By Kayla Walker

The 219th birthday of the U.S. Constitution was marked by a celebration of the progress of the nation as well as a debate from an activist group that says there is room for improvement.To celebrate, the University law school and Reach Out America sponsored “Your Rights and the Religious Right,” a conference that examined the discord between civil and religious rights. Rev. Barry Lynn, the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, served as the keynote speaker. Lynn has appeared on many news programs including “Crossfire,” “Nightline,” and “60 Minutes.” Lynn discussed how the federal government, particularly the current presidential administration, has allowed religion to filter into the courts, social services and schools. Lynn referenced the debate and subsequent court cases surrounding Terri Schiavo as an example of how religious discussion has filtered into the U.S. court system. President Bush and Congress intervened when Schiavo’s feeding tube, which had been keeping her alive for 15 years, was removed last year. In the area of social services, Lynn discussed certain faith-based initiatives President Bush has either implemented or supported. “There are federally funded programs intended to combat divorce that use selections from the New Testament [of the Bible],” Lynn said. “One of the passages they use basically says that women must remain quiet, because if they can’t say anything, then they can’t say that they want a divorce.” Schools are also an area that Lynn says the federal government has allowed religion to enter, citing Kitzmiller v. Dover, the debate over intelligent design taught as a scientific theory in public schools in Dover. “Schools are also banning Harry Potter books based on religious opposition,” Lynn said. “And here I thought it was great kids were reading again instead of playing video games.” Lynn argued that groups such as Reach Out America had to continue fighting for the separation between church and state in order to maintain civil rights.”The only way we lose is if we stop fighting,” Lynn added. Following Lynn’s address, the audience divided into three workshops, “Education,” “Law” and “Science,” that focused on education initiatives such as intelligent design. Professor Susan Herman of Brooklyn Law School and Professors Leon Friedman and Monroe Freedman from the University School of Law discussed such things as the Lemon Test in the “Law Workshop.” The Lemon Test, set up by Chief Justice Warren Burger in Lemon v. Kurtzman in 1971, is designed to determine when a law has the effect of establishing religion. Herman explained how the Lemon Test is often misunderstood.”In one school a kid was told that he could not draw a picture of Jesus because of the Constitution, and that’s not right,” Herman said. “The courts have proven that students have the right to exercise their faith and schools shouldn’t prevent kids from doing so.”Freedman argued that evolution and intelligent design should be taught to students as theories.”We should be teaching our children to be skeptical and to closely examine everything that we teach them,” he said.

Panelists examine the progress and setbacks in struggle to separate church and state at Constitution conference.