Kaylara
April 18th, 2001, 04:24 PM
Found at http://www.ocregister.com/local/god00418cci2.shtml
'Civil war' is set to break out in O.C.
Liberal, conservative church leaders plan rival meetings over political agendas.
April 18, 2001
By CAROL McGRAW
The Orange County Register
Reclaiming America for Christ.
It sounds like a civil war.
Those who support the Christian organization - as well as those who oppose it - say that it is a war.
And the battleground will soon be Orange County.
The Center for Reclaiming America will hold "training sessions" for the public April 27 and 28 in Newport Beach on how to get elected to school boards, local and state government offices, and make legislative inroads so that conservative agendas can be set in place. They call the event Reclaiming America for Christ.
But a coalition opposed to the group plans a counterattack. It will hold a conference called Proclaiming America for All! April 28 at Irvine United Church of Christ.
In addition, another coalition of women's groups, moderate clergy, homosexual groups and others will picket the Reclaim America conference, to be held at the Sutton Place Hotel.
"Christians have been told they are not welcome in the public square," says Janet Folger, Reclaim America national director. "They bought the lie that constitutional separation of church and state means freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. We want to teach them that they have a role to play."
More than a dozen national conservative speakers will discuss such issues as reclaiming America through evangelism; fresh arguments to strengthen the case for creationism; strategies to stop "partial birth" abortion; how to win the abortion debate; an inside look at the U.N.'s governance plan; and ways to combat the "homosexual agenda."
It's the first time the organization has ventured West. They chose Orange County, Folger says, "because we have a lot of good people out there, and we wanted to come out and meet them and give them training."
The group was founded four years ago by D. James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Presbyterian USA pastor has a television show on the Costa Mesa- based Trinity Broadcasting Network. He has been aligned with many issues espoused by televangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America, and James Dobson of Colorado-based Focus on the Family.
Harry Schwartzbart, president of the regional Americans United for Separation of Church and State, will be one of several speakers at Proclaim America for All! That seminar will look at ways to educate the public against what they fear is a growing and well-financed movement.
Reclaim America's philosophy worries Schwartzbart, who maintains, "They'd like to make the religion of America one brand: theirs."
Schwartzbart notes that during George W. Bush's election campaign, the Christian Right stayed in the background. But now with Bush in office and John Ashcroft, a conservative Christian, as U.S. attorney general, they are trying to get their agenda in place.
However, Warren Duffy, Huntington Beach host of the national Christian radio show Duffy and Company, insists that Reclaim America is much more of a mainstream organization than some would paint it, noting many Muslims, Jews and others have a similar outlook. Duffy will be a speaker at the local conference.
"Many feel America has strayed from reliance on God," he says, "and in an attempt to be pluralistic we have gotten away from the mainstream and what the founding fathers envisioned."
However, Pastor Fred Plummer of Irvine United Church of Christ is among other clergy who believe that many mainstream Americans are apathetic or are not educated about what is going on in American politics today. "This is not just about right for women to choose, about attacks on gays, about prayer in public schools. This is about our freedom."
Kaylara
'Civil war' is set to break out in O.C.
Liberal, conservative church leaders plan rival meetings over political agendas.
April 18, 2001
By CAROL McGRAW
The Orange County Register
Reclaiming America for Christ.
It sounds like a civil war.
Those who support the Christian organization - as well as those who oppose it - say that it is a war.
And the battleground will soon be Orange County.
The Center for Reclaiming America will hold "training sessions" for the public April 27 and 28 in Newport Beach on how to get elected to school boards, local and state government offices, and make legislative inroads so that conservative agendas can be set in place. They call the event Reclaiming America for Christ.
But a coalition opposed to the group plans a counterattack. It will hold a conference called Proclaiming America for All! April 28 at Irvine United Church of Christ.
In addition, another coalition of women's groups, moderate clergy, homosexual groups and others will picket the Reclaim America conference, to be held at the Sutton Place Hotel.
"Christians have been told they are not welcome in the public square," says Janet Folger, Reclaim America national director. "They bought the lie that constitutional separation of church and state means freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. We want to teach them that they have a role to play."
More than a dozen national conservative speakers will discuss such issues as reclaiming America through evangelism; fresh arguments to strengthen the case for creationism; strategies to stop "partial birth" abortion; how to win the abortion debate; an inside look at the U.N.'s governance plan; and ways to combat the "homosexual agenda."
It's the first time the organization has ventured West. They chose Orange County, Folger says, "because we have a lot of good people out there, and we wanted to come out and meet them and give them training."
The group was founded four years ago by D. James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Ministries in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Presbyterian USA pastor has a television show on the Costa Mesa- based Trinity Broadcasting Network. He has been aligned with many issues espoused by televangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America, and James Dobson of Colorado-based Focus on the Family.
Harry Schwartzbart, president of the regional Americans United for Separation of Church and State, will be one of several speakers at Proclaim America for All! That seminar will look at ways to educate the public against what they fear is a growing and well-financed movement.
Reclaim America's philosophy worries Schwartzbart, who maintains, "They'd like to make the religion of America one brand: theirs."
Schwartzbart notes that during George W. Bush's election campaign, the Christian Right stayed in the background. But now with Bush in office and John Ashcroft, a conservative Christian, as U.S. attorney general, they are trying to get their agenda in place.
However, Warren Duffy, Huntington Beach host of the national Christian radio show Duffy and Company, insists that Reclaim America is much more of a mainstream organization than some would paint it, noting many Muslims, Jews and others have a similar outlook. Duffy will be a speaker at the local conference.
"Many feel America has strayed from reliance on God," he says, "and in an attempt to be pluralistic we have gotten away from the mainstream and what the founding fathers envisioned."
However, Pastor Fred Plummer of Irvine United Church of Christ is among other clergy who believe that many mainstream Americans are apathetic or are not educated about what is going on in American politics today. "This is not just about right for women to choose, about attacks on gays, about prayer in public schools. This is about our freedom."
Kaylara