The following are excerpts from a an article by David Corn in
THE NATION magazine for the week of Aug. 12/19:

"On a recent Friday night, several hundred suburbanites gathered
in Farifax, Virginia, so sing battle songs. 'We are an army of
salvation,' they chorused. 'Lead us into battle,' they roared.
The congregation vowed in song that they would fight until every
nation is on its knees before Jesus Christ. The site of this
religious pep rally -- the Truro Church -- is where Judge Clarence
Thomas worships.

"Thomas, once a practicing Catholic, has been attending Truro, a
charismatic Episcopal church, for about a year. Curious about the
religious leanings of the Supreme Court nominee, I visisted Truro.
Thomas was not at the Friday night 'Prayer and Praise' session or the
more traditional Sunday morning service I witnessed, but he has
attended both.

"Withing the charasmatic Christian movement, the Bible is taken
literally; followers are born again and see Satan all over. The
Friday everning ceremony was a jubilant occasion. The fatithful
stood much of the time with arms lifted high, palms facing skyward,
singing tributes to Jesus Christ. Some seemed transfixed; some spoke
in tongues. The clergy were good-humored and ebullient, though did
chastise the congregation for its homogeneity; it is 99 percent white.
During prayer, one worshiper cried loudly, 'Lord, bless Clarence Thomas
in his hour of need. . . .'

". . . Charismatics are instructed to heed orders. On one tape, the
Rev. Brian Cox, associate rector of a sister church, the Church of the
Apostles, exhorts Truro's congregants to obey unquestioningly God's
commands. 'When the father tells you to do something,' Cox says, 'you
don't argue with him... You don't need to know why.' During a 1987
sermon at his church, according to two people who were there, Cox
preached that the goal of charismatics is to establish the Kingdom of
God on Earth, adding, 'The Kingdom of God is not a democracy.' After
that sermon, he embraced a member of his flock, Oliver North. On another
tape, Os Guiness, a 'Christian author,' examines 'the problem of
constitutionalism.' By 'problem' he means that the U.S. Constitution has
no 'transcendence' because it does not rely on religious values."