Rev. Sheldon Unveils Proposal, Irking Allies : Religion: Christian groups have been quietly drafting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing right to express faith.

Christian evangelical groups got tripped up in a rare display of disunity Monday over a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of religious expression in public places such as high school graduations.

The disagreement stemmed from a clash over strategy, not the substance of their proposed amendment, which also would permit government aid to parochial schools.

Some members of the conservative coalition, who came together six months ago to privately draft the amendment, were piqued Monday when the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition held a news conference to publicly unveil their working document.

“I don’t know who elected him, but he’s certainly not leading any campaign for anybody other than the Traditional Values Coalition with respect to this issue,” said Steve McFarland of the Christian Legal Society and a member of the group that drafted the amendment.

While downplaying any talk of dissension within the ranks, another member of the coalition said public discussion of the draft amendment was premature.

“We are talking about an amendment to the United States Constitution. That’s something that should be approached with caution, expertise and with patience,” said Jay Sekulow, counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a religious liberties legal group founded by Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson.

“It’s not a process that should be rushed. It’s a matter of approach,” Sekulow added.

Sheldon said afterward that he had decided “it was time for us to jump in” and state support for the amendment, which already has been criticized by some civil libertarians and moderate religious groups.

His daughter, Andrea Sheldon, a lobbyist for the Traditional Values Coalition, said they advised other groups of their plan to have the public briefing. She added that their intent was to expand the current public debate by “putting a human face” on their claims of unequal treatment.

Among those speaking at the news conference was Ron Rosenberger, the University of Virginia student who sued the university because it refused to subsidize a student-run Christian magazine, even though it supported publications dealing with gay rights and animal rights. The case is now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sheldon was not the first to publicly discuss the proposed amendment. It has been publicized and was recently circulated through a newsletter published by Focus on the Family, another member of the working coalition.

Also last week, the 1.6-million-member Christian Coalition included the “Religious Equality Amendment” in its 10-point legislative program called “contract with the American family,” but the actual language was not released.

Although the eight-member coalition, which includes the Christian Coalition, had hoped to have its own proposal serve as the basis for legislation, a spokeswoman for the House Constitution Subcommittee said hearings next month will deal with the broad question of “religious expression in public settings,” and not a specific amendment.

The coalition has yet to come up with a final draft because of what members characterize as minor disagreements over language that can appeal to people of all faiths, including Muslims and Jews.

What may satisfy Southern Baptists may not be acceptable to charismatic religions or Roman Catholics, a member of the coalition said. And early on, it had to fight pressure from the more conservative groups to limit the constitutional amendment to voluntary school prayer.

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The current draft was touted by the Traditional Values Coalition as the “most popular” because it stops short of allowing teachers or school officials to lead prayers, but protects the rights of students and all Americans to express their faith in public.

It states that government and school officials shall not “abridge the freedom of any person or group, including students in public schools, to engage in prayer or other religious expression in circumstances in which expression of a non-religious character would be permitted.”

Claiming that religion is being treated “in a religious apartheid manner,” Sheldon Monday introduced two children from Mississippi and one from Virginia who offered testimonials on how their schools had prevented them from discussing religion or from having access to school facilities that were available to other groups.

Terry Cantrell, a member of the Garden Grove Unified School District board, also told how he became involved in the issue when a student in his district was told by a school official that he could not use the words “Lord,” “Savior,” or “Jesus” in a commencement address.

“We’re teaching kids to be hypocrites,” Cantrell said. ‘We’re saying you can believe what you want, but you can’t express what you believe.”

Rosenberger, the plaintiff in the University of Virginia case, added: “We are not seeking special rights . . . but equal rights.”

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But civil libertarians argue that the right to express religious views already is guaranteed in the Constitution.

“If their idea is truly to protect religious expression and equality, we have an amendment for that. It’s called the First Amendment, and we don’t need this one,” said Elliot Mincberg, executive vice president of People For the American Way.

Making religious speech appropriate wherever non-religious speech occurs could give teachers, judges or prison wardens the authority to espouse their views on an unwilling audience, Mincberg added.

Mark Pelavin, director of the Washington office of the American Jewish Congress, said versions of a religious equality amendment circulating among some religious groups are too far-reaching.

“It’s a school-prayer amendment in another guise,” Pelavin said. “It would have no limits whatsoever.”

Pelavin said his group is satisfied with current protections for religious expression and accused groups such as Sheldon’s of spreading misinformation.

“They say children don’t have the right to read Bibles, and that children don’t have the right to say prayers in school,” Pelavin said. “Of course they do, as long as it’s not disruptive. . . . Let’s not misrepresent the law for political ends.”

Lisa Richwine of States News Service contributed to this story.