Category: 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

When you buy stuff from Amazon, you can have 0.5% of your purchase be donated to AU-St. Louis. This does not add anything to your bill, and everything else is just as usual. All you have to do is to use https://smile.amazon.com instead of the ordinary address, then identify us as the recipient of your gift. The direct link to us is https://smile.amazon.com/ch/43-1882014

Thank you for considering this.

Journalist Katherine Stewart was AU’s “Person of the Year” in 2014.  She has written widely and deeply on issues of church and state, including her most recent book, “Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children“, that was reviewed here shortly after it came out.  On April 17, 2017, her op-ed entitled “When Is a Church Not a Church?” was published in the New York Times. Use the link to read her thoughtful comments.

While the attempt to exclude repeal of the Johnson Amendment, which prevents churches and other 501(c)(3) charities from campaigning in elections, from the sweeping tax “reform” law was successful, there are numerous bills in the Senate that are attempting to do just that.  Please help us to prevent this from happening by calling your Missouri Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blount, or Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth. (202-224-3121 is the Congressional switchboard -ask for the Senator by name).  You can also ask for a Representative’s office at the same number. See the AU blog on this issue!

An op-ed by Ellen P. Aprill about why the Johnson Amendment is so important was published in the New York Times on December 10. The Washington Post reported on December 11 that the repeal no longer appears in the GOP tax “reform” draft proposal. Thanks to all of you who contacted legislators about this important matter.

We had planned to have State Representative Stacey Newman, who represents the 87th district give us an update on happenings in the legislature, but her work in Jefferson City kept her there. However, we were very pleased and fortunate to have Anti-defamation League Regional Director Karen Aroesty provide a broader view of the law with respect to religious freedom. The meeting was at 7:00 pm on April 20 at The Center of Clayton, 50 Gay Avenue in Clayton.  Light refreshments were served, and over twenty members attended. This was also our official Annual Meeting, and four current board members were re-elected.

Rev. Lynn has provided outstanding leadership to AU for 25 years. He has visited our Chapter many times, and will be missed. The announcement of his retirement at the end of 2017 is on the AU national website.

After using a drastic procedural maneuver to end a 36-hour Democratic filibuster, Republicans in the Missouri Senate yesterday (3/9/2016) voted for SJR 39, that would allow discrimination against same-sex wedding ceremonies, in direct contravention to recent US Supreme Court rulings.  The action has drawn criticism and derision for Missouri across the country, including a scathing commentary from AU’s national headquarters.

  AU Board members have been reading a very interesting but very depressing (from our point of view) book, “The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children“, by Katherine Stewart.  Because of a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, Good News Club v. Milford Central School, public schools are largely defenseless against evangelical organizations (GNC being the most active, best-funded, and nefarious) who are taking over public schools for activities aimed primarily at children between 4 and 14.  Even more alarming is that churches are being “planted” in public school buildings across the country, including here in St. Louis. If you are wondering what “planting” means, it is just as bad as it sounds.  Public school buildings, including auditoriums and classrooms are taken over (at minimal ‘rent’, usually covering only utilities) for regular Sunday church services and Sunday schools.  Katherine Stewart’s book describes these movements in detail, and the picture is not pretty. Read the book.