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Year: 2020

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We were delighted to have a Zoom featuring AU’s Executive Director, Rachel Laser, for a post-election discussion, on November 18 .  A new administration does not mean that church/state issues are likely to be less difficult than they have been for four years. Furthermore, there is likely to be mischief between now and Inauguration Day.   Rachel and Legal Director Richard Katskee gave us a comprehensive summary of the current and near-future activities of AU.

 

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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).

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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

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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.

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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!