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VII.)
BJCPA and Americans United: Advocates for Homosexual Behavior. 1.
Mr.
Tichenor is apparently also conceding that Americans United is indeed a
pro-homosexual organization. Strangely,
Mr. Tichenor, who serves on the governing board of AU as well as on the board of
the BJC, argues that the BJC cannot be held accountable for the actions or
activities of other organizations of which they hold leadership positions.
Tichenor states: “…James Dunn (nor Brent Walker) can be responsible
for all of the actions taken by Americans United, nor for all of the remarks
made by its staff persons.” Tichenor
continues: “Both have striven to hold AU to its basic mission of preserving
church-state separation, but they have sometimes been a minority voice in that
organization.” Mr. Tichenor would
have us believe that James Dunn is often in the minority on every board he
serves on and is being forced to support issues and positions he does not hold
to. If this is the case, he should
consider looking to more conservative groups to align with. But this also proves to be a problem because Dunn and the BJC
despise conservative Christian organizations, which they regularly identify as
the radical religious right. In
fact, the BJC and its allies on the left view the religious right as
“radical” specifically because of its opposition to abortion rights,
homosexual behavior, the free flow of pornography and federal funding for
offensive art. Secondly, the problem with Tichenor’s argument is that AU views
homosexuality (just as they view abortion) as a religious liberty/church-state
issue. For AU, fighting for homosexuality
(and against sodomy laws) is part of AU’s “basic mission of
preserving church-state separation.” Our
BJC flyer also notes that at AU’s 1994 national conference, the issue of
homosexuality was included in a list of the top 11 church-state issues for 1995.
It is also important to note that Dunn has served since 1981 on Americans
United’s inner circle of 15 (AU’s board of trustees), which guides and
directs the church/state organization.
2.
A classic example of the view that homosexuality is a
religious liberty issue was reported by Americans United in an article titled
“Ky. Sodomy Law Violates Constitution, Say Presbyterians.”
The brief article states: “A
Kentucky law that bans sexual activity between adults of the same sex favors the
moral view of some religions over others and should be struck down, the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has told the Kentucky Supreme Court in a
friend-of-the-court brief. The law
against sodomy ‘adopts a particular religious position which is subject to
dispute among religious bodies’ and infringes on separation of church and
state, the Presbyterian legal document argues.
‘To the extent that the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s statute prohibits
same sex activity, the Commonwealth impermissibly entangles itself in this
theological debate raging among and within religious bodies regarding sexual
expression of gay and lesbian persons,’ explains the brief.
‘The Commonwealth of Kentucky must withdraw from this religious
debate.’”
(Church and State, Oct. 1991, p. 3) 3.
In
1994, a coalition of 68 organizations published a 252 page political training
manual for advocating the agenda of the religious/political left.
Entitled How to Win: A Practical
Guide for Defeating the Radical Right in Your Community, the manual
represents the best single example of the true agenda of
such
organizations as Americans United and the Baptist Joint Committee. Of the 68 organizations in the How to Win coalition, of which Americans United was one, 13 others
are (or have been in recent years) represented on the 125 member governing board
of AU:
American Jewish Committee
Americans for Religious Liberty
Anti-Defamation League
Baptist Joint Committee on Public
Affairs
General Conference/Seven Day Adventists
The Interfaith Alliance
National Center for Science Education
National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Education Association
People for the American Way
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association The How to Win
manual also represents an excellent example of the religious left’s extreme
hostility toward conservative, Bible-believing Christianity.
(See section IX for more information on the BJC’s role in the How
to Win manual.)
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