For Immediate Release
October 12, 2005
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Contact: Joe Conn, Rob Boston or Jeremy Leaming
http://www.au.org/site/R?i=2nSFiQ05k3DZHigLdtXRQg..
WHITE HOUSE PROMOTION OF COURT NOMINEE MIERS' RELIGION IS APPALLING,SAYS
AMERICANS UNITED
Church-State Watchdog Group Rebukes Bush For Hypocrisy Over Religion Issue
The Bush administration's efforts to promote Supreme Court nominee Harriet
Miers by highlighting her evangelical Christianity is an appalling and
hypocritical use of religion, says Americans United for Separation of
Church and State.
Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, "We're
picking a Supreme Court justice here, not a Sunday school teacher.
President Bush and his allies should be talking about Miers' knowledge of
the Constitution, not the Bible."
In remarks at the White House today, President George W. Bush defended his
staffers' references to Miers' faith.
"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," he said. "They
want to know Harriet Miers' background. They want to know as much as they
possibly can before they form opinions. Part of Harriet Miers' life is her
religion."
AU's Lynn said he has been concerned for some time that the Bush
administration has been using a religious litmus test to select federal
court nominees. On June 25, 2002, Bush said he would select judges who
"understand that our rights were derived from God."
Said Lynn, "Any such religious selectivity by the president would violate
Article VI of our Constitution, which forbids any religious test for public
office. Did Bush pick Miers because of her religious viewpoint instead of
her legal qualifications? If he did, that is a disservice to the
Constitution and the diversity of the American people."
White House operatives have been using Miers' religion to persuade Relgious
Right leaders to endorse her nomination.
In a radio address taped Tuesday, Focus on the Family founder James C.
Dobson recounted a conversation he had with White House strategist Karl
Rove, during which Rove told Dobson of Miers' strong religious views.
Dobson said Rove assured him Miers is "an evangelical Christian from a very
conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life."
The White House is apparently highlighting Miers' church-going to other
prominent religious conservatives. TV preacher Pat Robertson, breaking with
other conservatives who have expressed concern over Miers' scant track
record, has repeatedly praised Miers on his "700 Club" program. On Oct. 5,
Robertson stated that Miers "will be the first evangelical Christian who
has been elevated to the Supreme Court in well over 70 years."
Americans United's Lynn accused the White House and the Religious Right of
hypocrisy.
"We were told we weren't even allowed to bring up the topic of religion
when John G. Roberts was nominated for the Supreme Court," Lynn said.
"Anyone who did was quickly labeled a bigot.
"Now Bush and Rove are touting where Miers goes to church and using that as
a selling point," Lynn continued. "The hypocrisy is staggering."
Lynn also blasted the Religious Right for playing along. "If a nominee's
personal religious views are off the table," observed Lynn, "why am I not
hearing howls of protest from Jerry Falwell, Tony Perkins, Jay Sekulow and
others about this cynical exploitation of religion for crass political
purposes?"
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington,
D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the
importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
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Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
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 U.S. 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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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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