Rev. Barry W. Lynn: August 2009 Archives

Today, our country has lost one of its strongest defenders of the Constitution, Sen. Edward M.Kennedy. He was a longstanding civil rights advocate and will be greatly missed.

I issued this statement about Sen. Kennedy this morning via Americans United's Web site: 

"Sen. Ted Kennedy was a great champion of church-state separation. It's not just that he consistently voted to support that principle - he really got it. He deeply understood that only a high and firm wall of separation between church and state could protect our liberties. He knew the reasons why our Founders established church-state separation and why we need to preserve it. He got how church-state separation protects the rights of both religious and non-religious people.

"One of the things that made Sen. Kennedy so effective was his powerful presence. I first met him in the 1970s during a meeting designed to address issues of concern to residents of Washington, D.C. There were probably 40 people in the room, all squabbling about how to proceed. When Sen. Kennedy walked in, all talking stopped. He outlined a plan of action, and we divided up the work.

"In subsequent years, I had many occasions to work with Sen. Kennedy and his staff. Although he belonged to a powerful political family, I always found him to be down to earth and engaging.  He always took the time to intensely study whatever issue came before him, and his command of the facts and the workings of the Senate were impressive.

"When Sen. Jesse Helms tried to push a school prayer amendment through the Senate, Ted Kennedy stood up to block it. When President Ronald Reagan sought to put Robert Bork on the Supreme Court, Ted Kennedy led the charge to stop him. When bills were introduced in Congress to fund religious schools with tax funds, Ted Kennedy was the first to speak up in opposition.

"At the same time, Sen. Kennedy was a consistent supporter of the free exercise of religion and deplored any effort to chisel away at this cherished right of the American people.

"At Americans United's 50th anniversary celebration in 1997, Kennedy sent videotaped remarks commending AU's work. 'Through the years,' Kennedy said, 'we have worked well together to ensure that when the First Amendment says [Congress shall make] no law [respecting an establishment of religion], it means no law. May it always be so.'

"Sen. Kennedy truly cannot be replaced. He was an institution and will be remembered as one of the great heroes of religious liberty and church-state separation. Americans United sends its condolences to the senator's family. We mourn his passing but honor his legacy - a legacy of freedom that will stand for many years to come."

I welcome all of you to join in this conversation and share your thoughts about Sen. Kennedy, a truly great American.

To subscribe to "Lynn v. Sekulow" click here. 

 

I like to think that my outrage is in relative proportion to the outrage that generated it in the first place.  I have never been known to give any politician a "pass" nor to overstate the gravity of a politician's anti-separation errors.

So, as in my earlier blog, or in this interview with Fox News, I said what was on my mind about President Obama's use of religious language to get people to rally around his health care plan.  Similarly, I have criticized the way the President has initiated his version of the "faith based initiative."  It is my hope that this kind of specific criticism is useful.  More will come if changes are not made.

Yesterday at 5 o'clock Eastern time, I joined the President and 130,000 of his closest friends on a conference call about health care.  Earlier in the day, the President had a similar phone call with about 1,000 rabbis, initiated by my longtime friend David Saperstein, head of the Reform Action Center.

Was there anything wrong with these calls?  Here's my take.

First, religious groups do have every right to advocate for specific public policies on any and all subjects.  Those on the Religious Right even have the "right" to support curtailing or abolishing the separation of church and state.  (I've spent much of my life trying to be an advocate on the other side of that debate.)

Second, these groups, like all others, may invite politicians, including the President to address their gatherings, live or on the telephone.  Ronald Reagan used to frequently address the primarily religious "March for Life" every January on the anniversary of Roe v Wade via a telephone call played through loudspeakers at the Capitol.  Many of us were horrified at what he said, but I don't recall anyone saying he didn't have the right to speak to these people.

The White House flagging program was both less useful and less sinister than its advocates and opponents, respectively, believed.  One can understand the frustration that the White House has about the astonishing level of lies, misinformation and nonsense being promoted by the opponents of health care reform.

However, most of the criticism is the result of well-orchestrated (and easy to locate the source of) campaigns by right-wing groups, talk radio hosts, a former Vice Presidential candidate and the insurance industry.  White House staffers probably didn't need to get an e-mail from some guy living in Des Moines to know that Sarah Palin wants us to believe that "death panels" would soon be arriving to murder her son if the Obama plan passed. Indeed, CNN used a crawl message to that effect for over 24 hours two weekends ago. 

Similarly, I doubt that Rahm Emanuel was planning to send the FBI to the Jones residence at 1234 Main Street, Oshkosh, Wisconsin if Jones' neighbor had sent an e-mail to the White House noting that Jones had criticized the cost of health care reform while eating egg salad at the neighborhood picnic.

Jay, I want to get back to the very serious issue of the debate over health care in a few days, but I want to interrupt that flow with a point of personal privilege.

You see, I have been attacked by Ann Coulter...again. This one deserves an immediate response.

She has now claimed that I'm not a real minister -- and not a real Christian -- and has told readers that she would send a free copy of her newest book (sure to become another New York Times bestseller) to the first person who can send her a "copy of my bar mitzvah photos or birth announcement." 

I wonder why my lineage would matter. After all, there are some of Jewish converts to Christianity, including yourself, Jay. Maybe she is convinced that I am the Antichrist.  Many fundamentalists concerned about this matter (including the late Jerry Falwell) believe he is already among us and claim the said figure must be Jewish. Hence, to Ann, I must have been born Jewish.

Obviously, Jay, I believe all of this is just nonsense, but I want to put this claim of Ms. Coulter's to rest--and I'd like to win one of those great New York Times best sellers.  I would also like to ensure that she does not repeat this error that could discredit her scholarship, which has already taken a few hits over her recent works, Treason and Godless. 

So, in the interests of the truth as Ann Coulter would want to know it, please note the following:

Here is my birth certificate from Cameroon -- as anyone can see, this "authentic" document makes no reference to Jewish origins. (Note, this birth certificate is courtesy of lead "birther" Orly Taitz.)

And here is one of the earliest known photos of my parents and me.

Frankly, alien lineage is incompatible with any known Jewish tradition. (I verified this with several rabbis and Madonna, for the more mystical possibilities.)

Look, I don't even have Ann's e-mail, so you might want to help get me get this vital material to her.

As noted, I'll get back to "socialist medicine," "death panels" and other non-existent features of the Obama health care plan in a few days.

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