, but to convince people that the fascists have a serious support
base
among people of color (As a side note, many Greater Exodus parishioners
we met
while canvassing didn’t even know that the thing was happening – and at
least
one turned out for our demonstration!)
There were also Democratic
Party candidates seeking to run against Santorum for the senate. One couldn’t
help but notice how many of the protestors were progressive religious people,
Christians and otherwise, who were appalled at how the Bush Regime was using
faith to spearhead their drive for a repressive theocracy.
The protest itself
received
wide coverage, including from AP, CBS, FOX, ABC, and Philadelphia’s
Daily News and the Inquirer. Two futures were represented on the
night of
Justice Sunday III; a modern day Nuremberg Rally and a myriad of voices
outraged by the hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism people
broadcasted
out of the Greater Exodus Church.
Justice Sunday III only underlines the necessity for a massive
groundswell of resistance demanding Bush Step Down and take his whole
program
with him the night of the State of the Union
and the following Saturday- Feb. 4th ( in Washington D.C.
The World Can’t Wait – Drive
Out the Bush Regime!
-Rez, RCYB and World Can’t
Wait activist
Also check out an article by Stanley Rogouski, “Mr. Perkins Goes to Philadelphia: Declares Christian Fascists the Victims“