Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn (raw footage from Interview of Rev. Barry Lynn - the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State)
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn is asked to respond to the fact that George W. Bush has said that Jesus Christ was one of the most influential philosophers in his life, Rev. Lynn responds "Frankly, I found it unusual that the President would say that his favorite political philosopher was Jesus Christ, I mean most people view Jesus as an important religious figure, not so much a political philosopher. But, one thing the President has done in talking about Jesus as a philosopher and wearing his religion on his sleeve is essentially to try to take his personal religious beliefs and turn them into the public policy of America for all Americans." Rev. Barry Lynn continues by saying that "This President has engaged in policy making, the "faith based initiative" to fund religious outreach in America's communities as well as support for government funding of religious schools, abolition of reproductive rights funding around the world, judges for the Supreme Court who are extremists. These positions grow out of his religious convictions, but they should not be the shaping force behind public policy."
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn states "I don't think that the Constitution has any religious foundation whatsoever, and in fact "God" is absent from the Constitution accept as for the use of the phrase "In the year of our lord", which was more grammatical than a theological statement. The Constitution was designed to be a secular document, because it represented all of the people and certainly the framers of the Constitution were aware that everyone was not a Christian, everyone in fact did not believe in god, they knew it, they were writing a constitution for all the people, not for religious majorities only."
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn responds to the point that the words "separation of church and state" are not in the Constitution. Explains that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Thomas Jefferson was so clear about this that he would not even declare Thanksgiving a national holiday because of its religious roots, he wouldn't declare days of prayer and James Madison objected in the 1790 census to even counting the number of ministers in the country, feeling that that violated the first amendment."
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn explains that he'd be happy if there was a decent distance between the institutions of religion and government. Continues to say "To me one of the most important things is that religion is free and voluntary, people have a right to believe and to conduct themselves in the way that their spiritual path leads them. On the other hand, they shouldn't become dependent on government largess or government benefits or resources to promote their religions."
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn s states "Frankly, I think the Bush Administration has no respect whatsoever for the separation of church and state. To my knowledge, the President has never uttered the phrase in his entire presidency. I think what he wants is to find ways to fund all kinds of social programs with a religious bent, because he had a personal religious experience that changed his life, I think he now expects that government should be in the business of religious nurturing. To me, that's a very dangerous path both for the church and for the government. "
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn speaks about school vouchers, stating that "Vouchers are certainly a sad example of where this administration (Bush administration) has been promoting, push and in my view over stepping the constitutional limits on government funding of religion."
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn answers question about the growth of cases such as the removal of "god" from the pledge of allegiance, gay marriage, partial birth abortion, etc. He speaks about Americans view of separation of church and state, and the faith based initiative.
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
Rev. Barry Lynn states "Certainly, the Bush administration wants to promote religious activities and prayer in public schools. The Education Department, about a year ago sent out guidelines which really pushed the envelope and encouraged more religious activity than I think the courts will permit, putting public schools in a very awkward position frequently having to figure out whether they should obey the guidelines of the Bush Administration or obey the courts in their local states or other jurisdictions." Barry Lynn continues with a discussion about the role of the judicial branch.
Flash Points USA III - God & Country - Rev. Barry Lynn
B-roll material of Rev. Barry Lynn seated at desk in office, signing paperwork, dialing telephone, speaking on telephone, various shots.