The revival meeting now going on at the Pilgrim Church is progressing nicely.... The evangelist this (Friday) evening will sing a solo, "God's Ford." We are so anxious to see the new Ford on display at the sales room. Now be sure and come tonight and hear the evangelist sing about "God's Ford." Henry's is good, but God's is the best. ~ [ from the Daily Courier of Charleston, Illinois, 1928 ]

Should senators ask Alito about the role of his faith?

If confirmed, he would become the fifth Catholic among the nine justices on the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON – One of the defining characteristics of American liberty is that a person's religious faith - or lack of religious faith - is generally a private matter outside the realm of government concern.
Indeed, Article VI of the Constitution bars any religious test for prospective government officials.

But now, President Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito to a seat on the US Supreme Court is raising a sensitive question: To what extent should a nominee's religious faith be a legitimate area of inquiry during Senate confirmation hearings?

The issue arises as Judge Alito stands at the threshold of making Supreme Court history. Should he win confirmation, he will become the fifth Roman Catholic among the roster of nine justices, marking the first time a majority on the high court would be Catholic.

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But in a country with a tradition of separation between church and state, any focus on Catholicism seems to some analysts more a relic of anti-Catholic prejudice than a well-intentioned effort to examine Alito's temperament, intellect, or judicial philosophy.

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Now the question is emerging anew as supporters and opponents gear up for what analysts say could become judicial-confirmation Armageddon. Some see such questions as a form of anti-Catholic bigotry. Others see complaints about religious questioning as being part of a campaign to head off aggressive interrogation.

America was stamped all over from the first for a Catholic land. Her rivers, lakes and mountains, her cities, towns and hamlets bear the names of Catholic saints, dogmas and mysteries. Her very name is that of the patron saint given in baptism to Amerigo Vespucci.... A nation who stamps its coin "In God We Trust" is proclaiming its perpetual Credo. The nation whose moto is "E Pluribus Unum" cannot fail to recognize the necessity for unity in religion as well as in its geographical boundry lines. With St. Augustine guarding its Atlantic coast, St. Francis its Pacific coast, the Apostle St. Paul kindling religious zeal in the North, the gentle St. Anthony inspiring peace in the South, the warrior King St. Louis in the center, and Mary Immaculate presiding over all as its chief patroness, can anyone doubt the Catholicity of America? Was not the first hymn sung in the Western Hemisphere the Ave Maris Stella? Was not Columbus's ship named the Santa Maria? Was not the very name Christopher Columbus symbolical of the dove of peace and the Christ-bearer? Surely, God's plans are manifest. America is the latest and greatest of nations, and He means to possess her for Himself. And what other church, may I ask, can be found so worthy of the intelligence, the earnestness and the lofty aspirations of the American people? She alone can offer doctrines so sublime, philosophy so impregnable, morality so divine, traditions so glorious, charities so God-like, organization so matchless, discipline so superb, and ceremonial so magnificent!

Legal Times
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is part of Sekulow's orbit. In addition to his own lobbying work, Ashcroft teaches at Robertson's Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., and maintains an office in the ACLJ's multimillion-dollar town house behind the Supreme Court. Ashcroft traveled with Sekulow to Europe in July for a conference at the European Center for Law and Justice, an ACLJ affiliate incorporated in France.

But Sekulow reached the pinnacle of D.C. influence earlier this year when he, along with former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray, one-time Federalist Society head Leonard Leo, and former Attorney General Edwin Meese III -- soon dubbed the "four horsemen" -- participated in a weekly conference call with White House deputy public liaison Tim Goeglein and others to discuss judicial nominations and the so-called nuclear option to eliminate filibusters by Democratic senators of conservative judges.

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Sekulow, 49, has always been an oddity on the evangelical landscape. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Jewish parents, Sekulow still describes himself as a "Messianic Jew," meaning he believes Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He says his Jewish faith never caused him trouble among Christian evangelicals.

His family moved to Atlanta when he was in high school. Sekulow went to a Baptist college, now known as Mercer University, partly because it was near home. There, Sekulow met a student he later described as a "Jesus freak." The friend urged him to study the Bible, and over time, Sekulow questioned Jewish beliefs. "As I read, my suspicion that Jesus might really be the Messiah was confirmed," Sekulow wrote later.

Sekulow stayed at Mercer for law school and, after a brief period as an attorney for the IRS, set up a private practice and real estate business in Atlanta with law school friend Stuart Roth, who is still a partner in some of his current dealings. Meanwhile, Sekulow's religious views solidified, and he joined Jews for Jesus, eventually becoming that organization's general counsel.

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Sekulow's financial dealings deeply trouble some of the people who have worked for him, leading several to speak with Legal Times during the past six months about their concerns -- before Sekulow assumed his high-profile role promoting President George W. Bush's Supreme Court nominees.

"Some of us truly believed God told us to serve Jay," says one former employee, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal. "But not to help him live like Louis XIV. We are coming forward because we need to believe there is fairness in this world."

Another says: "Jay sends so many discordant signals. He talks about doing God's work for his donors, and then he flies off in his plane to play golf."