Meet Herb Lusk

January 5, 2006

When “Justice Sunday III” is held this weekend, and religious right activists from across the country gather for the national broadcast, the message will be familiar, but the setting may not. One might assume that the far-right, neo-theocratic rally would be held in the Bible Belt at a fundamentalist church. Instead, Dobson, Falwell, Santorum & Co. will be in Philadelphia, one of the most Democratic cities in the country, at a predominantly African-American congregation. Why?

Because of Herb Lusk.

The Rev. Herbert H. Lusk II is a maverick black minister who took to his pulpit in Philadelphia in 2000 and pledged his support for a Bush presidency, a speech broadcast live at the Republican National Convention. Two years later, Mr. Lusk was criticized when he received a $1 million grant through the president’s new religion-based initiative to run a housing program for the poor.

This Sunday, Mr. Lusk has offered his church in Philadelphia as the site for a major political rally intended to whip up support for the president’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., whose confirmation hearings begin on Monday. […]

Mr. Lusk said he agreed to be the host of the event at his Greater Exodus Baptist Church more out of loyalty to Mr. Bush – “a friend of mine” – than out of support for Judge Alito.

“I don’t know enough about him to say I actually think he’s the right man to do the job,” Mr. Lusk said in a telephone interview on Wednesday about Judge Alito. “I’m saying I trust a friend of mine who promised me that he would appoint people to the justice system that would be attentive to the needs I care about” – stopping same-sex marriage, assisted suicide and abortions for minors, and supporting prayer and Christmas celebrations in schools.

The local reaction from Lusk’s colleagues is that Lusk, who is African American, shouldn’t host a rally to benefit a Supreme Court nominee with a poor record on civil rights. Lusk is putting his credibility and that of his congregation on the line to boost a nominee that Lusk hardly knows.

But I’m also struck by the unseemly element of faith-based corruption. Lusk endorsed Bush in 2000, Bush gave Lusk federal funds in 2001 and 2004, and now Lusk is hosting a far-right rally to support Bush’s agenda. It certainly gives the appearance that Lusk is playing ball with the GOP machine in exchange for lucrative federal grants.

As my friend Barry Lynn told the NYT, “In one person, Herbert Lusk represents what is wrong with mixing religion and government.”

If Americans understood the basic principles of critical thinking and truth probes, they would have dismissed Lusk as having no credibility as soon as they understood he was on the GOP payroll.

Lynn is absolutely correct–this is what happens when you mix religion and government. God suddenly speaks with the voice of whoever’s bought the religion, and in return the preachers can riot in the spoil of their tithe money and government grants and have a laugh at the credulity of their flock.

  • “I’m saying I trust a friend of mine who promised me that he would appoint people to the justice system that would be attentive to the needs I care about” – stopping same-sex marriage, assisted suicide and abortions for minors, and supporting prayer and Christmas celebrations in schools.

    But aren’t these rightly questions of a political nature rather than necessary criteria for the “justice system”? This is something that concerns me when conservative faith-based folk get involved in civic affairs – they generally seem to have little knowledge or interest in legal institutions or the *political* and legal philosophy underlieing our system of government – or have any interest in the purpose or the usage of the government as a construct to benefit society as a whole – but rather just as a tool to help them achieve their narrow religious-based agenda and the rest be damned.

    I would think that this guy, heading an inner-city congregation would have more interest in the workings of the “justice system” than same-sex marriage, abortion issues, and promoting prayer.

  • I think it was Tucker Carlson of all people who recently noted his “interview” with another prominent black inner city preacher who named homosexuality and gay marriage as the top issue facing his flock.

    With thinking like this there is no wonder why it is hard to make headway in the house and senate. These folks are greedy, unthinking idiots, the number one demographic of the GOP.

  • Andy,
    When you’re bought and paid for, rationality and reason have nothing to do with it. Lusk was paid to say what he said. It’s best to think of people like him as no different than paid celebrity product endorsers. What’s so dangerous about this situation is when we add religion to the mix. People are frankly intimidated by religion, so ownership of a religion is a huge asset in seeking power.

  • His church must have lost its tax exemption status for 2000 and soon 2006 right? Not so much in the years he received faith based grants, but rather when he hosted political events and/or gave political endorsements from the pulpit. Is this just assumed or is it something worth looking into?

  • faith-based corruption!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    RE: “If Americans understood the basic principles of critical thinking and truth probes, they would have dismissed Lusk as having no credibility as soon as they understood he was on the GOP payroll.”

    So you’ve got evidence that Lusk is on the ol’ illegal, G.O.P, slush fund Payola?

    Please share more.

  • Rocky,
    It’s in CB’s post. To wit,…

    ‘But I’m also struck by the unseemly element of faith-based corruption. Lusk endorsed Bush in 2000, Bush gave Lusk federal funds in 2001 and 2004, and now Lusk is hosting a far-right rally to support Bush’s agenda. It certainly gives the appearance that Lusk is playing ball with the GOP machine in exchange for lucrative federal grants.’

    As CB wrote, the obvious use of the faith based grants has been to reward religious leaders who advance the GOP agenda. It’s not illegal, but it is corrupting.

    In the sciences, its expected that researchers list funding agencies in their research so that readers would be forewarned that the authors may be under compulsion to report their results in a manner favorable to the funding agency (and therefore that readers would be well advised to seek independent confirmation of results). This is true in politics as well, and elsewhere.

  • If they’re going to have this event somewhere, I applaud the location. That church is at 700 N Broad street. Anything north of Spring Garden…well…it’s a fairly brave place for a bunch of tightassed Republicans. I hope they all decide to drive themselves and have to circle the neighborhood looking for parking. They’ve gone there to preach, but there’s a chance they might learn. Welcome to the inner city!

    And then there’s everybody heading out around town. I know the whole Republican-Convention-in-NYC thing turned out ok, but you also have to be careful with Philly. Years ago when someone heckled Clinton at City Hall, a teamster broke the heckler’s face. Philly fans cheer and applaud when Cowboys get injuries playing the Eagles. A few days ago, the Art Alliance’s New Year’s Eve Party (“one of the most prestigious and ritziest venues in Philadelphia”) ran out of alcohol. The “upscale” patrons ransacked the place. Philadelphians don’t look for trouble, but if something strikes them as really wrong, they don’t necessarily wait for the authorities to fix it.

  • To All: Kerry, Clinton and Gore visit Black Churches on the eve of election to talk about the need to get out the vote. The Phila. Black Clergy endorses candidates who support abortion (Kerry, Rendell, ….) and who promise more funds for inner cities. But you have a problem with mixing religion and politics when a Black Reverend doesn’t toe the liberal party line and hosts an event for pro-life, pro-family advocates. A bit blind to your own hypocracy, aren’t you?

  • Over at Irregular Times, we’ve been working on the Reverend Lusk story in the wake of the Justice Sunday III gathering this week.

    Here’s what Reverend Lusk told the crowd:
    “I want to say, first of all, be careful how you fool with the church. You mess around with the church, something stirs up inside of me! You be careful because the church has surviving power. My friends, you know this and know this well. Don’t fool with the church because the church has buried many a critic, and all the critics that we have not buried, we’re making funeral arrangements for them!”

    This is really important, because Reverend Lusk isn’t any old crackpot preacher. He’s an advisor to George W. Bush who has met with President Bush on several occasions. He’s a political insider, and so far, George W. Bush has yet to distance himself from Reverend Lusk, or this outlandish incitement to violence.

    Please, everybody here who’s got a blog, help spread the news about the true nature of Reverend Lusk and Justice Sunday. This is scary stuff the religious right is starting to preach about.

    Will we let them issue death threats against us with impunity?

  • Not that the apple always falls close to the tree — but it’s interesting that Lusk’s baptist minister father Herbert I plead guilty (only a few years ago) to five felony counts of abusing government money meant for the child care program that he ran in Monterey, CA. From the news stories, one can infer that he was at the least quite an SOB through it all:

    http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/articles/7333

  • What is frightening is that not one of the above commentators seem to know anything from the Bible. It is not man who has said that abortion is a sin, The Bible tell us this, it is not man who declared the act of homosexuality a sin, God said so in His Word. Why don’t each of you do some research before publishing your “opinions”. Read the Bible, read what God’s word has to say about these and many other topics and then come back to your blogs and discuss with knowledge. God’s word does say: “No weapon formed against you shall stand”. He was not talking about conventional weapons, but spiritual weapons. God’s Word is being mis-quoted and mis-represented. Each of need to think about your own mortality and where you want to spend eternity. Whether you want to believe it or not, the Bible is true and each of us will be judged according to the way we lived our lives here on earth. Salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way into Heaven. Again, not my words, but God. If you don’t believe me, read it for yourself.

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