Conferences Debate Religion vs. Politics

A sold-out national convention this weekend in Newport Beach for conservative Christians wanting to find ways to inject more of Jesus into the public square has sparked a feisty counter-conference led by a liberal Irvine pastor who wants religion and government to remain separate.

Organizers from both events said they expect to draw close to 500 people.

Fred Plumer, pastor of Irvine United Church of Christ, pulled together his alternative conference three weeks ago when he heard the Reclaiming America for Christ convention was coming to Orange County for its eighth annual conference. It’s the first time the event, which begins today, has been held west of the Mississippi.

“They’re not using stealth anymore,” said Plumer, whose one-day Proclaiming America for All conference is Saturday. “When you look at their agenda, their goal is not to have influence, but to have dominion over school boards and other government bodies.”

The national conference, which has more than 525 participants, is sponsored by the controversial Center for Reclaiming America, a nonprofit group headed by Dr. D. James Kennedy, founder of Coral Ridge Ministries. The organization gives grass-roots members in all states the tools for “positively affecting the culture and renewing the vision of our Founding Fathers.”

“We want to give people the information, resources and training that they need,” said Janet Folger, the group’s national director. “We’re tired of hearing that Christians don’t have a place in the public square.

“And when we finally do speak out, we’re treated like we’re trespassers. There’s a hostility to those of us who happen to believe in a God.”

Topics for the two-day conference at Sutton Place Hotel include “Strategies for Stopping Partial-Birth Abortion,” “Ways to Turn Back the Assault Against Christianity,” “A Plan That Could Reverse Roe vs. Wade” and “An Inside Look at the U.N.’s Global Governance Plan.”

Among the 16 speakers is Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who gained national fame for refusing to take down a plaque of the 10 Commandments in his courtroom.

Wendy Leece, a trustee of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, said she decided to run for office after attending a similar seminar a decade ago.

“It’s really encouraging and gives confidence and strength to those Christians who would even dare enter into the public square,” Leece said. “[Since I took office in 1992], people have been hostile to me personally, and hostile to morality and conservatism in general, even if it isn’t attached to Christianity.”

Reclaiming America events often draw protests--many of them from gay activists--and Newport Beach police expect about 50 picketers this weekend.

“I believe [Reclaiming American is] one of the primary sources of misinformation and untruths and of the suffering” gays feel, said Richard Murphy of SoulForce, a national faith-based group that seeks justice for gays.

Murphy attends the conferences to monitor Reclaiming America’s strategies, but not to protest. He also has had several cordial meetings with Kennedy. “You have to go to the core of the suffering [to fix the problem], and we believe [suffering] lies in institutional prejudice.”

Members of Reclaiming America have lobbied against civil rights written especially for gays and also believe that, with therapy, gay men and women can embrace heterosexuality. Michael Johnston, described in conference literature as a former homosexual who is infected with HIV, is one of this weekend’s speakers.

A few miles away at Irvine United Church of Christ, Plumer has hastily arranged a single-day event Saturday that features 10 speakers--including professors, lawyers and religious leaders--who are fighting to keep the wall between government and religion thick.

Sponsors for the conference include such progressive organizations as the People for the American Way, the Center for Progressive Christianity and the Anti-Defamation League.

“I’m speaking because here’s a group who’s trying to establish a theocracy in this country,” said Harry Schwartzbart of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. “Those people represent a minority of Americans and a minority of Christians.”

Much of the debate between Reclaiming America and its foes is over the first 16 words of the 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . . .”

Did the Founding Fathers intend to create a separation of church and state, or only to prevent a state-sponsored religion?

Reclaiming America organizers said they picked Southern California for their first West Coast conference after receiving an invitation from evangelical radio talk-show host Warren Duffy, who broadcasts from Huntington Beach.