It’s not unusual for government officials to appear at dinners, conferences and galas, but when Americans United staffers came across Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s name on the list of speakers at an extreme right-wing event, we were shocked.
Black was scheduled to appear at Coral Ridge Ministries’ “Reclaiming America for Christ” conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., next month. Yesterday afternoon, AU Executive Director Rev. Barry Lynn sent a letter to Black’s office, asking him to reconsider.
Lynn’s missive said that the Senate chaplain’s job is to provide religious services to legislators and staffers, and in order to do that effectively, he must respect religious diversity. Lynn noted that TV preacher D. James Kennedy, the organizer of the Florida conference, does “…not recognize or value this diversity. Rather, he argues that certain types of Christians – those who agree with his interpretation of the Bible – are the rightful owners of the country and that the nation must be ‘reclaimed.’”
Chaplain Black quickly changed his mind and canceled his appearance.
Spokeswoman Meg Saunders explained to Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, that the conference was billed as a run-of-the-mill gathering that was neither sectarian nor partisan. Reclaiming America for Christ, however, revolves around fundamentalist Christianity and is undeniably partisan.
Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Ministries sponsors the annual event, which brings together Religious Right leaders and their followers. Had Black attended the conference, he would have shared the stage with contemptible commentator Ann Coulter, anti-choice activist Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, Campus Crusade for Christ spokesman Brad Bright, the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, “ex-gay” activist Christine Sneeringer and Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum and revered godmother of the Religious Right.
Some of the topics to be discussed at the two-day conference include: “making America safe for the unborn,” “the battle to defend marriage,” “reclaiming America through evangelism” and “Islam and ‘future jihad.’”
Chaplain Black’s participation in this event would have sent a strong message that he, too, believes America needs to be “reclaimed” for one religious perspective. He made the right decision.
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