Americans United for Separation of Church and State today filed complaints with the Internal Revenue Service about six churches whose pastors endorsed candidates from the pulpit during a mass defiance of federal tax law last Sunday.

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Religious Right legal group in Scottsdale, Ariz., urged pastors to defy federal tax law by endorsing or opposing candidates during a so-called “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” Sept. 28. Under the IRS Code, churches and other 501(c)(3) tax-exempt groups may not intervene in elections.

“These pastors flagrantly violated the law and now must deal with the consequences. This is one of the most appalling Religious Right gambits I’ve ever seen. Church leaders are supposed to tend to Americans’ spiritual needs, not behave like partisan political hacks. I urge the IRS to act swiftly in these cases.” ~~ Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United.

Lynn also scored the ministers who took part in the ADF gambit.

“A pastor who knowingly violates federal tax law is setting a poor example for his or her congregation,” Lynn said. “Every pastor who took part in this stunt ought to be ashamed.”

The ADF overture has been roundly criticized. Many pastors refused to take part, arguing that America’s pulpits should not be politicized. In addition, three former IRS officials have filed a complaint asserting that the ADF has violated ethics standards governing tax attorneys by urging clients to violate the law.

The six churches reported to the IRS by Americans United today are:

• Bethlehem Baptist Church, Bethlehem, Ga.: According to press accounts, Pastor Jody Hice “urged his congregation to vote for Sen. John McCain and to not vote for Sen. Barack Obama.”
• Fairview Baptist Church, Fairview, Okla.: The Associated Press reported that Pastor Paul Blair “says he told his congregation that as a Christian and as an American citizen, he would be voting for John McCain.”
• Warroad Community Church, Warroad, Minn.: Pastor Gus Booth told his congregation, “We need to vote for the most righteous of candidates. And it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that out. The most righteous is John McCain.”
• Calvary Chapel, Philadelphia, Pa.: The Rev. Francis Pultro told the congregation, “As Christians it’s clear we should vote for John McCain. He is the only candidate I believe a Christian can vote for.”
• First Southern Baptist Church, Buena Park, Calif.: The Rev. Wiley Drake said, “I am angry because the government and the IRS and some Christians have taken away the rights of pastors. I have a right to endorse anybody I doggone well please. And if they don’t like that, too bad….According to my Bible and in my opinion, there is no way in the world a Christian can vote for Barack Hussein Obama. Mr. Obama is not standing up for anything that is tradition in America.”
• New Life Church, West Bend, Wisc.: Speaking from the pulpit, Pastor Luke Emrich said, “I’m telling you straight up I would choose life. I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.”

Said AU’s Lynn, “When five of the six pastors choose to endorse John McCain, it’s hard not to see the ADF scheme as partisan in character.”

In complaint letters filed with the IRS, Americans United urged swift investigations of the churches and appropriate penalties.

About AU: Americans United is 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.

Houses of worship that flagrantly violated federal tax law by taking part in a Religious Right-led effort to politicize America’s pulpits today will be promptly reported to the Internal Revenue Service, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Religious Right legal group based in Arizona, is urging pastors to endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit on Sept. 28, even though IRS regulations forbid tax-exempt groups from intervening in political campaigns. Reportedly, about 30 churches will participate.

“Taking part in this reckless stunt is a one-way ticket to loss of tax exemption,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “We’ll be watching, and pastors who violate the law can expect their churches to be reported to the IRS the first thing Monday morning.”

Since 1996, Americans United has sponsored Project Fair Play, an effort designed to educate religious leaders about the requirements of federal tax law. AU has filed complaints to the IRS about 85 houses of worship and religious non-profits. One church lost its tax exemption, some have been audited and others have received IRS warnings. Lynn noted that tax exemption is a privilege and it comes with certain limitations.

“Houses of worship exist to enrich people’s spiritual lives, not act like political machines that issue marching orders to voters,” Lynn said. “They are tax-exempt because their work is religious and charitable, not political.”

Earlier this month, prominent Washington tax attorneys and former IRS officials Marcus Owens, Mort Caplin and Cono Namorato told the IRS that the ADF’s scheme is a “mass violation of federal tax law” and clearly violates the ethics rules governing practice before the IRS. They called for an IRS investigation and appropriate penalties for the ADF.

Meanwhile, Americans United is circulating a letter to churches advising religious leaders on the rules governing tax-exempt entities and politics. Churches should not participate in the ADF’s “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” scheme if they want to hold on to their tax exemption.

Many clergy have opposed the ADF’s plan for this Sunday. Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami released a statement indicating that none of his Catholic churches or priests will participate in the initiative.

The Rev. Eric Williams of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio, urged clergy all over America to give sermons in support of church-state separation and against partisan politics in houses of worship. Americans United’s Web site, http://www.projectfairplay.org/, educates pastors, laypeople and others about the requirements of federal tax law. It also serves as a place to report tax law violations to Americans United.

Added Lynn, “Pastors who are thinking of joining the ADF’s gambit still have time to change their minds and I urge them to do so.”

About the source:

Americans United is 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.

By The Rebbe with a Cause, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

This week, I took my family to Virginia in pursuit of one of my favorite summertime activities, visiting Civil War battlefields. We traveled to the four great battlefields around Fredericksburg, where more than 100,000 soldiers died in the course of the war. I also fulfilled my lifelong dream of visiting Appomattox Courthouse where on April 9, 1865, Lee famously surrendered to Grant, in effect ending the war.

What consistently baffles me in making these visits is the romanticization of the Confederacy that continues 140 years after the war’s end. Wherever you go in the South, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart, James Longstreet, and the other Confederate leaders are venerated as heroes. In the course of my travels, I have driven on Robert E. Lee Drive and Jefferson Davis Highway. I’ve seen myriad monuments to Stonewall Jackson, and I’ve seen the Confederate flag flying from cars and homes.

As an American who loves his country, I am appalled by the persistence of Confederate hero worship in the South 140 years after the Civil War’s end. After all, the South fought for a truly evil cause. While there were other factors that led to the Civil War, no serious, objective historian would deny that the principal cause of the war was the institution of slavery, and that the South fought to preserve its “peculiar institution.”

Whether or not the soldiers of the Confederacy personally believed in slavery, they still fought to preserve the hideous, reprehensible practice of buying and selling human beings–each and every one created in the image of G-d–like animals. Babies were torn away from their mothers’ breasts; men, women, and children were whipped like beasts. This was the essential, defining institution that the Confederacy struggled to keep.

General Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee was opposed to slavery. But his personal feelings about the institution are utterly immaterial. The only relevant point was that he used his military genius to fight a war that would have kept men, women, and children in chains. What on earth could make a man like that a hero? What could make a man like Jefferson Davis a hero in the eyes of the good people of the modern South, and what message are those who lionize this man sending to their children? That it is good to rebel against the United States?

Last summer, when I visited Richmond, the Confederate capital, with my children, I was astonished to see the enormous statues of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and the other confederate luminaries that line Monument Avenue, which the Virginia tourism literature calls “one of America’s most beautiful boulevards.” This, in the heart of a city that is about 60 percent African-American. If I were they, would I abide this display of veneration for the Confederacy’s leaders? Were the statues erected with any thought to the feelings of the city’s black residents?

And aside from the slavery question, were these men not traitors to their country? The Confederate rebellion cost the United States 580,000 lives. It began when the South rejected the election of Abraham Lincoln, a president who they believed would abolish slavery but whom we Americans today regard as the greatest president ever to lead this country.

Let’s put this in the starkest possible terms. The cause for which the Confederate leaders fought, namely slavery, was no more noble than the cause for which the terrorist mastermind Abu Musab Al Zarqawi fights for today in Baghdad.

Zarqawi fights to enslave the Muslim people, and the Confederate leaders fought to continue the enslavement of American’s black sons and daughters. Zarqawi fights to deny Muslims their rights and to deny them a say in their political future, and the Confederate leaders fought so that blacks would have no rights and no future. Zarqawi fights so that women can be whipped in the streets when they are dressed immodestly, and the Confederate leaders fought so that black women could be lashed when they disobeyed the orders of their masters. In every way, the enslavement of blacks that Lee and Davis fought to perpetuate is much more severe than any kind of enslavement that contemporary Muslim governments, however brutal and despotic, would currently inflict against their people.

To be sure, I do not compare the Confederate leadership to terrorists. Davis and Lee never waged a war against civilians, and in their personal lives historians tell us they were scrupulous gentleman. Lee in particular was instrumental in getting his fellow Southerners to lay down their weapons after Appomattox rather than continuing a guerrilla struggle from the mountains of the West. But the cause for which these men fought was just as odious as that for which terrorists would lay down their lives today.

It is high time for the United States to remove statues of Confederate leaders. And for those who say that removing such statues would be an affront to free speech, I would respond, are there any statues of Benedict Arnold in the United States? And would anyone dare erect one? And yet Arnold’s treachery against the United States was child’s play compared to the damage caused by Davis, Lee, and Jackson.

The great men of the Civil War were not the rebels, but those who fought to preserve the unity of this great nation rather than to tear it asunder. The great men of that terrible war were those who ultimately freed the slaves from bondage–most notably Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman–rather than those whose victory would have had fellow Americans owned as beasts of burden by their countrymen.

The idea that any southern state capitol would fly the Confederate flag offends the sensibilities and perpetuates racial division. Did we forget that it is the symbol of rebellion against the authority of the United States and stands for hatred of America?

I know that this is a hot-button issue, and that there are some state capitols that want to incorporate the Confederate battle flag into theirs because, they argue, the Confederacy is an integral part of their history. Indeed it is. But is the wrong history, the worst kind of history that could be perpetuated. While I would never compare the Confederacy to Nazi Germany–there are, after all, gradations of evil, and the Confederacy did not approach the inhuman slaughter by Hitler’s minions–no one would accept a historical argument for incorporating the Nazi flag into modern Germany’s flag. Modern Germany is rightly ashamed of its past and the symbols of that past.

In the same way our country could never remain the United States if the South had gained the upper hand, likewise we cannot be a great country if we romanticize those who fought an evil rebellion whose ultimate objective was the perpetuation of America’s foremost moral sin.

Which leads me to another conundrum. Many of the Southerners who romanticize the Confederacy are religious Christians who lead lives devoted to moral excellence. How is it possible that they would make heroes of men who betrayed the Bible’s essential message: that G-d is the father of all humankind, and all of us therefore are equal before Him?

There is no easy answer to this question. Some would say that the original sin of the Confederacy’s Christians was to talk themselves into believing that slavery was really a benevolent institution, granting support, food, and shelter to a population who they believed could not fend for themselves. The perpetuation of that sin would be lionizing the Confederate leaders and believing that it does not offend the South’s black citizens or undermine its morality. Still others would say that when G-d-fearing Christians honor the Confederate leaders today, they do so as a means of honoring the South and a lost way of life rather than focusing on slavery. It’s collective amnesia. The horrors of slavery have been forgotten and only the charm of the old South has remained.

But all these answers ring hollow. For people of religion should be lionizing only those whose lives captured the divine ideals that they hold dear. And those who fought to preserve slavery, to use an understatement, simply don’t make the grade.

When religious southern Christians engage in nostalgia for the Confederacy, they are making the mistake of putting Southern sentiment before religious conviction, in effect elevating an inferior part of their identity over the most central part. Regional loyalty must never come before eternal principle.

About the Author: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is host of the daily national radio program, “The Rabbi Shmuley Show” on Oprah & Friends, XM Satellite Radio, and host of the award-winning national TV show, Shalom in the Home on TLC. He is also the international best-selling author of 20 books, including his most recent work, “The Broken American Male: And How to Fix Him”. His recent works, “Parenting With Fire” and “Ten Conversations You Need to Have With Your Children” were both launched on Oprah’s TV show. This 6.24.08 article is reprinted with permission from the author. For more information, click www.shmuley.com

We are befuddled and and disciplining ourselves on expenditures. We diligently search for ways to reduce our travel. My daughter in Reno is resolved to not use her car one day a week. As we evaluate our financial flight we have a discoerted feeling that this financial problem is not short term, it will not be over in a few months. Our financial nosedive and free fall won’t be over for a year or two. Maybe.

There is uncertainty about our family finances. As grandparents, the saving for the education of our wonderful grandchildren will diminish as we redirect that part of our budget to survive and meet our personal needs for the basics of life.

Our neighborsare “caught in the undertow of the mortgage crisis or personal debt, losing homes and cars and more.” Others are working hard but getting poorer. There are no quick fixws for our current financial woes.

How shall we live in such a financial turmoil? Simple pieties that faith in Jesus will make everything better isn’t the answer to our woes. However, our faith, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim of any other, is a strength in this struggle. Our baptism, whether as an infant or as a believer, continues to assure us that our spiritual commitment is significant in trying times such as the financial anxiety now terrorizing us.

Our faith reassures us that we aren’t held captive by Wall Street, by oil prices or mortgage rates. Our challenge is to translate and integrate our freedom into daily living and long-term planning in these tumultuous days.

Even in this troublesome period, as God’s children, be that Christian, Jew, Moslem, Hindu, Unitarian and even our neighbors who make no religious profession, a word of praise, a generous spirit and grateful heart will benefit us with endurance, perseverance and vitality. In this worrisome, stressful, taxing and tormenting time, there are spiritual resources within to benefit us and to hold us up.

Continuing to practice the principles of saving, investing, and giving is an expression of our freedom and demonstrates that we will not be shackled from doing good by this alarming economic downturn.

It’s not too dramatic to say that prayer and fasting are often called for in a crisis, “but also vital are honest conversations with family and friends, sharing of ideas, and mutual care.” Thoughtful spiritual communion helps and supports us materially and mentally when financial hardship strikes and sinks its fangs of pain into our dreams.

We are infused inspiration and encouraged with strength and wisdom as we continue to perform spiritual principles of sharing, saving, and spending, no matter how difficult the present time. I still find power in the these ancient words of consolation: “A time to gain, and a time to lose.” ((Ecc 3.6) and “To everything there is a season.” (Ecc 3.1)

In these days, when our enthusiasm and financial gains over the years are being depleted, we can still, with God, live with hope. With determination, discipline and sacrifice we can make this epoch one of spiritual growth.

In its new five-year contract, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union has opted to ditch the familiar paid holiday in favor of a change that will please the plants 700 Muslim workers: Eid-al-Fitr, which occurs at the end of Ramadan. The contract contains the same number of paid holidays as before; the holidays have simply changed. Eid al-Fitr, which this year happens on Oct. 1, ends the Muslim faith’s month of fasting.

Ramadan or Ramadhan is the holiest month in Islam, when it is believed the Holy Quran “was sent down from heaven, a guidance unto men, a declaration of direction, and a means of Salvation”. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

The Union in a press statement said the plant employs 700 Muslims, many of them Somalis, and called the decision a “contractual agreement” rather than a “religious accommodation,” adding that it was a majority rule decision. The Tyson Plant in Shelbyville is also the only Tyson facility that has a Muslim Prayer Room for the convenience of its workers. According to reports, the new holiday applies only to Union workers; other employees will retain their usual Labor Day holiday.

Today’s thoughts on prayer concentrates on the issue of prayer in public schools, specifically in Florida, and how one organization is moving to remind school officials of how the United States Constitution applies to Florida — and to every state in the Union.

AU challenges school-sponsored prayer in Florida

Attorneys with Americans United have advised a Florida Public School to stop allowing a principal and other staffers to pray with students.

AU, after receiving complaints from community residents, asserts that Principal Mike Rio and several teachers were filmed on videotape praying with students on May 3, 2007, during a National Day of Prayer observance at Virgil Mills Elementary School in Bradenton. AU sent its letter on April 29 so there would be no recurrence of teacher-led prayer during this year’s National Day of Prayer, which was May 1.

“Government neutrality in matters of religion is particularly important in the context of public schools because students are legally required to attend – and are thus a captive audience – and because schoolchildren are considerably more impressionable than adults. ” AU’s letter asserts. “In accordance with these principles, the courts have held that school officials, teachers, and employees are not permitted to lead, participate in, or promote prayer with students.”

John Bowen, attorney for the school board , insisted nothing illegal is going on.

“I’ve talked to the principal, the assistant principal, and the school secretary, and a lot of information is erroneous,” Bowen told the Bradenton Herald. “To say the prayer meetings occur periodically throughout the school year is not true.”

AU asserts the tape clearly shows Rio participating in prayer and also pointed out that the prayer event was announced over the school’s public address system. (Reprinted with permission from AU)

This true story illustrates points that merit our thoughtfulness.

1. AU is in favor of prayer under the right circumstances. Their objection to mandatory time is in keeping with the teachings of Jesus.
2. Prayer over the PA system likely will violate other students concept of God. Even among protestant churches there are theological differences. Is a prayer in public assembly or a set time over a PA system Baptist, Methodist, or Mormon (or other) in content?
3. No matter how religiously dedicated the teachers or administration are, school isn’t the place for evangelizing.
4. The courts are always available to resolve such conflicts.
5. It is appropriate to speak out when our public schools violate neutrality on religious matters. It takes boldness to do so.

Last year I received word that a Christian drama group was to perform at one of our public high schools. This would be a violation of school policy and common sense if such an assembly was made mandatory or conducted during regular school hours. As to the content, such performances are acceptable if only values but not religious doctrine are presented.

Our educational leaders need our support and sometimes our guidance on meeting the needs of our students.

Yes we can “pray without ceasing.” In high school, I prayed often. I reserved Friday noon as the time for prayer and fasting in the privacy of the school stairwell. Private prayer in public schools isn’t prohibited, but it is to be done respectfully without infringing on the rights of other students.

The Conference will be held at the Cathedral of Praise Church, 4300 Clarksville Pike, Nashville, on August 5th– 9th with nightly classes from 6PM – 9PM. The week will end with a grand production finale that is open and free to the public. Divad! features select drama, dance and literature students. It is a modern day production based on the life of the shepherd boy, warrior, psalmist and King, David. Divad! is free to the public. Drama students will also be joined by the Poetry/Literature students in showcasing their talents at the Cathedral of Praise Poetry and Comedy Café.

Donna Jacobs of Baltimore, MD, will lead the Dance instruction. Donna is the artistic director for The Morton Street Dance Company and Full Circle Dance Troup and is an honors graduate of the New York School for the Performing Arts and Wesleyan University.

Edmon Thomas, (Black Actors Workshop, The Black Repertory Theatre and American Conservatory Theatre), will instruct the theatre classes. Edmon serves as the Director of Theatre for Volunteer State Community College of Nashville, TN .

Indiana native Andre Anderson (Dre the Poet) will administer the Poetry/Literary track. Andre holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Indiana University at South Bend and a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from Fisk University.

Registration for classes is now open and is only $50 for the entire week. This conference, designed for all ages, has been created to promote education and instruction of the arts, excellence in ministry.

To register for the 2008 Music City Arts Conference log on to: www.cathedralpraise.org. or
call 615-876-8740 ext 208 or email . Hotel/Conference Lodging is offered by Hampton Inn & Suites Mt. Juliet at 1-615-553-5900.

AU is sometimes criticized for representing and supporting individuals whose constitutional rights are being violated. Their mission is to protect Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhist Americans and others from civil and religious leaders who restrict the rights of others based on religious belief or disbelief.

Recently the AU defied tradition in two South Carolina school districts where school were allowing religious proselytizing in their schools.

How the AU responded at the request of parents demonstrates their commitment and understanding that the Constitution applies to everyone. This story illustrates their mission in protecting the rights of children regarding proselytizing.

A baptist minister began with merit to help schoolchildren by supplying shoes to the most needy. Such a project up to this point is in keeping with the teachings of Jesus and other faith founders. That’s a positive action deserving of praise. Such a distribution is a holy and sacred act. It is sacrificial compassion.

So you may ask, where is the rub? What is there to object to since good is being done?

It is the second part of the project that precipitated this imbroglio. The good Baptist pushed the give-away with foot-washing rituals as an integral part of the give-way. Remember where this is occurring: on public school property. Christian rituals have meaning in our lives, and have appropriate places for such rituals to be conducted.

This “Laces of Love” program, sponsored by the First Baptist Church of North Augusta, had the addition of a religious ritual in a dollop and measure or evangelicalism/proselytizing.

The AU gave a positive and negative interpretation of this well-meaning project. Director Barry Lynn said:

“Providing poor children with new shoes is a worthy endeavor. But the manner in which the church is doing so is blatantly unconstitutional.”

The offending schools were informed that facilitating the program with the ancient ritual of foot-washing, or providing a list of needy children, hosting the foot-washing on school time was crossing and violating constitutional rights.

The result was that the school denied knowledge of the “foot-washing” ritual when the children received their shoes.

From this incident we learn several lessons on how to approach such issues:

1. Be kind to the person who reported this violation of religion separation or abuse in our schools.
2. Inform the school board or have an attorney report those abuses.
3. Just doing something good for the children is a sacred in itself. The imposition of religious ritual is unnecessary. The Spirit will bear witness to our acts of kindness.
4. Above all, the adage “there is a time and a place for everything” applies to religious rituals too.
5. We must be alert to respect our public schools in this matter of education. They do not need distractions or disruptions of the Constitutional rights of any citizen – child or adult.

I appreciate the Americans United and their wholesome contribution to our communities.

Editor’s Note: “… before Americans United issued its report, the local paper, the Augusta Chronicle, published several references to the practice. In a November 28th story previewing the giveaway, the Augusta Chronicle reported in a caption beneath the photo of Mark Owens (above), who leads the church’s “Laces 4 Love” project: “Before the Passover, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. In two weeks, nearly 300 volunteers will follow his example and kneel before school children to wash their feet.” Other photos …published by the Chronicle also refer to and show foot-washing.” http://www.jewsonfirst.org

fasting is a sacrifice where a person voluntarily abstains from consuming food or drinking liquids. I grew up in an evangelical church environment that suggested and encouraged regular fasting as a means of spiritual growth.

As a teenager in St. Louis, I accepted the challenge of abstaining from one meal a week, a challenge for a 16-year-old boy with a typical appetite. For me, I purposely opted to abstain from the Friday school lunch. To heighten my appreciation for this weekly event, I retreated to a quiet place in the high school for an hour of meditation and reflection. This discipline became a spiritual growth hormone for me. This sacrifice aided my efforts to a good teen and to say no to the temptations of being a junior in high school.

Upon graduation, this act of discipline was so integrated into my spiritual nature that it continued in college. At Southern Nazarene University, I became a member of the Fasting and Prayer Fellowship meeting on Fridays, an hour of spiritual discipline. I elected the ritual voluntarily and found it to be a means of renewal and sometimes I benefited from a natural emotional high. The end result was resolve, persistence, and steadfastness to finish college and work with the Lord. I know the performance of this prescripted habit enabled me to capitalize on my spiritual resources.

Precipitating these thoughts on fasting was an article in The Upper Room [Mar-Apr 2008] describing how to make thebdiscipline even more profitable to our well-being.

The following is the verbatim experience of another person on an evangelical pilgrimage and how her fasting contributed to her enrichment. She received an epiphany on how to sacrifice even more than missing a meal:

“My 24 hours of fasting, solitude, introspection and prayer were finished. I was mentally and spiritually fulfilled but physically starved. It was time to break my fast. The food before me was one of my favorite meals, and as is my custom before eating, I said a prayer of thanks for this Bounty from God’s earth. Here was the food my body craved, now blessed and ready to be eaten. Yet I could not eat; something was missing. What was it?

“I could not define the problem for some time. Finally my mind focused , and the answer was right in front of me. What would I do with the money that I had not spent for food wile fasting? How would I spend it? What did God want me to do with it? I broke my fast by eating, and as my physical hunger subsided, I spotted a copy of The Upper Room.

“The answer was clear: take the money saved by fasting and send a subscription to The Upper Room to alleviate the spiritual hunger of someone in need of God’s guidance. This way my fast can help spread the word of God and send spiritual encouragement to someone.” — A. Brooks Drake

In college, I never had the money to donate, since I was living “on a shoestring” in my 20s. If you adopt this discipline and wish to donate to a worthy organization, the Loaves and Fishes will use that gift to feed the hungry and provide spiritual encouragement. For spiritual guidance, read The Upper Room, available at all United Methodist Churches.

The Iraq War, the environment, education, and taxes. It is also appropriate to look at their views on religion, especially at how it will affect their decisions is elected because religious views do influence political decisions. I still believe that a religious viewpoint is one reason behind America’s invasion of Iraq. A personal understanding of eschotology contributed to the quagmire and the deaths of thousands of our soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens.

Religion is an item discussed by the current crop of candidates on television, radio and in their speeches. We know where they go to church, how they interpret the Bible, what they pray for and other spiritual matters. It’s a major item to manipulate a portion of our religious society called the evangelicals (whom I think should be identified as fundamentalists).

Dr. Karen Armstrong in her scholarly writings differentiates between these two categories in her books, which are available at the library and at local bookstores.

To clearly understand our candidates’ religious posture, The First Freedom First Campaign (FFF) is building a formula for obtaining such information and understanding. This television ad program will feature legendary actors Jack Klugman and James Whitmore, two popular stars well over 50 years years of age.

It is our right and responsibility to be informed about such critical issues as religious liberty as enshrined in the First Amendment. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, concisely reinforces this pursuit. He states:

“All Americans whether religious or not have a right to know where a candidate stands on issues that have a real, direct impact on their lives, such as science, academic integrity and protection against religious discrimination.”

The following questions should asked as we analyze the faith views of our politicians and determine through reading and research the following:

• Candidate comments that “America is a Christian Nation.”
• Comments on the endorsement of candidates by churches
• Comments on the position on prayer in public schools
• Comments on whether creationism should be taught in public schools
• Comments on “Thou Shalt Not Kill” and an “immoral” war
• Comments on an organization that receives tax dollars to discriminate in hiring and firing based on religious beliefs
• Comments on one’s “right to disbelieve in God is protected by the same laws that protect someone else’s right to believe.”
• Comments on the torture of civilians and soldiers

Relies on these issues will illuminate, educate and enlighten us as voters and enable us to make our own decisions in the voting booth. Remember: political views of candidates does influence political policy.

Though he is concerned about out society, he doesn’t use the pulpit to endorse candidates for political office. Of Senator Clinton, Senator Obama and Senator McCain visited his congregation, they would be introduced but not given the opportunity to speak, and it would the same for any other dignitary or social leader.

“I am a strong believer in honoring the people who have served and who are giving their lives to run … if one of the Presidential candidates attended, they would certainly deserve honor. We would introduce them and I would certainly put in a good word whether they were Democrat or Republican.” — Rev. Osteen

He further advises and follows that principle of separation of faith and government. In an interview he stated “It’s fine for Christians to expose their views” but warns against bringing religion and politics into the pulpit. His principles include issues that influence society. The endorsement of issues is recognized as the mission of the church to be prophetic and to be the conscience of the nation and not merely another national cheerleader.

In heated debate on the relationship between the church and politics, Rev. Osteen presents a refreshing point of view that is a testimonial to his spirituality and maturity.

The power of this campaign however rest in his ability to use technology to attract younger and otherwise disinterested voters. When you visit his website, you can’t help but to notice how it grabs you and invites you to explore the various options. How it allows you to become directly involved in the campaign. Everything about this campaign empowers you and helps you feel like “Yes we can” make a change! People are catching Obama fever and his opponents can’t seem to find any way to stop it.

This is the primary reason his opponents have resorted to launching false attacks about his religion and nationality. Barack Obama was born in America, and raised as a Christian.

The blue print for change is the official Obama plan for America, his political platform. This 64 page document was written not for political scientists, but for everyday people, without the double talk in use by most politicians today.

Our political system is broken, and Barack Obama is ready to fix it. He wants to improve the lives of average Americans and take the necessary steps to restore America to its rightful place as the leader of the free world. Yes it may sound corny or unrealistic but change must come to our nation so lets start off on the right food by selecting Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States.

Do I see skin color as a factor in the upcoming election? Sadly the answer is yes I do, but I also see the rainbow of faces, men and women from all nationalities and cultures who are backing the Obama campaign. I also see the issue of basic human rights finally being brought to the forefront of American politics. No longer will any Americans be excluded from our society!

Be sure to look over the special “know the facts section” it will give you tools to verify or clear up misinformation being spread about Senator Barack Obama. We encourage you to get to know Barack Obama as a candidate, and his platform for change.

In the Name of God delves into an Eastern world and a culture relatively alien to me, yet it is a culture with probing fingers touching and testing and tasting the culture of a freedom that is uniquely Western.

In this book, 17-year-old Nadia lives in Damascus, Syria, locked into a straight and narrow path of traditional Islam. She has enough exposure to Western ideas to tempt her and rouse her curiosity, and is also bitterly aware of the politics, economy and culture that envelops her own country and neighboring Iraq.

Nadia is religious, holding deep and living true to the opening phrase that graces every chapter of the Qur’an: In the Name of God. But this is not a story told with a western insight or desire; it is a story about a struggle to be the best and most faithful within one’s own religious beliefs, a personal journey toward what becomes, in Western eyes, a potentially tragic destiny. For Nadia is religious, and that the depth of her spiritual commitment in tangled with her curiosity and political ideology. For Nadia is a teenager, with all the turbulence of emotion that accompanies those volatile, questioning years.

Nadia is intrigued by the “resistance,” by the underground of political thought, rebellions, ideology and spiritual consequence.

Jolin weaves this story with an abundance of dialogue and a complex mix of characters that move through a world unfamiliar to Westerners: the odd mix of the donning of traditional burkas and a desire to wear high heels, of living life with the constant of religion as its driving force, of existing under the scrutiny of a dominating political eye.
As Nadia tests the waters and pushes her boundaries, pieces of family life unfold with a solemn horror.

In one such discussion, Samira, her sister, says:

“The Qur’an needs to be re-interpreted by modern scholars, men and women. And for the record, nothing in it says women have to cover their heads…
“It’s the best way to say ‘fuck you’ to a government that could be killing my brothers as we speak.”

The government hates the scarf on a woman’s head, proof that allegiance to God is more important than allegiance tot he ruling party. A vivid reminder, however silent, that Islamic resentment throbs in every corner of the city.”

It’s a belief that rests on a precipice of old ways and new thought, of tradition at war with change. Nadia has a hand in each in a game of tug of war, and war is slowly winning with incremental shards of shrapnel.

The strongest image and insight in this novel, though, is the highly personal conversation between Nadia and her mother about marriage, her mother’s arranged marriage at the age of 12.

“…my parents … didn’t even sleep in the same room. My mother said nothing to me the night before.
“He was older than me, of course, much older, but he was religious, and he had no experience either. I remember looking at him, standing there, in the light of a candle, and listening to explain he was going to stick…stick it in my most private place. I was so scared. That big thing in this tiny space? He’s going to break me in two, I thought, he’s going to break me in two.
“…well, after you can imagine things were very different…”

Nadia is stunned by the stark and unusual revelation, by her mother’s verbal validation of the control men in her society hold. She retreats to her room, lost in thought.
The urge to rebel surges, and manifests it in response to a strange note she holds that reads “meet me at midnight.” It is the first step toward terror.

Much of Jolin’s novel is written in simple language, it drops these little bombs of conversation that offer insight and understanding even as they raise more questions about this culture. Why have women ceded so much control to men? What makes that belief in this religious-based society so strong?

The text is rooted in conversations (dialogue) and the ramblings in Nadia’s mind, the twists and turns of her thoughts as the modern world, the world outside Syria, reaches in slowly, with elongated fingers, to tempt one to further dissatisfaction. Nadia’s balancing act, her wavering between rebellion and training is in many ways “typical teenager” behavior, a time to challenge, explore and determine an individual path. Hard to do, especially in a country rooted in religious and paternal control.

The only visible rebellions are grounded in home-grown terrorism and that becomes attractive to Nadia.

At 208 pages, In the Name of God is a fairly quick read and the story itself moves quickly, perhaps too quickly. Told in the first person, Jolin (at left) moves forward through the extensive use of all-revealing dialogue, but it tells us too quickly and simplistically: we are left wanting more, wanting a deeper probe beneath the surface. It was almost too busy on the surface. We as readers don’t quite understand the depth of Nadia’s passion, hate or love. We have an idea, but it is not enough.

Too, I prefer more description in the stories I read and do not like to have that come solely through dialogue. I wanted to feel the heat of the dessert sun, the starkness of the cityscape, the vibrancy of the market places, the pulse of fear as this young girl navigates the fringes of a subculture, the warning goosebumps that accompany the dark unknown. I wanted to feel it leap from the page and envelop me, and that didn’t quite happen here.
My own style of storytelling has been called lyrical and poetic, and I prefer that in my own choices of reading. Stark, raw edges and simplistic movement of plot lose me along the way.

I read the entire book, drawn to the story and seeking a bit more understanding of a culture that is alien to me. Given the author’s research and background (she has lived in the Middle East for a decade and has a master’s degree in Islamic Studies), I knew I would get a hefty dose of Islamic culture in this book. I did. I still found myself wanting more.

In the Name of God by Paula Jolin
New Milford CT: Roaring Book Press 2007

Day after exhausting day this mid-western state was daily on TV and in the news. It overshadowed and neglected a recent but equally newsworthy event, yet this eclipsed event deserves an equally careful hearing and analysis.

The issue: a judgment by the 8th Circuit Court.

Americans United [for Separation of Church and State] won a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Iowa Corrections Department’s support for Charles Colson’s InnerChange, a prison program that trains inmates in evangelical Christianity.

“Faith-based” initiatives, which propose turning the provision of social services over to religious groups, threaten individual rights and could lead to taxpayer support of religious ministries. In those cases where religious groups want to take tax aid to provide relief, they should first agree to run secular programs and drop all forms of religiously based discrimination from their hiring policies.” – Americans United for Separation of Church and State

This Iowa court rendered a profound, sharp and ringing endorsement on on religion and the use of tax-dollars to support and subsidize the “Inner Change Freedom Initiative” [ICFI] in Iowa prisons.

The ICFI’s mission, with a fundamentalist indoctrination tenet, inclination and proclivity, is to minister to prisoners. Perhaps you already know that Charles Colson of Watergate fame [and a convicted criminal] is the author and presenter of this type of evangelizing and proselytizing program. While the program of ICFI is admissible to reduce recidivism among inmates, the use of tax dollars to accomplish it is in conflict with the U.S. Constitution. Evidence at the trial showed that the ICFI in Iowa disparaged Catholics and their staff members declared that Catholics were not Christians. The non-evangelical Christians didn’t escape scathing criticism either. Again, the staff referred to them as lost, pagan and those who serve the flesh.”

The ICFI is free to publicly endorse their own religious beliefs and publicly degrade the religious beliefs and faith of others. But in their prison ministry they received tax dollar support and special benefits to carry out this discriminatory outreach.

After the hearings and pronouncements by three judges, one prophetic voice summarized the significance of the ruling when he stated “I expected the decision to have a huge impact in support of our own fight to combat federal and state officials’ efforts to expand taxpayer funding of religious social services … and to halt the expansion of government aided religious ‘rehabilitation’ programs in prison more specifically.”

Whatever our faith — Baptist, Lutherans, Christians, Presbyterians — let us as U.S. citizens protect the U.S. Constitution. There are efforts to funnel our tax dollars to faith groups who in turn discriminate in their hiring and try to use social services and programs to push a personal religious agenda. With vigilance and courage to confront such efforts, the state of Tennessee will avoid such sectarian goals.

The world has been pummeled by natural disasters and many regions have been devastated by terrorism and war in the past few years, a pattern that only seems to escalate with each passing week. It is frightening, this power of the earth, the horror of war and the inhumanity.

A recent letter to the editor published locally attributed everything from the regional drought in Tennessee to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the earthquakes and tsunamis in the region of Sumatra to the wrath of a God seeking our attention.

The author of that letter stated definitively that God:

“…created us with absolute free will. Consequently we can choose to live out our lives in reverential awe of him as our Creator or we can ignore him completely with no concern to obey his ways…

“Similarly, the Old Testament prophet Amos (circa 770 B.C.) declared to the nation Israel God’s efforts to reclaim the devotion and love of his people by the use of natural events: famine, scorching desert winds, plagues, war and drought.”

– Charles C. Currie, Leaf Chronicle, 8/8/07

The letter concluded with a statement that the Old Testament provides the answers; if we fail to “discern [God's] ways” he may need to pressure us until we do.

I wouldn’t want to take this interpretation of God’s word as the way all religious people view it. When I hear stuff like this I know that it is chasing people away from religion and spirituality. The people who want God to be as insecure and punishing as they impose religion with stone cold walls that reason cannot penetrate.

I can understand why there has been a great battle between science and religion. If science says, shows, proves that we humans have created global warming, and that’s what is causing these hurricanes and natural disasters, then where’s the all-punishing God that we need to have on our side punishing those who would oppose him (and us)?

God, in the Old Testament, says it is okay to attack and kill your neighbors if they don’t believe in your God. Kill them all, wipe them out, and leave none alive; he says it over and over again like someone (a man) who’s trying to justify to himself all the atrocities that he’s committed. Oh, and it’s okay to take their daughters as your sex slaves.

In the Old Testament, the public stoning of adulterers is normal and expected.

Those are just two examples of things that do not fly in this day and age, unless we get rid of government, science, decency and freethinkers.

Jesus came along and set us straight; told us that God has to do with love, that it was wrong to use the house of worship to make money or scandalize. All people deserve love and are loved by God. Jesus had a problem with, actually got furious with, people who say one thing (like they represent God), and do another (like lie, cheat, and take advantage of “lesser” people, including their wives and families). Jesus didn’t feel as if he had to beat people at their own game (hate/fighting), and he would turn the other cheek. He wasn’t so insecure that he had to demand love from others.

Religion, as in the Old Testament, led the Dark Ages. Rules made by priests were stringently followed. The world was flat, the sun went around the earth, and anyone not agreeing with such beliefs could be killed. People accused of being witches were tortured and killed, their properties confiscated by the Church. Many thousands of innocent people were killed during those times, 80% of them women. And killing was a public spectacle. Besides “witches”, pagans, converts, the crusades, heretics, religious wars, Jews, and native peoples are people and movements on the “resisted religion/therefore killed” lists. Twentieth century extermination camps (besides the ones in Germany and Poland) also took too many lives in the name of religion. It’s enough to make us want to hate religion forever.

I found a synopsis on this at: http://www.truthbeknown.com/victims.htm

When people do not want to be continually controlled and punished, and they eventually find out that they no longer admire the people who are doing the punishing, they will revolt, at least in their minds. In the Dark Ages there were people who mouthed the words of religion while they were becoming atheists. Religious people find that they cannot live by the strict guidelines required of them, so they say one thing and do another. We’ve learned, as a people, to hide our true feelings and demand that others judge us by what we say we are, not by how we live our lives.

People cannot live by punishment alone. They need to have relief. They need to make their life worthwhile and creative, and find the spirit of love and laughter inside them. Saying that religion is about love and then using it to punish everyone who is not choosing it is insincere and unbelievable. The Renaissance was the period where people learned to read, and they read the Bible themselves. They discovered that it did not say what religious leaders were telling them. They discovered that they did not have to live their lives in punishment. Art and culture flourished. Punishment and death in the hands of the Church rescinded.

People came to America to escape religious persecution. They wanted to worship in their own way. That is what this country was founded on. It was not founded on Christianity as I have heard claimed in this part of the country. History is worth studying. Facts are worth looking at. Science is a worthy study. And life does not have to be an either/or. Science and religion can co-exist. We could all do with a little lesson from Jesus.

Nowadays I am taken aback by Christians who are not ashamed of the wrongful invasion into Iraq, the torture, rape and continued killing. Though many Christian ideals have saved us from slavery and war in the past, I have yet to see that now. I see Christians today who worship the almighty dollar, who believe that God chooses those who step on others to reach their goals.

I hope that we don’t forget spirituality just to spite the religious fanaticism that resides in our country. Education is desperately needed to bring us out of these Dark Ages.