From: Cgastbook@aol.com Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 15:46:45 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Atheist] re: AANEWS for November 12, 1997 Sender: owner-aanews@listserv.atheists.org Reply-To: cg@atheists.org from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS subject: AANEWS for November 12, 1997 A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S ~~ A A N E W S ~~ #352 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11/12/97 http://www.atheists.org ftp.atheists.org/pub/ http://www.AmericanAtheist.org In This Issue... * AANEWS Special -- Bible, "Christian Heritage" Events Slated * "Christmas" Gift Problems Solved! * Resources * About This List... RELIGIOUS COMMEMORATIONS THREATEN FIRST AMENDMENT Groups Seek Gov't Sanction for Bible, "Christian Heritage" Weeks Two week-long events take place later this month, which supporters hope will garner official support for religious recognition; critics worry, though, that government proclamations supporting "America's Christian Heritage Week" and "National Bible Week" are an insult to millions of nonbelievers, and threaten state-church separation. The "Christian Heritage" and Bible weeks are both scheduled for November 23-29, 1997, although the latter includes November 30. Both represent somewhat different agenda, with "America's Christian Heritage Week" involving religious right groups such as the Christian Coalition, American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, Family Research Council and WallBuilders. The objective here is to have governors, mayors, other public officials and even the President issue proclamations which commemorate the alleged "Christian heritage" or origins of the United States. According to the American Family Association, the event "is designed to remind people of the real roots of this country and help America return to her spiritual foundation." In 1996, Governors in Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin signed proclamations which were approved by Christian Week promoters. Spear heading this effort is a part-time evangelist, Bruce Barilla; Barilla challenged Sen. Jay Rockefeller in the 1996 West Virginia Democratic Senate primary, but attracted only 12% of the votes. He operates a ministry in Athens, West Virginia which includes the "Concord Christian Connection" and the "America's Christian Heritage Week" planning group. Much of the material included in both the proclamations and resources available through ACHW come from the controversial WallBuilders organization headed by "Christian revisionist" historian David Barton. The proclamation issued by New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson in September, 1996 which recognized "Christian Heritage Week," noted that "...the Christian heritage of our nation is recognized in the accomplishments of such renowned individuals as Christopher Columbus, William Bradford, George Washington, John Hancock, Abigail Adams, Noah Webster, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson." It also acknowledge "The rights (of) citizens to be fully educated as to the Christian heritage of our nation and New Mexico is recognized by the United States and New Mexico as a voluntary exercise of the freedom of educational choice..." Barton is the author of several books and pamphlets, including an 1989 work, "The Myth of Separation." He claims that "The separation of church and state is not a teaching of the founding fathers; not an historical teaching' not a teaching of law (except in recent years; not a biblical teaching." Perhaps his most notorious charge concerned Thomas Jefferson's reference to a "wall of separation" between government and religion which he made in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. Barton and his supporters claim that the wall is "one directional," supposedly established to prevent the government from interfering in the affairs of religious groups but designed to do nothing concerning entanglement of churches with the state. The WallBuilders founder also claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the phrase about a "wall of separation" from a speech Jefferson purportedly made in 1801, where he then supposedly claimed, "That wall is a one directional wall. It keeps the government from running the church but it makes sure that Christian principles will always stay in government." As with a number of other claims Barton has made in both print and video, this one distorts American history. The "wall of separation" phrase was used in 1802 in the letter to the Association, and it says nothing about a "one directional" function or anything else. A number of claims Barton has produced in support of his thesis that America is "a Christian nation" have been refuted; and quotes which he has attributed to leading figures in American history have been shown to have no documented support for their provenance. Even so, religious right movements have seized upon Barton's "Christian revisionism," a form of historical falsification which some have compared to those who have claimed that the holocaust did not take place, or that slavery in the deep South was a humane and beneficial institution. Events leading up to "America's Christian Heritage Week" include speech and essay contests in churches and religious schools throughout the nation, and efforts to induce public officials to issue scripted proclamations. The speech competition for one church group in Nebraska, for instance, includes categories such as "The 10 Commandments or ten suggestions -- are they still relevant today?" and "Christian perspectives on the Origin & Purpose of Law." Many of the groups connected with ACHW use the event to showcase and link other issues, including school prayer, anti-abortion activism, anti- pornography and gambling efforts, and even creationism. Clinton Rejects Proposal Barton's pamphlet, "America, God Shed His Grace on Thee," distributed by WallBuilders and the American Tract Society, serves as the basis of a proclamation which "Heritage Week" groups have asked President Clinton to sign. It reads, in part, "Now, therefore, I, William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 23-29, 1997, (Thanksgiving week) as: America's Christian Heritage Week and I encourage all citizens to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate, each in their own way, America's Christian heritage." The suggested proclamation includes quotes by Adams, Webster, Madison, Washington, Jefferson and Rush; one paragraph reads: "...commemorating America's Christian heritage provides an opportunity for those choosing to participate to thank God for His "Blessings of Liberty, to ask His help in reinsuring 'domestic Tranquility,' and to recognize our national need to reaffirm our 'reliance on the protection of divine Providence' in keeping America a 'Free and Independent' Nation..." "America's Christian Heritage Week" groups have been flooding the White House with pre-printed cards, however, expressing the sender's disappointment that Clinton has thus far refused to put his seal of approval on this celebration. Promoting The National Civic Religion Another religious celebration covering the Thanksgiving period is "National Bible Week." This celebration began in 1941, when the first Bible Week proclamation was made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Support for this event is better organized and funded than the "America's Christian Heritage Week," since the latter is relatively recent. But the Bible Week celebration has the same objective of prompting elected officials to declare the holiday and issue proclamations. In 1996, governors in 29 states declared National Bible Week (up from 27 in 1995). NBW organizers include major leaders in the business and political sectors. Chairing the Bible Week committee is S. Truett Cathy, chairman and founder of Chick-fil-A, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia. Acting as Co-Chairs are U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Representative Steven Largent (R-OK). Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania is in charge of the Governor's Committee for NBW. And overseeing the committee charged with recruiting municipal leaders on behalf of the Bible Week cause is Mayor Kurt Schmoke of Baltimore, Maryland. A Religious Response to "Moral Decay" Like ACHW, the National Bible Week symbolizes a religious response to perceived problems and trends in American society. The "Christian Heritage" groups are heavily focused on 'culture war' issues such as abortion, gay rights and the role of belief in government. Similar questions and angst gave rise to the National Bible Week, which grew out of a group known as "National Committee for Religious Recovery." "Recovery" was a fortuitous choice for a word. Founded in 1940, the group envisioned itself as an antidote to the social and political developments of World War I and its aftermath, including the freewheeling spirit of the "Roaring 20s," the disastrous Prohibition experiment, and the Great Depression which saw the rise of militant labor movements. The stated purpose of the NCRR was, "to encourage belief and faith in God, daily reading of the Bible, religious education, attendance at houses of worship and Sunday Schools, and to strengthen religious life in America as the basis for national as well as individual living." Early leaders of the "Recovery" group -- the following year re- christened "The Laymen's National Committee" -- were closely identified with political and economic interests. Chairman included corporate heads of Armco Steel, United States Rubber, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), Texas Bank and Trust, and Aerojet- General Corp. In 1966, W. Clement Stone, a close associate of future President Richard Nixon took over the National Bible Week Committee; subsequent heads represented General Motors Corporation, Corning Glass, Exxon, Arthur Young and the Chase Manhattan Corporation. Among the names were even men (a woman has never served as Chair) like former baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, U.N. Ambassador Arthur Goldberg, and Wallace Johnson of Holiday Inns. Most were associated with mainstream religious groups, and believed not so much in the explicit identification of specific denominational teachings with government as they did in the so-called "National Civic Religion" -- a diffuse acknowledgment of "god" and the role of organized religion in the institutions of American society. Certainly in its early days, the National Committee for Religious Recovery even had a more explicit political goal -- advancing religious belief as an alternative to the stormy politics of the era which saw confrontations between communist, fascist and democratic ideologies, and as a balm for growing militancy in labor ranks or other manifestations of social and cultural stress. Unlike its "America's Christian Heritage Week" counterpart, National Bible Week insists that its mission is "not political." Few religious right figures have worked closely with NBW, although Richard DeVos of Amway Corporation -- a key player in fundamentalist political movements and associate of the Christian Coalition -- served as Bible Week Chairman in 1987. Last year's chairman was George Gallup, Jr., Ci-Chairman of the Gallup polling organization. Although it does not have the rough edges of the "Heritage" week, the Bible Week observance committee nevertheless sees an important role in trying to involve political figures. While a "business or professional leader" serves as the National Chair, the various Presidents of the United States have consistently issued Bible Week proclamations; the President also serves as Honorary Chair of the Bible Week group, along with a designated U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative. The religious denominational affiliations of National Bible Week leaders gives insight into the doctrinal and even political differences separating them from their religious right counterparts. NBW seems to be closely identified with Methodists and Episcopalians, with even a smattering of Roman Catholics. There is not the heavy representation from Pentecostal, Evangelical and fundamentalist sects as one encounters in "America's Christian Heritage Week." Both Events Threaten State-Church Separation It is also worth noting that in terms of a social and political agenda, not everyone in the ACHW camp would find the relatively tame, ecumenical and more restrained National Bible Week an appropriate vehicle. NBW encourages people to "read their Bible," but it does not explicitly identify the hard-edged political agenda one finds in religious right groups associated with the "America's Christian Heritage Week." Both camps see an important role for religion, and some interpretation of the Judeo-Christian legacy in American society; they may disagree, though, on how this is to be established and how far it permeates into the nation's social and even personal life. Both events, though, are important challenges to atheists, nonbelievers and state-church separationists. As with prayer in schools, religious symbols and mottos on currency or government seals, religious oaths and other manifestations of the National Civic Religion, the proclamation by government officials at every level challenges the "wall of separation" proposed by Jefferson. Here are some "talking points" concerning both "America's Christian Heritage Week" and "National Bible Week." Talking Points... * GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SHOULD NOT BE ADVANCING RELIGION BY ISSUING PROCLAMATION ABOUT BELIEF, HOLY BOOKS OR CREEDS... Both "America's Christian Heritage Week" and the lamer, more mainstream "National Bible Week" specifically call upon political officials to use their office in a shameless, overt promotion of belief and, in these cases, specific denominational dogmas. The Bible is an amalgam of Judeo-Christian teachings, and the "Christian Heritage" Week event explicitly proclaims the alleged foundations of the nation in a specific religious ideology. Both clearly violate the First Amendment's establishment clause, and, specifically, the "Lemon test" from LEMON v. KURTMAN. Government officials are clearly engaged in an activity which promotes and elevates not only specific religious beliefs and writings, but clearly fosters the illusion that belief is somehow preferable to non-belief. * BUT ATHEISTS AND OTHERS WHO DON'T AGREE WITH THIS ARE NOT FORCED TO PARTICIPATE... This is only partially true, of course; the government is not compelling us to report to churches or temples for periods of mandatory Bible reading, although some who support these proposals feel that students and those attending government meetings should, indeed, be compelled to pray or listen to prayers. And there is a distinct element of compulsion involved here -- we are compelled, through our tax money, to essentially support proclamations, activities and offices which are promoting religious belief. The wider issue here concerns the role of the government in "establishing" or promoting religion. Both the "America's Christian Heritage Week" and "National Bible Week" do just that. American Atheists takes the position that civic leaders have no business using public offices and facilities to promote religion, whether in the forms of writings, symbols, displays, songs or other teachings. Religious belief -- or the lack of it -- should be a private affair, not the business of government. * BOTH ''AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE WEEK" AND "NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK" INSULT AND MARGINALIZE NONBELIEVERS. Nearly 10% of Americans -- over 25 million persons -- identify themselves as atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, or some other term which covers the notion of "non-belief." That figure is larger than most Christian denominations! Millions of other Americans are branded with the pejorative label of "unchurched," and do not regularly attend church, temple or mosque rituals. For them, religious teachings and activities play little or no role in their lives. These proclamations put the government in the position of being a "prayer bully," where civic, public institutions, offices and officials are cast in the role of judgmental authority figures "scolding" the citizens for irreligiosity, and encouraging not only religion, but a specific form of religion. Along with the millions of atheists and other nonbelievers who are being insulted there are millions of non-Judeo-Christians who embrace some other religion -- Islam, Hindu, Buddhist for instance. How would Christians feel if politicians suddenly declared "National Koran Week," and encouraged a "moral revival" by having people read and meditate upon verses from the Islamic holy book? Or what about having the President, or the local mayor endorse the religious writing of L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology)? Is any of this fair and proper? We say it is not. * THESE ACTIVITIES DO LITTLE IF ANY HARM... WHY OPPOSE THEM? We have two responses to this question. First, these proclamation are harmful in that they undermine the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and set a poor precedent in terms of state-church separation law. Courts are grappling with important First Amendment issues; and cases which defend egregious violations of state-church separation (such as school prayer or "special rights" for religious groups and believers" often use the fact that government has in the past supported activities like National Bible Week and America's Christian Heritage Week as precedent. Second, these declarations don't exist in some kind of cultural and political vacuum. Bible reading and claiming a "Christian Heritage" for the nation are part of larger culture war issues. This truly separates those groups who advocate the use of religious ideology in the "reconstruction" of modern society (and the creation of "One Nation Under God") from secularists. * WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT THIS ABUSE? Atheists, nonbelievers and secularists should oppose any efforts to have political leaders in their state or community declare either of these religious events. The American Atheist web site will be posting more information on this issue in the coming days. In the meantime, these abuses of state-church separation need to be raised in letters to officials, and in the public media. Protests of some kind should be considered in those communities and states where "America's Christian Heritage Week" and/or "National Bible Week" have been proclaimed. Leaders need to be challenged on why they approved this invasive, constitutionally-suspect and bigoted proposal -- and, politely asked to withdraw it. ** WHAT A GODLESS PERSON TO GIVE ? We've given up counting the number of shopping day's left until "Christmas," but trust us -- the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), the malls will be packed, the count-down will be on, and most of us will be wondering what to give. And just what DOES some godless person give at this time of year? We've suggested that old fruitcake wheel from 1996, but if you didn't save it, well, why not check out the Winter Solstice gifts and cards offered by American Atheist Press? Just send e-mail to catalogue@atheists.org, include your name and postal mailing address, and we'll rush a copy of our AAP catalogue to you, complete with our special Winter Solstice supplement. Remember, we're the folks offering those famous Solstice Greeting cards... some are funny, others just downright irreverent. You can also give yourself -- or a friend -- a gift subscription to American Atheist Magazine, the quarterly journal of Atheist news and thought for $20. Cruise over the American Atheist Web site for on- line ordering. Visit us at: http://www.AmericanAtheist.org ** RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS * For information about American Atheists, send mail to info@atheists.org. Please include your name and postal mailing address. * For a free catalogue of American Atheist Press books, videos and other products, send mail to catalogue@atheists.org. Kindly include your mailing address. * The American Atheist Magazine is now on the web! Check out select articles from the current and back issues. Visit us at http://www.AmericanAtheist.org. * If you are a member of American Atheists, why not sign up for our e-mail discussion group, aachat? We already have over 100 participants who discuss topics such as atheism, religion, First Amendment issues, and plenty of other issues. Contact Margie Wait, the Moderator through aachat@atheists.org. ** About This List... AANEWS is a free service from American Atheists, a nationwide movement founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair for the advancement of atheism, and the total, absolute separation of government and religion. For subscribe/unsubscribe information, send mail to aanews- request@listserv.atheists.org and put "info aanews" (minus the quotation marks, please) in the message body. You may forward, post or quote from this dispatch, provided that appropriate credit is given to aanews and American Atheists. Edited and written by C. Goeringer, The LISTMASTER (cg@atheists.org). Internet Representative for American Atheists is Margie Wait, irep@atheists.org.