AU Trash Talk

There is an organization based in Washington called Americans United for the Separation of Church and State which is made up mostly of atheists and people who call themselves Christians because they believe Jesus was a nice man. Reverend Barry Lynn, a United Church of Christ Minister and ACLU Attorney, is Americans United's chief spokesperson. Don't let the "minister" part fool you... it doesn't take much investigation to learn that Lynn's so-called "ministry" is nothing about salvation through Jesus. Lynn, like his liberal (and dying) Church, is about nothing but liberal social issues including anti-war, anti-Church, anti-military, anti-God... anti-anything good causes.

Anyway, when the confirmation of Justice Sam Alito turned particularly ugly, James Dobson organized a letter writing campaign to encourage and show support for the embattled nominee. Recently Alito wrote to Dobson and thanked him for the support and the letters:

“This is just a short note to express my heartfelt thanks to you and the entire staff of Focus on the Family for your help and support during the past few challenging months. I would also greatly appreciate it if you would convey my appreciation to the good people from all parts of the country who wrote to tell me that they were praying for me and for my family during this period.”

Wasn't that nice... and an indication of good manners? Well, not according to Barry Lynn who wrote:

“Justice Alito should follow the commands of the Constitution, not the orders of Dobson and the Religious Right. This note strongly suggests that Alito is carrying out a right-wing agenda instead of being a justice for all."

Yes. Barry Lynn is confused.

The very definition of a Strict Constructionist, which Alito appears to be, is a justice who follows the Constitution... which is exactly the opposite of what Barry Lynn really wants. Lynn wants justices who will follow the commands of Americans United, and other left-wing organizations. He wants justices who will discover things in the constitution that aren't really there... justices who will legislate from the bench and circumvent the will of the people.

Truth be told, what bothers me most about Lynn is the "Reverend" in front of his name. When Barry Lynn writes, he speaks of the religious right as if it was his enemy... as if we were an evil bunch of wild-eyed fanatics. And attacking a man of faith, such as James Dobson, pinpoints exactly where Lynn's heart lies.

When a man of the cloth loses his faith and no longer believes, he usually clings to his own little sense of good and justice, no longer seeking the will of his Creator. This is what I call "Vestigial Christianity." It always ends up embracing Humanism and in no way resembles worship. People like Barry Lynn love the "idea" of Jesus but just can't bring themselves to believe in the Christ.

Liberal clergy tend to create God in their own image, and once you've reduced the life of Jesus to a morality play, absolute truth is just any man's opinion.