-Caveat Lector-
from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS
subject: AANEWS for June 29, 1999
A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S
#600 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6/29/99
http://www.atheists.org
ftp.atheists.org/pub/atheists/
http://www.americanatheist.org
---------------------------------------------
A Service of AMERICAN ATHEISTS
"Leading The Way For Atheist Civil Rights
And The Separation Of State and Church"
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In This Issue...
* Robertson law school opening in D.C.
* Resolution calls for fasting, prayer, "Humiliation"
* Stop RLPA! Sign the letter to the Senate...
* TheistWatch: Vatican scandal book author threatened
* Resources
* About this list...
ROBERTSON LAW SCHOOL ON NEXT STEP: INSIDE DC BELTWAY
Contacts, Impact Described As "Incredible"
Pat Robertson is in the political game for the long haul.
Despite recent financial setbacks and the loss of a much-sought tax
exemption for his influential Christian Coalition, the man who is one
of the most powerful religious right leaders in the nation is about to
take another bold step. Robertson's Regent University School of Law
is setting up a branch campus in the heart of Washington, D.C.
There is no public index of where graduates from Robertson's law
school, or the other Regent-sponsored programs in business,
counseling, education, divinity and mass communications end up. But
grinding out a steady supply of "Christian attorneys" has been a key
ingredient in Robertson's long-term strategy. Susan Richmond, an
administrative aide for Senator John Ashcroft, "thinks Regent has had
a very significant impact on D.C. with the number of alumni that have
been placed there," notes a Christian Broadcasting Network document.
"The placement rate is absolutely phenomenal. The network and
contacts here are just incredible," said Richmond.
Robertson's latest organizational foray inside the Washington beltway
involves construction of a new five story law school building that
will accommodate 450 students. Regent University president Paul
Cerjan gushed, "To put a Regent University presence there is our
commitment to bring value-based, biblically based education to the
Washington, D.C. and Baltimore area." The Regent law school at
Robertson's sprawling Virginia Beach, Va. campus will remain
operational; the plan is to establish a "Beach to Beltway" program
that involves a one-year residency at Virginia Beach with a second
year at the D.C. office.
One indication of the success of this approach -- slowly developing
what Jay Sekulow, head of Robertson's American Center for Law and
Justice (ACLJ) once described as "legal swat teams" -- is the
increasing prestige of Regent University. The institution has won
approval from the American Bar Association to provide training toward
a degree in international taxation via the internet. And this week,
it was revealed that Regent University paid $22,000 to obtain the
complete personal library of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche,
who served as U.N. undersecretary general for special political
affairs up to the time of his death in 1971. Bunche won the Nobel in
1950 for negotiating a peace settlement between the Arabs and Israel.
The Bunche library is considered a treasure trove of primary
documentation about the creation of the State of Israel, and the early
days of the United Nations. Robertson's own fascination with Israel
is based on the belief that the reconstitution of the Jewish state is
an important historical marker signaling the second coming of Jesus.
But on a more practical level, Robertson's move inside the Washington
beltway is another step in increasing his political leverage.
Graduates of Regent's law school speak of "getting their feet" in the
door with jobs at congressional offices and other key posts. The law
school is part of Robertson's Center for Leadership Studies, and says
that its purpose is to give its students "the academic and spiritual
tools to be Christian leaders in society."
**
BIZARRE CHENOWETH RESOLUTION CALLS FOR PRAYER,
FASTING AND "HUMILIATION" BEFORE GOD
'Tis the silly season.
News writers and political pundits note that every year, Congress --
and even some editors -- seems to become, well, a bit crazy as the
summer heat descends upon Washington D.C. Novelist Gore Vidal once
observed that thanks to the invention of air conditioning, those
Representatives and Senators who once abandoned the Potomac in May are
now able to linger and have added time to "do their mischief." It's
definitely that time of year, aptly dubbed "the silly season."
Case in point is the spate of resolutions and amendments passed
recently in the House of Representatives that called for the display
of the Ten Commandments in public schools, eviscerated legal rights of
those seeking to prevent abuses of the First Amendment in cases
involving student prayer, and would render it easier for
religion-based groups to obtain public monies in order to operate
social programs.
Add another items to this summer madness of the "silly season," thanks
to Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-Idaho). On May 4, 1999 she introduced H.
Con. Res. 94, "Recognizing the public need for reconciliation and
healing, urging the United States to unite in seeking God, and
recommending that the Nation's leaders call for days of prayers." The
measure continues:
"Whereas it is the necessary duty of the people of this Nation not
only to humbly offer up our prayers and needs to Almighty God, but
also in a solemn and public manner to confess our shortcomings:
"Whereas it is incumbent on all public bodies, as well as private
persons, to revere and rely on God Almighty for our day-to-day
existence, as well as to follow the charge to love and serve one
another;
"Whereas we have witnessed the rejection of God's love through
gratuitous violence and mayhem, hate, abuse, exploitation,
abandonment, and other harms, much of which has been directed at the
most vulnerable of our society, our children;
"Whereas oppression, violence, cultural and ethnic division, strife
and murder have strained our communities and the world...
"Whereas in previous times of public need and moral crisis, the
Congress and the President have recommended the observance of a day of
solemn prayer, fasting and humiliation: Now, therefore, be it Resolved
by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the
Congress --
(1) recognizes the unique opportunity that the dawn of a millennium
presents to a people in a Nation under God to humble and reconcile
themselves with God and with one another;
(2) urges all Americans to unite in seeking the face of God through
humble prayer and fasting, persistently asking God to send spiritual
strength and a renewed sense of humility to the Nation so that hate
and indifference may be replaced by love and compassion, and so that
the suffering in the Nation and the world may be healed by the hand of
God; and
(3) recommends that the leaders in national, State and local
governments, in business, and in the clergy appoint, and call the
people they serve to observe, a day of solemn prayer, fasting and
humiliation before God."
The middle section of the Chenoweth resolution cites "the senseless
murder of our young people" in Littleton, Colorado, West Paduca,
Kentucky and elsewhere, and "civil unrest, systematic genocide and
religious and political persecution" in Yugoslavia, Turkey, China, the
Sudan, Tibet and Rwanda. It mentions victims of "dragging, beating,
burning and exposure" in Texas, Alabama and Wyoming, but does not
refer to the fact that these have been classified as "hate crimes,"
some involving homosexuals.
The resolution has 46 supporters and cosponsors. They are: Reps.
Armey, Aderhold, Coburn, Dickey, Fossella, Hayes, Hill, Hostettler,
Istook, Lewis, Metcalf, Nethercutt, Pitts, Schaffer, Tancredo, Walden,
Duncan, DeMint, Souder, Cubin, Goode, Crane, Ballenger, DeLay, Burton,
Cunningham, Doolittle, Graham, Hayworth, Hilleary, Hunter, Johnson,
McIntosh, Myrick, Pickering, Ryun, Stearns, Taylor, Barrett, Kelly,
Reyes, Traficant, Smith, Chabot, Bartlett and Tiahrt. The measure was
slotted into the House Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on
Civil Service. That is a somewhat unlikely destination, since the
Subcommittee concerns bureaucratic backwater areas including Federal
Labor Relations, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Office of
Personnel Management. It also lists the Office of Special Counsel.
The chairman of the subcommittee is Rep. Joe Scarborough, with Rep.
Asa Hutchinson as Vice Chairman; both score high marks with the
religious right. At this time, no hearings or action on H. Con.
Res. 94 is scheduled -- but in this silly season, who knows what will
happen?
**
ACTION IS EXPECTED SOON ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTION
ACT (RLPA) -- SIGN OUR LETTER TO U.S. SENATE !
Congress is expected to take action on the Religious Liberty
Protection Act (RLPA) when it returns from its Independence Day
recess. A full vote in the House of Representatives could come July
13-14. In the Senate, the Judiciary Committee is expected to continue
debate on a version of RLPA.
Elected officials need to hear from you NOW in order to stop this
discriminatory "special rights." Visit
http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/rlpalob.htm for a complete index of
articles about the Religious Liberty Protection Act and its
predecessor, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
American Atheists President Ellen Johnson will personally deliver
another batch of letters in opposition to RLPA directly to the Senate
Judiciary Committee when legislators return. Already, hundreds of
letters have been submitted -- but more are needed! You can "sign" a
special on-line letter which Ms. Johnson will personally deliver;
visit http://www.atheists.org/action/rlpa.html for more information.
Let your Representative and Senator know where you stand on this
important state-church separation issue!
**
THEISTWATCH SHORT SHOTS
One sign of social and political progress in Ireland is the gradual
replacement of Catholic authoritarianism with a more sensible and
enlightened secularism. The church has fought nearly every proposal
to liberalize the nation's antiquated laws which touchon everything
from abortion rights to public expression. Now, another sclerotic
relic is about to fall. A bill in parliament would scrap the
notorious "Holy Hour" regulations on the consumption of alcohol by
ending Sunday afternoon closings, extend bar operating hours, and
permit taverns and other like establishments to remain open for the
New Year's Eve to bring in the year 2000.
The liberalization is opposed by the church, which also unsuccessfully
tried to prevent the legalization of divorce that was enacted -- by a
slim margin -- in 1996.
**
A 288-page expose which, according to Associated Press "paints some
prelates as greedy for power and lacking in virtue" is being condemned
by the Vatican, and the author ordered to appear before a Holy See
tribunal on July 16. Titled "Gone With the Wind in the Vatican," the
book has reportedly become a best seller in Italy. The author,
Monsignor Luigi Marinelli, said last week that he has been ordered to
appear with his attorney at a Vatican grilling session.
Other revelations include stories of a prelate being stopped at the
Swiss border with a suitcase of cash, and charges of sexual abuse
against a leading bishop. The book was languishing in relative
obscurity according to book store owners, until the Vatican served
notice on the Monsignor. "They did a great service for the
publisher," said one store manager, adding that the ecclesiastical
court "has made a nasty joke. The index of banned books doesn't exist
any more."
**
RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS...
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address.
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articles from the current or back issues, as well as special web-only
features. Visit us at http://www.americanatheist.org
* If you are a current member of American Atheists, sign up for our
e-mail discussion group, aachat. We have over 120 participants who
discuss topics such as Atheism, religion, First Amendment issues and
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