The Ideology that Guides and Directs Americans United
By Kerry Messer

   Do you remember Barry Lynn? The first time I spoke with Lynn was
several years ago during a tele-conference debate on KSDK News Channel
5. It was during the 6 a.m. newscast. I was in the newsroom here in St.
Louis and Mr. Lynn was in Washington D.C.. At that time, he was serving
as legislative counsel for the national American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU), and was their chief media spokesman from 1984-1991.

   On this occasion, it was Mr. Lynn's job to sell the American public
on the idea that pornography was not only good, but should be legal
under any conditions. The ACLU's position was that any attempts to
regulate the pornography industry by law or business practice was to be
labeled illegal censorship.

   It was an entertaining debate. Within the first sixty seconds I asked
Mr. Lynn to please explain his position on child pornography. The
newscaster who was moderating our brief debate thought she had
misunderstood his answer and was concerned that viewers might have also.
So as not to leave the ACLU with a black spot in the public's eye, she
asked him to repeat his answer to my question.

   Mr. Lynn repeated, "any pictorial material depicting an actor in a
sexual context is protected by the First Amendment, and the ACLU will
defend its reproduction and distribution in the marketplace, regardless
of the actors age."

   The entertainment came when the newscast cut for a commercial break.
The anger and confusion in the mind of our moderator could not compare
to the redness in her face. (Since that time Channel 5 has treated
conservative guests with much more fairness than any other news stations
in town.)

   But where is Barry Lynn now? We haven't seen him using his talents to
run point for the ACLU for some time now. Where did he go?

   My good friend Roger Moran and I caught up with Mr. Lynn the other
day in Washington D.C.. We had a lively conversation with him over lunch
and listened to him speak several times at a conference sponsored by the
organization he now heads. After our visit with Mr. Lynn I must say that
he is a very amiable gentlemen, but his world view has obviously not
changed from his days at the ACLU. Neither he nor the organizations he
works with share my beliefs or values.

   This was the Americans United for Separation of Church and State
(AU), 47th National Conference. The conference was boldly entitled
Public Schools Under Assault -- Why The Religious Right Must Lose!

   The conference title appropriately reflects AU's hostility toward a
particular segment of America's religious community -- Bible-believing
Christianity -- and gives us a glimpse into who's "religious liberty"
Americans United is concerned about.

   As Americans United's newest Executive Director, the Rev. (and
attorney) Barry Lynn is a shining example of the philosophical world
view that guides and directs his organization. And the credentials of
this year's conference participants were equal to Mr. Lynn in their
commitment to liberalism and their status among the ranks of the Left.

   AU's conference opened on Sunday morning with the Chapter Leadership
Training Seminar, led by AU's own Bunnie Riedel. Ms. Riedel was the
former director of the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights of
Southern California, where she claims to have organized 500 "clergy for
choice."

   Following this session was a debate entitled "Public Schools and
Character: Have Values Been Expelled?" Keith Geiger, President of the
National Education Association came up against Janet Parshall, of
Concerned Women for America. Mrs. Parshall did a wonderful job of
articulating the conservative view.

   The third session was a panel discussion on "A Report Card on the
Public Schools: Combatting the Religious Rights Big Lie." This session
was moderated by Maribeth Oakes, Associate Director of the National
Parent Teachers Association.

   Addressing the "Interfaith Clergy Breakfast" was AU trustee James
Dunn, Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public
Affairs and former board member of People for the American Way. Mr. Dunn
has been heavily involved with the organizations and activities of the
Religious Left.

   On Monday morning, another debate took place between Jay Sekulow,
Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice and Rabbi
David Saperstein, Director for the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism and board member of People for the American Way. Mr. Sekulow
also did an outstanding job of articulating the conservative view on
church/state separation.

   In "Workshop A," Elliot Mincberg, Legal Director for People for the
American Way and Robert Boston, AU's assistant editor and
self-proclaimed secular humanist, dealt with "Religious Right Takeovers:
How to Respond."

   Speaking at the Law and Theology Student Seminar was Robert Peck,
National Legislative Counsel for the ACLU, Steven Green, AU's legal
Director and former board member for the Vermont ACLU and Oliver "Buzz"
Thomas, formerly the Legal Counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee, now
Special Counsel for the National Council of Churches.

   Other interesting speakers included David Cantor of the
Anti-Defamation League and author of the highly controversial book, The
Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance and Pluralism in America; Jane
M. Whicher, staff counsel for the ACLU of Illinois and Frosty Troy,
keynote speaker at the awards banquet.

   Mr. Troy, a member of AU's National Advisory Council and a radio
commentator and acclaimed speaker, set the tone for his keynote address
when he attacked James Dobson of Focus on the Family: "Did you ever get
the idea that his [Dobson's] ambition was to die in his own arms."

   Mr. Troy also pointed out a uniform belief among the Religious Left,
stating "I happen to believe with all the fervor of my soul that the
most priceless religious institution in America is public education. It
does more of God's work every day for forty-two and a half million boys
and girls than any other institution"

   Mr. Troy also managed to put in a plug for AU's in-house secular
humanist, Rob Boston, and his new book, Why the Religious Right is Wrong
About Separation of Church and State, as well as hurling insults at the
two members of the "Religious Right" that attended the AU conference "
myself and Roger Moran.

   "You find some leader in your community and you give them Rob
Boston's book. Boy, that thing is a wonder! And by the way, if they're a
part of the Religious Right, read it to them. Oh and darn the luck,
someone told me there were a couple of you here tonight. I forgot that
or I would have talked slower. Get off our backs! We're Christians, and
we're Jews, a lot of us, most of us that I know of love our kids, love
our schools, love our country. Don't you dare paint me as non-patriotic.
Don't you dare paint me as anti-Christian. Don't you dare paint me as
anti-God. There's just some things I'm not going to tolerate."

From: St. Louis MetroVoice, May 1995, Vol. 5, No. 5.

