By: Charles Sumner
Re: Religious Tyranny Amendment
AMERICANS UNITED PRESS RELEASE
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 17:06:08 -0400
AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Joseph Conn
June 8, 1995 Rob Boston
RELIGIOUS RIGHT ASSAULT ON WALL OF SEPARATION BETWEEN CHURCH
AND STATE TO BEGIN IN CONGRESS TODAY, SAYS AMERICANS UNITED
Today's congressional hearing on "religious liberty" is the opening salvo
of a Religious Right campaign to erase the principle of church-state separation
from the Constitution, says Americans United for Separation of Church and
State.
The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution is
scheduled to hold the hearing on "Religious Liberty and the Bill of Rights." A
series of related hearings around the country are planned for subsequent weeks,
with the first to take place in Harrisonburg, Va., June 10.
Although congressional sources deny that today's hearing will focus on a
proposed "Religious Equality" Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, critics
insist the event is clearly intended to kick off the long-delayed debate on
that issue.
"This hearing marks the beginning of the Religious Right's assault on the
freedom of conscience of all Americans," said Barry W. Lynn, executive director
of Americans United. "TV preacher Pat Robertson and his allies want to gut the
church- state separation protections in the Constitution as the first step
toward merging religion and government in the United States.
"Robertson's Christian Coalition calls this constitutional amendment the
'crown jewel' in its wish list for Congress," Lynn continued. "Congressional
leaders are moving ahead on this radical scheme to satisfy the demands of the
politically powerful Religious Right."
According to an analysis by Americans United Legal Director Steven K.
Green, the proposed "Religious Equality" Amendment would overturn or compromise
over two dozen Supreme Court decisions concerning religious liberty. (The full
text of the analysis is available from Americans United.)
"The amendment would clearcut decades of landmark church-state decisions
overnight," observed Lynn, who is both an attorney and an ordained minister in
the United Church of Christ.
A coalition of Religious Right groups has been meeting behind closed
doors with members of Congress in Washington to prepare the amendment. Although
the final version has yet to be released, drafts that are said to be close to
it have been circulating for several weeks.
"The so-called 'Religious Equality' Amendment in reality is a 'religious
tyranny' amendment," Lynn remarked. "Its purpose is not to foster fairness or
equality but to gut the First Amendment's church-state protections. If passed,
the amendment will allow public schools to coerce children to participate in
daily religious exercises, tax all Americans to support sectarian instruction
and permit government to impose religion on people against their will.
"The Bill of Rights has never been altered in all of American history,"
Lynn noted. "It has worked well to protect individual freedom. Congress should
be ashamed to tinker with our basic constitutional protections in a brazen
pay-off to sectarian political interest groups."
The amendment marks the third major attempt to rewrite the First
Amendment since the Supreme Court struck down school-
sanctioned prayer in 1962. (An Americans United background paper tracing the
history of the school prayer controversy in America is available. For copies,
call the Communications Department at 202-466-3234.)
Founded in 1947, Americans United is the only national organization
devoted solely to the preservation of church-state separation. With national
offices in Washington, D.C., the group represents some 50,000 individual
members and some 4,000 churches, synagogues, fraternal groups and other
institutions.
1816 Jefferson Place NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-466-3234
###
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
The views and opinions stated within this web page are those of the
author or authors which wrote them and may not reflect the views and
opinions of the ISP or account user which hosts the web page. The
opinions may or may not be those of the Chairman of The Skeptic Tank.