Religous Right Alert from Americans United for
Separation of Church and State/Atlanta Chapter

CATHOLIC ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES CHAPTERS PLANNED FOR 97
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The Catholic Alliance(CA), Pat Robertson's and Ralph Reed's attempt to
co-opt Catholics into the Christian Coalition(CC), announced its plans for
1997. In their Winter 1997 newsletter CA said, "We will organize state
groups to fulfull our mission and prepare us for impacting the 1998 and 2000
elections."

The CA agenda is a slightly modified CC agenda with just a few rough edges
smoothed out to tailor the idealogy of the Catholic body politic. Along with
the usual "family" rhetoric espoused by the Coalition the Alliance throws a
bone to Catholics by pledging "that all Christians bear an obligation to
care for the poor and the needy..."

Interestingly, no where in the newsletter can any mention be found about the
death penalty, a serious sticking point between the CC and many Catholics.

Ralph Reed, Christian Coalition Executive Director, was recently criticized
by a leading Catholic newspaper for endorsing a book on biblical prophecy
that contains anti-Catholic language. The following is an excerpt from a
news item in the latest issue of Church & State, the national publication of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State:

Reed's endorsement of "Earth's Two Minute Warning: Today's Bible Predicted
Signs of the End Times" by John Wheeler Jr. drew fire from the National
Catholic Reporter, a widely read Catholic  newspaper.

In the book, Wheeler warns that a "Satanically empowered" Vatican could
support the Antichrist in the end times. He asserts that the Catholic Church
and the World Council of Churches (WCC) may merge and writes, "Thus the WCC
will be controlled by the papacy at the time of the Tribulation, when the
false religious system they represent will be revealed as the 'Great
Whore'... there is some legitimate cause for concern that the Vatican may
one day run amok."

Reed is quoted on the book's back cover, calling Wheeler's tome a
"compelling look at the controversial subject of the end times...an
important contribution to this vital discussion."

Besides the obvious contrasts between the Christian Coalition's political
agenda and the vast majority of Catholics, what this means to us is we need
to look for any signs of CA stirring about Georgia.

Americans United/Atlanta is now planning to take a pro-active role in
getting the word out to Catholic Churches advising them to read up on the
Christian Coalition before thinking about joining the wolf in lamb's
clothing, the Catholic Alliance. We will be mailing and faxing information
on the organizations in the coming months to local area churches. Any
contacts you can pass back to us will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for your time; please feel free to contact us.

Skip Evans, President
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Atlanta Chapter
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Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Atlanta Chapter
PO Box 79174
Atlanta GA 30357-7174
404-607-0660
http://www.mindspring.com/~tallulah/au/
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