The third annual Values Voter Summit convened in Washington DC this week, bringing together thousands of participants seeking to “preserve the Judeo-Christian values that form the bedrock of [the] nation.”
Event organizers, including Focus on the Family Action and Alliance Defense Fund, are seeking to invigorate and mobilize the “values voter” to translate their the faith into action in the public arena. Issues central to this Summit are, as the organizers put it: “sanctity of human life, marriage between one man and one woman, religious liberty and the rule of law.”
This three day event features plenary sessions, with speakers such as Newt Gingrich, Phyllis Schlafly, and Bishop Harry Jackson, among others, as well as break out sessions to focus in on key concerns of the religious right. Tony Perkins, President of FRC Action, kicked off the opening plenary with the cheer, “Faith! Family! Freedom!” Later in the morning Michael Steele, former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, encouraged those in attendance to spread the word about God’s plan as the “blueprint to find the pathway to the American dream.”
Sunday’s breakout sessions range from “The Role of Marriage, Worship and Research In Replacing Social Policy with Vibrant Culture” to “Gagging the Church: Winning the Freedom to Speak the Full Counsel of God’s Word.”
