First freedom first: Americans United cosponsors petition drive to build Nationwide support for church-state separation.

The National Smart Grant program is the type of federal initiative that rarely grabs headlines.

The program gives grants of up to $4,000 to low-income third- and fourth-year college students studying in various scientific fields deemed important to the nation's security. Except for participating students and educators, few Americans know about the effort.

That changed late this summer when a curious fact came to light: students studying evolutionary biology were no longer able to receive funding.

Officials at the U.S. Education Department insisted that the omission was not deliberate, but days after the issue came to light, evolution was still missing from the list of approved areas of study. Where it had formerly been listed, there was merely a blank space.

As The New York Times reported, "That the omission occurred at all is worrying scientists concerned about threats to the teaching of evolution."

Cynics could be excused for seeing the omission as something more than a harmless clerical error--coming as it does when Religious Right-style fundamentalists are intensely lobbying in Washington, D.C., and around the country to merge church and state.

The flap over the grants is merely the latest example of the ongoing war against the wall of separation between church and state. And it may be indicative of problems to come for defenders of that protective barrier.

Friends of church-state separation read stories like this and often feel frustrated. Some may feel powerless to respond and wonder what they can do to turn the tide.

A new project cosponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State is designed to provide an outlet for that energy. Called First Freedom First, the campaign seeks to mobilize Americans from all walks of life in defense of church-state separation and a series of core freedoms it protects.

Why is AU undertaking this project now? In part because the attack on separation of church and state has been so severe. This assault emanates from Religious Right activists and their allies in all branches of government--from the White House and Congress all the way down to state legislatures and local governments.

It takes many forms. When most people think of separation of church and state, they conjure up scuffles over prayer in public schools or Ten Commandments displays at courthouses.

Yet it's possible to make larger connections. In reality, separation of church and state touches on a range of issues. Politically astute and aggressive Religious Right groups are determined to remake America in their own narrow image of faith. They have an agenda that would affect all aspects of our lives--from public institutions like schools, libraries and universities to the most intimate aspects of our personal lives and interpersonal relationships.

Several recent incidents have demonstrated the scope and power of the Religious Right's ambitions:

* Religious Right groups and their friends in Congress led the effort to force a Florida man, Michael Schiavo, to keep his wife alive, even though medical experts agreed she was in an irreversible vegetative state.

* In Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas and other states, well-funded Religious Right organizations lobbied to water down the teaching of evolution in public schools and replace it with "intelligent design," the latest variant of creationism.

* In state after state, Religious Right groups spearheaded efforts to amend the U.S. and state constitutions, not only to deny marriage to same-sex couples, but often to roll back rights extended to couples engaged in domestic partnership arrangements.

* Thanks to pressure from Religious Right groups, leaders in Congress and the White House have pressed for taxpayer-funded religion under the guise of "faith-based" initiatives--and insisted that the religious groups that accept this aid should be permitted to engage in discriminatory forms of hiring.

* Religious Right groups have pressed for new curbs on legal abortion and worked to block access to medications that can prevent unwanted pregnancies. They have argued that pharmacists have a religious freedom right to refuse to fill prescriptions, such as those for birth-control pills, they consider immoral.

* In Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Kansas and other states, right-wing political forces are trying to build partisan political machines based in churches. The goal is to elect candidates who will enact a fundamentalist religious agenda.

It's clear that increasingly what the Religious Right opposes is not just the church-state wall but a foundation of American life: the very idea that secular government is a necessary aspect of democracy.

Polls show Americans are divided over some of these specific issues, but often digging a little deeper exposes a pattern: A clear majority backs the principle of individual rights and does not approve of theocratic groups meddling in the private affairs of the people. Americans do not support abandoning secular government. They want, in the words of one of the First Freedom First campaign's key points, "Democracy NOT Theocracy."

In the hope of rallying huge numbers of Americans to this cause, Americans United unveiled First Freedom First as a new front in the battle to preserve church-state separation.

The idea behind the First Freedom First campaign is simple: Americans will be asked to sign a petition that backs eight core freedoms that are tied together by the principle of separation of church and state.

Through a new Web site--www.firstfreedomfirst.org--Americans United and its partner in the project, The Interfaith Alliance Foundation, will rally unprecedented numbers of Americans to stand up for the cause of religious and individual freedom.

The eight issues are:

* No Religious Discrimination: Americans should never be discriminated against on the basis of our religious beliefs. Government-funded jobs must be open to all qualified applicants regardless of their opinions about religion. Publicly supported programs should never require anyone to take part in religion. If religious organizations use government funds to provide social services, they must not discriminate in hiring on religious grounds or deny services to people based on beliefs about faith.

* End-of-Life Care: End-of-life decisions are among the most personal we will make. They are best made personally, by individuals and their families--not made for us by politicians who seek to impose a religious agenda.

When we make these deeply personal decisions, our choices must be respected. Legislation that imposes one religious definition of life over other beliefs would be discriminatory and a violation of religious liberty.

* Reproductive Health: All Americans must be free to make choices concerning their own health in keeping with their personal beliefs. Creating laws that are grounded in religious belief conflicts with the separation of church and state and compromises our religious liberty.

Decisions about family planning and emergency contraceptives should be resolved privately, based on our personal beliefs. Individuals may look to their own faith or other ethical considerations as they make these choices, but the government must never mandate that all Americans must follow the tenets of one religious viewpoint.

* Democracy, not Theocracy: Decisions about religion and spirituality are deeply personal. The government's only role in these matters is to protect individual choice. If government is allowed to prefer one religious viewpoint over another or favor people of faith over non-believers, then we are sacrificing our heritage of freedom.

Changing federal tax law to allow houses of worship to endorse or oppose political candidates using tax-exempt donations is unwise and would be deeply divisive in a nation as diverse as America.

* Academic Integrity: Public schools must give our children the best possible education, without preferring one religious tradition over others. Public school curricula should reflect sound science, not religious beliefs dressed up as science.

Public tax dollars should not be invested in teaching religion as science or funding private religious education. Americans must be free to contribute to the religious groups of their choosing. We should never be taxed to support religion.

* Sound Science: Advancing the health and well-being of all Americans requires medical research and policy that is grounded in sound science. Since tax dollars fund most of the medical research in this country, it is critical that our publicly backed scientific institutions and policies are guided by objectivity, facts and evidence, and not by ideology.

Government bodies such as the FDA must not overrule the findings of doctors and scientists to appease the demands of religious pressure groups. Public funding must be invested in advancing science that benefits all of us.

* Respect for All Families: Some religious leaders and politicians want to use the government to define marriage in a way that favors some religious traditions over others. The Federal Marriage Amendment and similar state constitutional amendments would discriminate against the growing number of faith groups that perform same-sex marriages.

Happy, healthy families deserve respect and should be free to live according to their own beliefs. As responsible adults, it is our freedom to make personal choices about family life and raising our children, without coercive politics invading our homes and privacy.

* Worship ... or Not: Religious liberty and the separation of church and state allow all of us to make our own private choices about faith and how we practice what we believe. Efforts to change the First Amendment and allow elected officials to make decisions about when and how people pray are misguided and must be resisted.

Our private choice to worship, or not, must be protected when we go to work and to school and when we participate in our communities. It is never up to politicians or public officials to coerce us into supporting religious expressions in which we do not believe.

These summaries are based on talking points found on the First Freedom First Web site. The site also contains news articles, opinion columns and other features designed to explain the threats each issue faces if the wall of separation between church and state continues to erode.

Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said he urges every AU member to sign the petition. He is also asking members to circulate petitions among their friends and associates.

"Our goal is to gather as many signatures as possible," Lynn said. "The Religious Right often tries to portray support for church-state separation as a fringe position. In fact, most Americans endorse this basic constitutional principle, as this petition will make clear."

Lynn said a look at today's headlines shows the need for action. To name just one example, stem-cell research holds the promise of offering cures for several debilitating diseases. A solid majority of the American people back it, yet government support for this research has been repeatedly blocked by the Religious Right.

This summer, President George W. Bush issued his first veto, rejecting a bill that would have allocated federal funding for stem-cell research. Bush actually convened a special ceremony at the White House to veto the bill that was attended by many Religious Right leaders. TV preachers and their supporters applauded the move, while most in the scientific community were appalled.

The First Freedom First campaign aims to highlight this issue and others. AU and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation are reaching out to their own members first to build a strong foundation for the coming launch of the campaign to the general public. AU members can sign the petition online right now, and they are urged to ask their friends and associates to do the same.

AU is making hard copies available for those who do not have Web access or who prefer to work with a paper petition. There is a petition inside this issue of Church & State. Please detach it, gather signatures and send it back to the address listed on the petition.

For those who want to do more than simply sign the petition, the First Freedom First campaign offers additional opportunities for activism.

"What I love about this campaign is that AU members and supporters can get involved at many levels," said Beth Corbin, Americans United's Field Director. Corbin, who is overseeing the project for AU, said First Freedom First is flexible enough to allow for a variety of responses.

"Some people might simply want to sign the petition and share it with their friends," said Corbin. "Others might want to build an actual event around the petition by hosting a house party." (Corbin is being assisted by Project Manager Bethany Moore.)

At www.firstfreedomfirst.org, supporters can create a custom party page in minutes. The Web site makes it easy to e-mail invitations, manage a guest list, track RSVPs and plan the event.

There are other ways to get involved. AU members who blog can link to www.firstfreedomfirst.org and promote the project. Also, if you sign the petition online, you will be given an opportunity to e-mail information about it to your friends and other contacts. Members who are involved with a house of worship, social group, political party or other type of organization should inquire about inserting information about First Freedom First in the newsletter.

AU's Lynn urged AU members to lead the way. Lynn, who hosted the inaugural First Freedom First house party at this home July 4, asked every supporter of Americans United to endorse the petition. "This is an exciting project, and the best thing is AU members don't have to wait to get involved. They can start right now. I urge them to do so."

Visit www.firstfreedomfirst.org to sign the petition or read more about the project. For paper copies of the petition, write to: First Freedom First, P.O. Box 1496, Washington, DC 20013. For specific questions, e-mail: [e-mail].