[ UPDATE :
I'm gradually re-branding myself for a move from using "Troutfishing" to my actual name, Bruce Wilson. Hi.
There are a couple of quick actions at the bottom of this post. Also, in general the best way to effect this issue is to spread news of this bill in conjunction with the story of what happened in the "Indian River Incident" For some spice, you could also throw in a "why should we trust the GOP on S 3696 anyway ? - Look at that Mark Foley thing ! Plus, why should we trust a political party that profited from forced abortions and sex slavery ? The Republicans use gratuitious non sequitors all the time, and we can too ! ]
Introducing S 3696, big brother to H.R. 2679
Today I was shocked to discover that H.R. 2679, "The Public Expression Of Religion Act" has a COMPANION bill in the Senate, S 3696, that could come up for a vote after the November senate recess.
I diared the H.R. 2679 bill twice ( H.R. 2679, The "Christian Supremacy Act", To Hit House Floor (on September 14th) and then on September 25 with HR 2679, "Christian Supremacy Act", Up For House Vote Tuesday ) and Georgia10 frontpaged the story, at dkos, on September 30, but there's also a companion bill in the Senate. Here's an ACLU press release on S 3696 and
Here's my Talk To Action writeup in its entirety:
Operating in strategic tandem with an ongoing GOP push to politicize churches, A companion bill to H.R. 2679, the "Public Expression Of Religion Act" ( more accurated titled "The Religious Supremacy Act or "The Christian Supremacy Act" ), that was introduced in the US Senate by Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint ( both GOP ) as S 3696, now awaits a vote. S 3696 won't make it to the Senate before the November elections, so the '06 outcome may determine its future viability.
Depending on the number of senate seats Democrats gain ( if any ) in '06, chances that S 3696 could pass a Senate vote could drop off considerably after November. Negative publicity - should the bill pass and be signed into law - cannot be discounted. Still, collective American establishment clause attention deficit disorder concerning ongoing wholesale legislative challenges to church/state separation suggests that price might be minimal. If passed into law, the PERA pair of bills would render legislative redress against exaggerated cases of government supported religious supremacy all but impossible for some. Even as the religious right withdraws support from the GOP, its legislative partisans may be able to lock in substantial gains.
As Agape Press reported back on August 3, 2006:
Some U.S. senators this week have heard testimony from both sides on a piece of legislation that would strip legal fees from church-state lawsuits.... The Public Expressions of Religion Act (PERA) (S. 3696) was the topic of discussion at hearings on Wednesday (August 2) before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights.
The existence of a companion bill to H.R. 2679 has almost completely escaped notice of political commentators - Google News searches for recent stories on S 3696 produce only a handful of results from right leaning sources.
But, arguments both for and against S 3696 were actually aired in a Senate subcommittee meeting on August 2, 2006, and now the bill may move soon to the Senate floor.
If passed, the PERA act would amount to a green light to local governments inclined to walk over church state lines and the rights of minorities, and the Indian River Incident would only be one of countless such incidents - already growing more frequent and more common than most Americans are aware - in an endless and ugly procession of religious supremacism.
As a final point, I'd add that
Two quick things to do :
Americans United For The Separation Of Church and State and the Interfaith Alliance have formed a partnership effort called
First Freedom First in defense of freedom of religion, and it would help them in terms of legislative clout if you could sign their petition. Here's a bit of the text of that:
The founders of our nation believed that all Americans should have the right to worship according to their own beliefs, or not to worship at all. So strong was their commitment to religious freedom that they enshrined it in the first sentence of the Bill of Rights.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
This constitutional guarantee is often known as the "first freedom."
Religion is a deeply personal matter. Americans must be free to practice their religion without coercion. Government exists to provide for the general well-being of all people, and its workings must be independent of specific religious doctrines. Simply put, there must be a separation of church and state.
Also, I've helped initiate another petition, along related lines, that you can read about
here
Fighting against the "Religious/Christian Supremacy Act" can be another component of the fight leading up to '06 :
S 3696 is of of the nastier things that could come to pass if the Democrats do not retake the Senate.
So, pass it around the Net. Opposing this bill is something that the religious left, athiests and agnostics, minorities, and libertarians can all get behind.
Here's a link to a letter, by the ACLU and written to address H.R. 2679 but easily adapted to S 3696, that you can send to your Senators.
Here's a list of the organizations that are listed on that ACLU letter as opposed to H.R. 2679 and that will presumeably work against
S 3696 :
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> ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights
> African American Ministers in Action
> Alliance for Justice
> American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
> American Civil Liberties Union
> American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
> American Humanist Association
> American Jewish Committee
> American Jewish Congress
> Americans for Democratic Action
> Americans United for Separation of Church and State
> Anti-Defamation League
> Asian American Justice Center
> Asian Law Caucus
> Asian Pacific American Legal Center
> Baptist Joint Committee
> Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
> Equal Jusitice Society
> Friends Committee on National Legislation
> Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders
> Human Rights Campaign
> Japanese American Citizens League
> Jewish Council For Public Affairs (JCPA)
> Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
> Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
> Legal Momentum
> Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
> National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
> National Council of Jewish Women
> National Employment Lawyers Association
> National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
> National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
> National Lawyers Guild
> National Partnership for Women & Families
> National Senior Citizens Law Center
> National Women's Law Center
> National Workrights Institute
> People For the American Way
> Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office
> Public Citizen
> Public Justice Center
> Secular Coalition for America
> Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF)
> The Impact Fund
> The Interfaith Alliance
> The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
> The Urban League
> Union for Reform Judaism
> Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
> United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society