AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
Thomas Jefferson: "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."

James Madison: "[I]t is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties....Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects? that the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence only of his property for the support of any one establishment, may force him to conform to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever?"

Personal

Back in the early 90's, back when I started becoming an activist, I used to receive mail from a variety of national progressive organizations asking me to join. At some point I received a mailing from Americans United for Separation of Church and State and immediately fell in love with the group. It just seemed to me that this issue was the basis of all the other issues I was working on. If we can keep religious issues separate from our government policies then we can easily fight for equality for Gay rights, for women's right to Choose, for everything. I ordered their monthly magazine and read every article. It was as if finally someone out there was saying exactly what I was thinking and doing what I knew needed to be done. The ironic piece of this whole thing is that Americans United was not a new group-- they'd been around since 1947.

After graduate school in New Jersey, I was heading to Washington, DC for the beginning of my new career and I wrote a simple fan letter to the Executive Director and asking for any potential job openings. Believe it or not, that letter fell into the right hands and a few months later I was hired as the Legislative/Legal Assistant in their Washington office. Perfect! I loved learning the details of church/state legislative and legal fights. I loved working with my coworkers. It was a great place. After a year I was promoted into the State Legislative Coordinator position. I had developed a State Legislative Program during my first year in which I tracked the legislation on our issues throughout all 50 states, coordinated our activities/responses to legislation, and organized lobbyists from around the country together on common issues. It was a terrific job and I enjoyed it tremendously for the next three years while I was in DC. I miss working for Americans United and on this important cause, but I needed to move on and move across the country. But I still am in touch with my friends there all the time, and I still am actively watching and talking about church/state matters. I still believe this issue is fundamental to almost all of the issues we fight for in the progressive community. And, yes, I still get my monthly magazine and read it cover-to-cover.

Political

* Join Americans United for Separation of Church and State today. They're really a tremendous group and doing incredibly important work everyday.
* Get on their email alert list to keep up with issues around the country.
* Contact your elected officials via AU's issues. (see "August Action" below for current action details)
* Become an AU activist in your area.
* Meet Up with fellow activists in your area.
* Order a copy of this amazing book: "Why the Religious Right is Wrong about Separation of Church and State"

(And if you contact AU, tell 'em Reese says hi.)

They've got a specific "August Action" going on this month. I'm cutting/pasting it below. Take part. It's quick, easy and VERY IMPORTANT.

"August Action" from Americans United:

Members of Congress are now back home in their district for the entire month of August. This is a perfect opportunity to reach your Senators and Representative on three critical church-state issues that Congress will likely act on in September: (1) federally-funded religious discrimination, (2) federal school vouchers, and (3) religious right judicial nominee William Pryor. You can make a difference by calling or sending a letter, meeting with your Member of Congress at the local district office or attending a town hall meeting and speaking about the issues. Please report any intelligence that you gather or any way we can help you to joseph@au.org.

There are several dangerous bills before Congress that threaten religious liberty and the separation of church and state:

(1) FAITH-BASED LEGISLATION: There has been a flurry of activity surrounding President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative. The House of Representatives has recently repealed anti-discrimination language designed to protect employees from religious employment discrimination in several bills. Both the "Workforce Investment Act" (WIA) and the "Head Start Reauthorization" bills have passed in the House repealing existing civil rights protections and allowing religious organizations to discriminate in hiring with federal money. Under current law, religious organizations that receive federal dollars to run WIA or Head Start programs must abide by federal laws that prohibit discrimination based upon religion. They would allow religious organizations, who run WIA or Head Start programs, to turn away potential employees or terminate qualified employees simply because they are the "wrong" religion.

For more information, see:
AU Press Release --May 8, 2003
House Approves Contentious Religious Discrimination Provision In Job-Training Bill
AU Press Release -- July 25, 2003
House Approves Head Start Bill That Allows Religious Discrimination In Hiring

Find out how your Representative voted on federally-funded religious discrimination.

TAKE ACTION:
*Send a letter to your Representative on:
Workforce Investment Act
Head Start Reauthorization

*Call your Representative and Senators in their local offices and urge them to oppose the Workforce Investment Act and Head Start Reauthorization. Contact information by zip code here.

MESSAGE: For your Representatives
"I am a constituent and I urge Representative _______________ to vote NO on final passage of the Head Start or WIA bills that would repeal civil rights protections and permit government-funded religious organizations to discriminate on the basis of religion in whom they hire. If these bills become law, thousands of employees could lose their jobs simply because of their religious beliefs. Thousands more could be turned away from jobs, for which they are qualified, simply because they are the 'wrong' religion."

MESSAGE: For your Senators
"I am a constituent and I urge Senator _______________ to oppose a Workforce Investment Act or Head Start reauthorization bill that would repeal civil rights protections, permitting government-funded faith-based Head Start or WIA programs to discriminate on the basis of religion in whom they hire. If these bills become law, thousands of employees could lose their jobs simply because of their religious beliefs. Thousands more could be turned away from jobs, for which they are qualified, simply because they are the 'wrong' religion."

*Seek a meeting with your representative at the local district office. Contact information by zip code here.

*Attend a town hall meeting and speak against the Head Start and WIA bills.

(2) FEDERAL SCHOOL VOUCHERS:
Both the House and Senate are considering plans to bring Federal vouchers to the District of Columbia. These schemes would divert millions in public funds to private and religious educational institutions. The proposal would give only a handful of students a voucher, worth $7,500, to attend a private or religious school, leaving the vast majority behind. Additionally, the money could be used for religious education! The millions of dollars set aside for the voucher program should be invested into our public schools for the benefit of all students. DC is a launch site for a national voucher program. While this proposal would only have an immediate effect on DC students, it would have long-term ramifications across the country. Supporting vouchers in D.C. means supporting vouchers nationally. Voucher programs across the country could potentially divert billions of dollars in public funds to private educational institutions.

For more information see:
AU Press Release -- July 18, 2003
Congressional Votes On Important Church-State Issues Delayed

Find out how your Representative voted on vouchers

TAKE ACTION:
*Send a letter to your Representative.

*Call your Representative and Senators in their local offices and urge them to oppose Federal vouchers. Contact information by zip code here.

MESSAGE:
"I am a constituent and I urge Representative/Senator _______________ to vote NO on Federal vouchers for the District of Columbia. Vouchers would send public funds to private and religious schools while doing nothing to improve public schools, where the majority of students are enrolled. Congress sends a disheartening message of abandonment to those children when it chooses to help only a few at their expense. Congress should instead fund programs that help ALL children."

*Seek a meeting with your representative at the local district office. Contact information by zip code here.
*Attend a town hall meeting and speak against vouchers.

(3) RELIGIOUS RIGHT JUDICIAL NOMINEE WILLIAM PRYOR:
The U.S. Senate blocked the first of what will be several votes on the nomination of Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The Senate vote fell 7 short of the 60 needed to stop debate and force an up or down vote on the nomination. Pryor is an ardent foe of separation of church and state, and has long sought to radically alter this core freedom of the First Amendment. His legal activism and disrespect for the Supreme Court and its precedents should disqualify him from a seat on the federal bench. To read AU's report.

TAKE ACTION:
*Send a letter to your Senator.
*Call your Senators in their local offices and urge them to oppose Bill Pryor. Contact information by zip code here.

MESSAGE:
"I am a constituent and I urge Senator _______________ to reject the judicial nomination of Bill Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Pryor's views go far beyond a conservative interpretation of separation of church and state. His views are, in fact, radically regressive. He would turn back the clock on religious freedom and overturn more than 50 years of church-state law."
*Seek a meeting with your Senator at the local district office. Contact information by zip code here.

Articles

"W.'s Christian Nation: How Bush promotes religion and erodes the separation of church and state"
more coming soon....

Resources

While many organizations work on the issue of Separation of Church and State, there is only one national organization that is completely dedicated to its specific cause: Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Additionally, Americans United has a great set of resources that explain many of those complicated issues like "school prayer" and such that are very useful when trying to understand what is behind the rhetoric. Check 'em out.

One of the most important lessons I learned upon working for AU was that most religious denominations support and are actively fighting FOR the separation of church and state. The reality is that most religions value keeping government and their religion separate. It makes sense when you remember how governments have tended over the centuries to take over religions and secularize them. Also, it is well known that America has such a diverse wealth of religions and faiths because we have kept the government from interfering in people's religious business. Here's links to two long lists of religions that have separation of church and state as a key part of their platform, including Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal, Unitarian Universalist, Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventists, and many more. Believe it. And don't let Pat Robertson and the "Religious Right" make you think otherwise.