iPledge Sunday to Mobilize 2,000 Churches Ahead of 2012 Election
The Family Research Council is hosting iPledge Sunday: A Call to Faith, Family and Freedom on Sunday via a nationwide simulcast that will reach over 2,000 churches with the goal of encouraging and equipping Christians to make their voices heard on Election Day.
An all-star lineup of conservatives will address attendees at First Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., the same city where the Democratic National Convention was just held. Evangelical political figures, actors and pastors that will be speaking at the event include FRC's Tony Perkins, former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Actor Kirk Cameron, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., Franklin Graham, Shirley Dobson, Star Parker, New York City Councilman Fernando Cabrera and Dr. Mark Harris.
In a telephone interview on Thursday, Perkins said Christians are facing an election that could well impact the direction of America for decades, if not centuries to come. He also explained why Charlotte was chosen as the location to host the event.
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"North Carolina is a swing state and the latest state to adopt a marriage amendment," said Perkins. "There is a huge choice before us and our hope is to reach and mobilize fellow believers so they understand the importance of this election. This event could very well be the largest pre-election gathering of Christian voters this year."
Christians may find good reason to rally after controversy surrounded the DNC last week after delegates approved the party's platform on Tuesday that left notably absent any reference to God or Jerusalem as Israeli's capital city. An amendment was offered the following day that added the words God and Jerusalem back into the platform, but the voice vote on video sounded as if there were more "nays" than "ayes" despite it passing.
Perkins said the DNC's vote on God in its platform should cause Christians great concern.
"My take is the pre-amended platform was the agenda of liberals within the Democratic Party who knew exactly what they were doing," Perkins said as he was explaining what happened at the convention. "It wasn't until Christians within the Party and other conservatives expressed outrage that an attempt was made to amend the language."
Cabrera is a Democratic councilman who is also affiliated with New Life Outreach International in Bronx, N.Y. He attended the DNC last week and was on the floor when the controversy over having the word God in the platform surfaced. He said he was disturbed both as a Democrat and a Christian over the amount of attention paid to homosexual activists at the expense of Blacks, Asians and Hispanics, who by and large hold more conservative social views on marriage and abortion.
"They [Democrat Party officials] were so conscientious about the platform including language that recognized gay marriage," he told The Christian Post in an interview from the convention floor. "At the very least, God should have received equal treatment."
Prior to Sunday's 7 p.m. simulcast, Perkins, Cabrera and Jackson will hold a press conference to outline the evening's agenda.
The service can be viewed at http://www.ipledgesunday.org/live.
