Free Republic

"The voting bloc known as the religious right must be stopped before it destroys the country, the head of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State told a Denver audience Tuesday."

Many public schools already use The Chronicles of Narnia in their reading curriculum. But after Florida governor Jeb Bush started promoting The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in a statewide reading contest called "Just Read, Florida," the critics are wanting to ban that book. C.S. Lewis' classic, set to premiere as a major motion picture Dec. 9, has a clear Christian message, culminating in the Christ-figure, Aslan the Lion, giving himself to the devil figure, the White Witch, to die in the place of the rotten little kid, Edmund. Then Aslan rises from the dead, which brings salvation to...

Freep this poll -- the "Rev." BarryLynn of the paradoxically named "Americans United for Separation of Church and State" and his other poor comrades afflicted with Separation Anxiety, are now trying to have government establish their own anti-god religion by forcing Florida public schoolchildren not to discover the magic of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by literary master C.S. Lewis.

Under Attack! The Wall Separating Church and State ADL's 2005 Society of Fellows Donor Recognition Luncheon will be Nov. 15 The Rev. Barry M. Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, will be the keynote speaker for ADL's 2005 Society of Fellows Donor Recognition Luncheon on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt Denver, 1750 Welton. The annual event gives ADL the opportunity to recognize donors who have given $500 or more to support the Mountain States Regional Office.

Lost in the hubbub of this week's excellent Supreme Court nomination and continued terrorist activity came two important rulings regarding complaints against me and my ministries. First, the Federal Election Commission unanimously dismissed a complaint that had been filed against me and Liberty Alliance, one of my affiliate organizations that is dedicated to promoting Judeo-Christian values in the political realm through lobbying efforts. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service closed the books on a complaint regarding a Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel address wherein I endorsed President Bush's re-election. The FEC complaint arose after I sent out a July 1,...

ANOTHER KERRY DISCHARGEBefore Memorial Day weekend, Sen. John Kerry sat down with editors of his hometown newspaper, the Boston Globe and announced that he had signed the form SF 180, authorizing the Department of Defense to grant access to all his military records. This, more than a year after he had claimed the press and public had seen all there was to see from his military record. Only one problem: according to several sources who formerly worked on the Kerry campaign, the senator expects that little to nothing new will be in the files that are released. "He's fairly confident...

As worries mount over crumbling walls at California's 21 Spanish-era missions, one man says another historic wall deserves equal preservation. The Rev. Barry Lynn claims that spending $10 million in taxpayer money to renovate the structures would breach a constitutional barrier against government funding for religion. The hard-line advocate for church and state separation is locked in a legal battle that tests the constitutionality of federal legislation to fund renovations. Supporters say the money is a must to save monuments that are priceless windows on the West's past. Lynn realizes his challenge won't win many fans in the Golden State....

Barry Lynn is the top guy at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and a cartoonish presence on talking head television, ever-ready to declare the imminent threat of theocracy in the land. It should come as no surprise to anyone, then, that the organization Lynn leads last week leveled a series of very serious charges against almost everyone at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The report, available here in PDF, is among the worst examples of McCarthyism since Joe McCarthy stood up on February 9, 1950, and declared that "I have here in...

A week before Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist swore in President George W. Bush to a second term as president last month, Justice Clarence Thomas presided over a little-noticed inauguration inside the Court building that has generated some controversy. In an invitation-only ceremony, Thomas on Jan. 13 gave the oath of office to newly elected Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker, a close protégé and former aide to one-time Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Moore was ousted from office in 2003 for defying a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the judicial building rotunda in...

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign has hired a new director of religion outreach, who is being described by a Catholic group as "a curious choice." Mara Vanderslice, who formerly worked as religion outreach director for Democrat Howard Dean, was raised without any faith and didn't become an evangelical Christian until she attended Earlham College, a Quaker school known for its adherence to pacifism, the Catholic League said on Monday. According to Catholic League President William Donohue, when Vanderslice was in college she was active in the Earlham Socialist Alliance, a group that supports convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal and...

(Great Falls-AP) Nov. 16, 2004 - The Town of Great Falls will ask the United States Supreme Court to overturn lower court rulings that prevents Town Council from using the name "Jesus Christ" in prayers at meetings. The council voted 6-1 on Monday night to appeal the case. Darla Kaye Wynne, a Wiccan high priestess, sued the town in 2001 after its leaders refused to open meetings only with nonsectarian prayers or to allow members of different faiths to lead the prayers. A judge's ruling last year banned reference to a specific deity in prayers at the town's meetings, ruling...

IRS Asked To Probe Kerry Appearance At Church POSTED: 6:55 pm EDT October 13, 2004 UPDATED: 7:01 pm EDT October 13, 2004 WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service is being asked to investigate whether a Miami church where Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry spoke on Sunday violated tax laws. John Kerry courted the black vote Sunday in Florida, meeting with, among others, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Barry Lynn, of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said statements by the pastor and leading Democrats during the worship service amounted to explicit endorsements of Kerry. The Rev. Gaston Smith...

Group pushes evangelical vote Focus on Family begins a national registration drive By Gwen Florio, Rocky Mountain News September 4, 2004 Concerned that not enough evangelical Christians are voting, Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family is launching a nationwide voter-registration drive this month. "There is a sense that this is a real pivotal election," said Jim Chapman, president of the Rocky Mountain Family Council, which is coordinating the effort involving hundreds of churches in Colorado. "People of faith need to be in the public square." Both Chapman and Jim Banks, voter-registration field representative for Focus on the Family, said studies...

Bill Clinton bashed President Bush in a speech delivered from the pulpit of a prominent Manhattan church on the Sunday before the Republican National Convention began. Yet, Americans United for Separation of Church and State does not view Clinton's pulpit-based diatribe a violation of tax laws. Ever since then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson (D.-Tex.) slipped a provision into a bill back in 1954, federal law has prohibited tax-exempt churches from engaging in partisan political speech. Every election season, Americans United files complaints against churches that it alleges have violated this law. The group also opposes the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration...

They danced, clapped, shouted and sang, and that was before the Rev. Al Sharpton even opened his mouth. By the time the former presidential candidate finished his sermon to more than a thousand people gathered in a Miami church Sunday, blending politics and religion into a call to action to South Florida's black community, congregation members churned with energy. When he was done, Sharpton introduced the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. McAuliffe apologized to the congregation for the 2000 election and for not being in Florida to stop voting problems.

Big Brother Church Watch Announced Washington, DC William J. Murray, the president of the Religious Freedom Action Coalition, a social conservative group, announced the formation of a group to monitor traditionally liberal churches for political activity. The new group, Big Brother Church Watch, functions primarily through its Internet site at www.RatOutaChurch.org! The newly formed organization has already placed monitors in politically active Metropolitan Community, Unitarian/Universalist, and AME churches. AME churches are predominately African-American and their pastors frequently endorse liberal Democrat candidates from the pulpit. Volunteer workers will also be monitoring Internet sites of Democratic candidates and following them to churches...

Arkansas Church's Partisan Politicking Needs Irs Investigation, Says AUWednesday July 21, 2004 Baptist Pastor Promotes Bush In Nationally Televised Sunday SermonAn Arkansas church that intervened in partisan politics on behalf of President George W. Bush should be investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.Americans United says the July 4 sermon by Pastor Ronnie Floyd at the First Baptist Church of Springdale, Ark., crossed the line into inappropriate partisan politicking. "Pastor Floyd's presentation seemed more like a Bush campaign commercial than a church service," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "His sermon...

A fight is erupting this election season between conservative churches and liberal watchdog groups that are going to the IRS and accusing ministers of violating the law if they speak out about political issues and candidates.     "Right now, it's very one-sided," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative legal-action group.     He said the liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) -- led by the Rev. Barry W. Lynn -- has been "very aggressive" in going after churches "that are conservative in their leanings." But AU has "looked the...

Reverend Barry, Quite Contrary He's a minister who defends abortion, gay marriage and pornography. And he thinks conservative Christians are a menace to society? Reverend Barry, Quite Contrary He's a minister who defends abortion, gay marriage and pornography. And he thinks conservative Christians are a menace to society? by Matt Kaufman You've heard people blast the "Religious Right" before, but Barry Lynn really lets it fly. America, he says, is threatened by "radical religious fundamentalists." These people are "bullies," "dangerous zealots," "extremists who despise pro-choice advocates, working mothers, gay-rights supporters and everybody else who departs from their narrow views." They're...

A Christian attorney is encouraging pastors to be bold when it comes to speaking out about political and moral issues. Earlier this month, Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards spoke from the pulpit of St Mark AME Church in Orlando, Florida. No one complained about the speech. But Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver says when Dr. Jerry Falwell expressed his personal opinion -- in a non-church publication -- about supporting President George W. Bush, the liberal group Americans United for Separation of Church and State lodged a complaint. Staver accuses several groups -- among them Americans United, People for the American...