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By Posted on Posted in Event, News

We couldn’t have our picnic planned for October 11, but we did enjoy a Zoom session with our planned speaker, Prof. Ken Warren

 of SLU! Professor Warren is an internationally-renowned expert on political polling and was big hit at our 2019 picnic.  We e-mailed all of our members within 50 miles for whom we had an email address, and sent postcards to those whom we could not contact electronically. We also invited all of our MeetUp group members to the virtual “picnic”. You can join the MeetUp Group at: (https://www.meetup.com/Americans-United-for-Separation-of-Church-and-State).

By Posted on Posted in News

Rudy PulidoLong-time Board member Rudy Pulido’s Letter to the Editor was published in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Some Churches Sadly Succumb to Lure of Federal Money”.

Regarding the editorial: “‘Small business’ relief funds went to wealthy churches, well-heeled lawyers.’ (July 7)”: A first-century argument broke out between religious leaders concerning the remarkable success of a fledgling religious group yet to be known as Christians. The attempt to suppress the new group was for a time halted by the words of a religious leader who said, and I paraphrase here: If the movement is from God, it cannot be stopped.

These words come to mind as I consider the millions of federal dollars that have made their way into churches through the Paycheck Protection Program. Rather than call church and staff members to sacrifice in order to continue ministries, churches that once held to the tenet of the separation of church and state succumbed to the temptation of accepting federal dollars these churches should be honest and inform members that some of their ministries are now made possible by the federal government, rather than God working in the lives of its members.

Rev. Rudy Pulido, St. Louis County

By Posted on Posted in Event

The County Libraries have cancelled all meetings in their facilities and so we didn’t have a place to meet.  Furthermore, meetings as large as ours would be banned in the region, anyway.  We instead met online in a super-secret ZOOM session.  Our meetings are generally open to anyone, but there isn’t a way to do that at this time.

By Posted on Posted in Event

Professor Greg Magarian of WU Law School spoke to a group of 40 of us at a meeting at The Ethical Society.  His topic was “The Law and Politics of Religious Accommodations”. It was a privilege to have a real expert to explain the ins and outs of RFRA, its history and weaponization. Professor Magarian teaches and writes about U.S. constitutional law, with emphasis on the freedom of expression. His first book, “Managed Speech: The Roberts Court’s First Amendment”, was published in 2017 by Oxford University Press.
Presentations drawing on the talented faculties of local universities have been quite with our members, and we will surely do more of that.  Members are welcome to suggest speakers: mail prez@stlau.org

 

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AU members in the St. Louis region were  invited by mail to our annual Holiday Party on January 2, 2020. It was an opportunity for members to meet the Board, convey their ideas about future programs, and volunteer for activities. A generous Board member generously provided the venue.  Hope you were there – if not, next year!

By Posted on Posted in Event

Our annual picnic at the South Shelter of Shaw Park in Clayton on Sunday, September 15, was a big, hot success! Our distinguished speaker was Ken Warren, Professor of Political Science at St. Louis University, who spoke about the 2020 election: “Religion and Politics, 2020: Russians Aren’t the Only Threat!”. President of The Warren Poll, he has polled for the media, government, private clients and politicians throughout America and has served as a political analyst for local, national, and international media for more than 30 years.He has appeared in The New York Times, The London Times, The Wall Street Journal and the New Republic, and on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN,FOX, MSNBC, PBS, CBC, BBC, NPR, and on numerous foreign print and electronic media outlets in Europe, the Middle East, Far East, and Australia.

By Posted on Posted in Uncategorized

Our former Board member, Helene Sherman, had her Letter to the Editor published today.  Here it is:
Within guidelines, students are allowed to pray in school
Regarding “Prayer in school would solve many problems” (June 2): The letter writer made some factual errors.

Students are, in fact, legally allowed to pray in school because of a 1962 Supreme Court ruling (Engel v. Vitale). However, because a founding principle of this country is the separation of church and state, schools may not prohibit students from praying voluntarily as long as it is done silently, does not disrupt others, and does not subject other students to peer pressure. Teachers may not proselytize to their students for any religion during the school day.

There also is no evidence that student prayers help prevent uncivil behavior. The roots of such behavior are complex, deep and wide ranging. Certainly, schools face multiple challenges today in terms of student learning, but asking students to pray is not a proven cure. Teaching students more history, problem solving, reasoning skills, government and scientific facts are worthwhile goals that more effectively contribute to the betterment of everyone in our society.

Helene Sherman Creve Coeur