Political Power and the Pulpit
http://www.libertymagazine.org/article/articleview/608/1/94/
[excerpt]
The other day I heard something on the car radio that made me think that I
had somehow passed through a wormhole and entered into an alternate
universe. It was a National Public Radio report about a church that was in
danger of having its tax-exemption status revoked because of partisan
politics from the pulpit. Having always had an interest in church-state
separation issues, I just assumed it was the usual fare: i.e., a right-wing
pastor in Podunk openly attacking some hapless Democrat as a baby-killing,
demon-worshipping, gay-loving infidel who needed to be defeated in the
upcoming election to avoid God’s wrath falling on America—or something of
the sort. The next thing I heard was Barry Lynn, of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State; again, knowing AU (and Barry), I was
expecting the usual spin from him about how we need to keep churches from
violating the laws regarding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status. In other words,
I just assumed that Barry Lynn and AU were the ones who had filed suit
against the church, and Barry was being interviewed about his latest
success.
Instead (and here’s where I thought I was losing it), Barry Lynn was
complaining about what the IRS was doing to this church. The gadfly of the
Christian Right, the ceaseless watchdog that since the 1990s has been
filing lawsuits against churches that he accuses of having crossed over the
line between speaking out on issues and openly pushing a partisan agenda!
After a few more seconds of listening, I started getting the picture. Now,
not that I want to be cynical or anything, and certainly I don’t want to
accuse AU of having its own political bias, but once I realized that the
church in question was decidedly left-wing, and about as far removed from
the Christian Right as possible, did it all start making sense.
[ end excerpt]
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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