The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party

March 18, 2004
PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Maura Stephens
For immediate release 607-274-3829
mstephens@ithaca.edu

Summit Looks at the Radical Religious Right
“The Constitutional principle of separation of church and state has given Americans more religious freedom than any people in world history,” writes Americans United for Separation of Church and State’s Rob Boston. Indeed, this country’s history of tolerance and acceptance of religious diversity came about because of the foresight of the framers of the U.S. Constitution. To avoid the kind of religious wars that tore Europe apart for many centuries, they wrote a deliberately, specifically godless Constitution.

“Religious freedom is one thing,” says Joan Bokaer, director of TheocracyWatch, a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell University. “But religious extremism is something completely different. What people aren’t aware of is just how deeply the radical religious right has penetrated our government—in all three branches. We really are very close to becoming a theocracy. People have reason to be worried.”

Boston and Bokaer, as well as Isaac Kramnick and Larry Moore, coauthors of The Godless Constitution and professors of government and history, respectively, at Cornell, will be among the speakers at an upcoming symposium that will be held at Cornell, Ithaca College, downtown Ithaca, and Common Ground. “Church and State: the Rise of the Radical Religious Right in U.S. Government” will feature films and the world premiere of an interactive play by Bokaer, as well as the speakers.

Constitutional scholars Gary Simson and Steve Schiffrin, both professors at Cornell Law School, will be talking about “Sex Education, School Vouchers, and the First Amendment.” The Reverend Jim Wallis, Evangelical minister and founding editor of Sojourners magazine, will give a sermon on Sunday and a public talk on Monday. Gary Buseck, legal director of Lambda Legal Defense Fund, will speak about the drive to ban gay marriage through a Constitutional amendment.

Five films will be shown over the weekend, and the event will culminate with the Monday night presentation at Common Ground of Chapel of Love, an outrageously funny, irreverent—but hard-hitting—play. Audience participation is a big part of the fun of the show. All events are free and open to the public, although there is a suggested donation of $5 for the play.

Visit www.theocracywatch.org to learn more about the play and the summit, which is being sponsored by CRESP and TheocracyWatch with support from Cornell United Religious Work, Cornell Cinema, the Ithaca College Interfaith Community, Common Ground, and eight departments and offices at Cornell University.

A symposium sponsored by
TheocracyWatch, a project of
the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy
at Cornell University

Church and State:
The Radical Religious Right in U.S. Government

Events are free and open to the public except as noted.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Goldwin Smith Hall, Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Cornell
Gary Simson, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
“Sex Education and the First Amendment's Religion Clauses”

Steve Shiffrin, Professor of Law, Cornell Law School; author of Dissent, Injustice, and the Meanings of America
“What the Religious Right and the Secular Left Don't Get: Reflections on Free Exercise, Vouchers, and ‘Charitable Choice’ ”

7:30-9:00 p.m.
Borg Warner Room, Tompkins County Public Library
Rob Boston, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
“Knocking Down Jefferson’s Wall: The Ongoing Assault on the Separation of Church and State”

THURSDAY, APRIL 1
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Founders Room, Anabel Taylor Hall, Cornell
Joan Bokaer, director, TheocracyWatch
“The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party”

7:30-9:00 p.m.
165 McGraw Hall, Cornell
Larry Moore, H. A. Newman Professor, American Studies/History; Director, American Studies Program, Cornell
“The Godless Constitution and the Public Voice of Religion.”
Isaac Kramnick, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Professor of Government, Cornell
“The Fuss over God in the Pledge of Allegiance”
Larry Moore and Isaac Kramnick are also coauthors of The Godless Constitution.

9:45 p.m.
Cornell Cinema, Willard Straight Hall
Onward Christian Soldiers
This documentary traces the phenomenal growth and influence of the Christian Coalition, not only on American politics and diplomacy, but also on American culture.

FRIDAY, APRIL 2
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Lecture Hall D, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell
Gary Buseck, Legal Director, Lambda Legal Defense, and former Executive Director, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD)
“Legalizing Same Sex Marriage: A Civil Rights Issue for the United States”
Panel discussion following talk: Ellis Hanson (LBG Studies, Cornell), Lisa Maurer (Director, Center for LGBT Education, Outreach, and Services, Ithaca College), Anna Marie Smith (Government, Cornell), and Gary Buseck will participate.

SATURDAY, APRIL 3
1:00 p.m.
Center for Natural Sciences 112, Ithaca College
Battle for the Minds Con
This film documents the rise of fundamentalism in the U.S.’s largest Protestant denomination and the subsequent impact of that rise on women.

2:15 p.m.
Center for Natural Sciences 112, Ithaca College
Hell House
Profile of a Pentecostal church in Texas that uses a Halloween haunted house, complete with fire and brimstone, to scare teenagers about issues such as AIDS, abortion, and school shootings

SUNDAY, APRIL 4
11:00 a.m.-Noon
Sage Chapel, Cornell
Service with taped sermon by
Jim Wallis, preacher, activist, author, editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine

1:00 p.m.
Cornell Cinema
Liberty and Justice for Some
This powerful 1980s film by People for the American Way is a powerful documentary about the creation of the Moral Majority. Narrated by a young Burt Lancaster, it’s even more relevant today.

2:30 p.m.
Cornell Cinema
Saints and Sinners
Documentary about a Catholic gay couple who want to marry; calmly and gently demolishes every possible argument one could ever dream of hurling against the subject of gay marriage.

MONDAY, APRIL 5
4:45-6:00 p.m.
Anabel Taylor Hall Chapel
Speaker TBD

6:00-7:15 p.m.
Common Ground
Pre-show dinner from the menu, with specials*
Going to the Chapel by Joan Bokaer, a fun, interactive performance with special appearances by Pat Robertson, John Ashcroft, Tom DeLay, George W. Bush, Ralph Nader, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and more of your favorite characters**

*Menu prices as marked
**$5 donation suggested

Cosponsors: Cornell United Religious Work, Common Ground, Cornell Cinema, Ithaca College Interfaith Council; Cornell’s American Studies Program, Government Department, Religious Studies Department, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Dean of Students, Law School, Law and Society Program, Haven, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program

You can download a Symposium Flyer in JPEG format here.