Fighting for freedom: AU activists bridge the generation gap.

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the synagogue: I was on my way to a presentation at Richmond's Or Atid Synagogue early one recent Sunday afternoon when, about 25 miles from home, I realized that I had made two fashion-related blunders. I was wearing pants to a brown suit, but had left the suit coat hanging up at the door in my house; I was also wearing ghastly blue sneakers in ratty condition (purely for comfort while driving) and had left my dress shoes right under the suit coat.

AU Development Director Marjorie Spitz-Nagrotsky was with me and volunteered to start calling men's clothing stores. Thank goodness for Jos. A. Bank. They seem to be perpetually open and constantly having a sale. (This is not a commercial, simply a fact.) The helpful sales staff at their location just miles from the synagogue had suitable sports coats and shoes when we arrived. A haberdashery horror had been avoided.

I was delighted by the turnout and particularly glad to meet Amanda Schubert, a high school student who is the youngest member of AU's National Advisory Council. She described a variety of church-state problems she had encountered at her local Richmond public high school. One was so unusual, I thought I'd pass it along: During December, her Spanish teacher announced that there would be a Christmas-themed quiz (apparently she had not received the memo that there was a "war on Christmas") involving questions in Spanish about the holiday. Some were religious in nature.

Amanda went to the teacher and told her she thought things like memorizing facts about the religious dimension of Christmas was an inappropriate effort to promote religion in the schools. Her teacher told her not to worry and assured Amanda she would be paired with two Christian students for the assignment! This was not exactly the helpful answer Amanda was looking for.

A number of young people attended this event. That's always good to see for those of us who know the next generation is going to have to engage some of the same battles we've been through.

Americans United is also reaching out to college students and will soon have a special section of www.au.org devoted to this community. Organizing on college campuses is not always easy. Group leadership can change hands frequently as students graduate and move into the "real world"--but it's necessary to help raise up a new generation of leaders for our important cause.

But in no way has Americans United forgotten its long-time members--the backbone of our support. The weekend after I spoke in Richmond, I traveled to Deerfield Beach, Fla., to address a very interesting gathering called the Deerfield Progressive Forum, which I have visited twice before during my tenure at Americans United.

I remembered my clothes this time but failed to even consider the need for an umbrella in the Sunshine State. Thunderstorms greeted my arrival, and I now have an umbrella that goes well with my sport coat and shoes from the previous weekend.

Given Florida's status as a retirement haven, it's no surprise that this group has younger and older members. The youngest are in their 70s, the oldest in their 90s (and they all seem to claim they play golf with a man who is 100). I started that speech with an observation that hit home: Since my last visit, I had indeed received my AARP card.

This is an absolutely wonderful group of long-time activists. At their meetings, they listen for an hour to a lecturer and then barrage him or her with dozens of questions. That's what they do in the morning. In the afternoon, many participate in other forms of activism. At 2:30, as I was driving out of town back to the airport, I spotted a group of some of the same folks I had talked to in the morning standing under umbrellas in an absolute downpour hoisting signs that read, "Honk If We Should Leave Iraq."

One of the folks who came to the Florida event had a very sad comment, though. She said she had a friend who had told her that she hoped she died soon because she didn't want to see all the progress the country had made during her lifetime be turned back.

I can understand that feeling when one looks at the latest Supreme Court appointments and the level of corruption in the political process a lot of people are seemingly willing to live with. But, as I thought about the experiences of those two weekend events, I can't help but think that if that elderly woman in Florida had had the chance to talk with Amanda in Virginia, she would have seen that the spirit that insists on moving us forward and not retreating is alive and well in the heart of a young woman a few states north.

If that's not reason for hope, I don't know what is.

Barry W. Lynn is executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.