James Carville may have been right in 1992, when he displayed a sign in the office of presidential candidate Bill Clinton saying, “It’s The Economy, Stupid.”

But this is 2012, and, while the economy is still very much an issue in the presidential campaign, Barry Lynn sees a different sign.  His sign reads, “It’s Religion, Stupid, Not  The Economy.” He believes it should be posted in front of every potential voter.

Lynn has been the executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (now called Americans United) since 1992.  He’s also a lawyer and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.  For the past two decades he has worked on church-state issues and efforts to preserve the first amendment to the Constitution.

In a speech to a standing-room only crowd sponsored by Washington University’s Danforth Center on Religion and Politics in March, Lynn set forth his thesis that our current presidential campaign is all about religion and is saturated with Christian fundamentalism.

“In this campaign, several of the candidates from one party declared that they were chosen by God to run for President.  Three of these candidates have now dropped out.  Perhaps this was a failure to communicate,” he joked.

On a more serious note, Lynn acknowledged his growing concern that the Bible, rather than the Constitution, is becoming the basis for federal law.  “Are we electing a theologian-in chief, or a commander-in-chief?,” he asked.  “We should be using the values of the Constitution, not the values of the Bible, as a basis for for legislation.”

Democrats are working hard not to let the Republicans get too far ahead in the “Jesus momentum,” Lynn said.  He faulted Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius for her decision to deny access to the Plan B contraceptive against the advice of scientific recommendations, and President Barack Obama for his regular attendance at prayer breakfasts, which are sponsored by conservative Christian groups.

Lynn took aim at media outlets across the country that continue to promote the idea that there is a “War Against Christianity” going on, and faulted the idea that churches should be able to engage in partisan political activities or endorse candidates from the pulpit.  And he took aim at the so-called “faith-based initiatives,”  which enable religious organizations to get public funds to carry out some of their programs.

“The greed of some of these groups is unconscionable,”  he said, noting that two groups in particular, The Salvation Army and World Vision, “just suck up the funds.”

“Religious freedom used to mean the right to worship as you please,” Lynn said.  “Now it means the right to get huge amounts of money for your ministry and not obey laws you don’t agree with.”  He faulted Catholic Charities for not giving assistance to victims of sex trafficking and called on President Obama to stop trying to craft compromises with organizations that rely on their “conscience.”  He also condemned ongoing efforts to fund private religious schools with tax dollars and criticized the renewed effort to provide school vouchers.

Returning to the theme of the election, Lynn noted that among our Senators and Representatives today, there is only one “non-theist,” Rep. Pete Stark of California.  “We have to find a way to elect people without regard to their religion,” he said.  And circling back to his reverence for the Constitution and the First Amendment, he reminded the audience:  “Americans United has proved, time and again, that the greatest thing this country has created is the separation of church and state.  If we give this up, it’s like a suicide pact with the Constitution.”

The post It’s not the economy, stupid: It’s religion appeared first on Occasional Planet.

More good news on separation of church and state: A Colorado district court ruled, on August 12, 2011, that “a voucher plan adopted by the Douglas County School District violates the Colorado Constitution by diverting taxpayer money to pay students’ tuition at religious and other private schools.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU of Colorado and the national ACLU challenged the program on behalf of a group of parents, clergy and other taxpayers. [Americans United describes itself as “a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.]

The program in question—the“Choice Scholarship Pilot Program”—offered tuition vouchers worth $4,575 to students to spend at religious and other private schools.  Part of the problem, according to the lawsuit, was that 18 of the 23 schools approved for the program were religious.

“The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrated that the voucher program illegally uses taxpayer money to promote religion and that it provides virtually no meaningful choice to families who don’t want to put their children in religious schools,” said Alex J. Luchenitser, senior litigation counsel for Americans United. “It’s hardly a choice when the overwhelming majority of private schools participating in the program are religious.”

“The court correctly recognized that it is unconstitutional for the state to underwrite a child’s religious education,” said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the ACLU of Colorado. “Families who wish to send their children to a private school may do so, but not with government funds that may only be used to provide a free public education for Colorado’s children.”

Undoubtedly, this ruling will face appeals: by the religious groups who benefit from vouchers; by right-wingers who hope to undermine a public system that [theoretically] promotes education for everyone and creates [again, theoretically] an educated electorate; and by business interests who see a potential new revenue stream in the ultimate privatization of American education.

I realize that many on the left have expressed support for public-school vouchers, as a way of creating an educational marketplace that could spur less-competitive schools to improve. I acknowledge that there may be merit in that rationale. But in the Colorado case, as in—I suspect—many others, the voucher concept is being cynically manipulated for the benefit of religious schools. And one more question: The  religious groups who vociferously insist on taxpayer-supported “school choice” for parents and children–Do they happen to be the same people who vociferously oppose reproductive choice for women? Just asking.

Kudos to Americans United, ACLU, and the court.

.

The post Tax-sponsored vouchers for religious schools? No, says court. appeared first on Occasional Planet.