Oh, Henry!

How State School Board Member Henry Jordan's Inflammatory Words Ignited A Holy War In South Carolina -- And Revealed The Dark Side Of The Religious Right

When South Carolina Board of Education Member Henry S. Jordan put forth a proposal to ask public schools to post the Ten Commandments, others at the board's May 13 committee meeting in Columbia raised objections. The plan posed legal questions, they noted, and adherents of minority religions might not favor the idea.

As the exchange at the public meeting of the board's finance and legislative panel grew more intense, Jordan snapped, "Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims -- and put that in the minutes!"

In the firestorm of protest that followed, Jordan, a Christian Coalition activist and unsuccessful Republican Party office seeker who was attending his first meeting as a board member, tried to down-play his remarks. When the comments were brought to light by The State, a Columbia newspaper that acquired a tape of the meeting, Jordan asserted, "I was just teasing."

After that failed, Jordan, 52, lashed out at fellow board members and school officials, insisting he was only defending Christianity in the public schools. "What they are doing is setting me up," he said. "I was expressing my frustration. We can't teach basic Christianity even from a historical standpoint, but they can teach about Muslims and Buddhists. They can teach any kind of cult. Buddhism is a cult. So is Islam. I'm getting a little tired of it."

Continued Jordan, "We might as well get it out there and do battle over it. What I want to do is promote Christianity as the one true religion. This nation was founded to worship, honor and glorify Jesus Christ, not Mohammed, not Buddha."

Any lingering doubts about the Religious Right's agenda for public education and its undercurrent of religious bigotry should have evaporated with Jordan's words. Although the leaders of Religious Right organizations frequently assert that all they want is "conservative" or "traditional" values in public education, Jordan's comments were a stark reminder of the mean streak behind the facade.

A surgeon from Anderson who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nominations for lieutenant governor in 1994 and U.S. senator in 1986, Jordan has been a Christian Coalition supporter for a number of years and actively courted Religious Right support in his attempts at public office. He is also a personal friend of TV preacher and wealthy right-wing businessman Pat Robertson.

During the 1986 race, Jordan brought Robertson to Anderson to speak on his behalf at a May 13 fund-raiser. Robertson said he had met Jordan the previous December at an Amway convention and added, "I'm endorsing Henry because he supports the traditional values I support so strongly.... If evangelicals in South Carolina come out and see a man like Henry Jordan, who holds the values they hold, he will be a strong candidate."

Robertson may be enamored with Jordan's "values," but members of religious minority groups were not so taken with the Anderson physician's recent outburst. Labeling Jordan "arrogant and pompous," Carl Eisenstadt, the leader of a Buddhist community in Columbia, told The State, "I don't think he should be in a position to dictate what goes on in our schools.... He obviously is not tolerant of other religious views."

Muhammad Sayed Adley, imam of Columbia's Masjid Al Muslimiin Mosque, concurred. "We pray for tolerance imbedded in religious life," he said, "and hope these statements are not reflective of the community being represented."

Informed of the situation by members in the state, Americans United quickly swung into action. In a letter to South Carolina Gov. David M. Beasley, AU Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said Jordan should be forced to resign.

"The actions of Dr. Jordan appear to be those of someone on a religious crusade, undeterred by the pursuance of his professional obligations," Lynn wrote. "Frankly, the State Board of Education is no place for an individual bent on tearing down the wall separating church and state."

Concluded Lynn, "Dr. Jordan made a grievous error that has embarrassed the school board, weakened the trust it seeks from the people and humiliated the state you serve. It is time for him to go."

Lynn also wrote directly to Jordan, urging him to do the right thing and step down. "Decency demands, and public trust necessitates, that you step aside from your position," wrote Lynn.

Two national Islamic organizations, the Council of American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, also called for Jordan's resignation. In addition, South Carolina's two largest newspapers, The State and the Charleston Post and Courier, ran editorials calling on Jordan to step down.

Not only did Jordan refuse to resign, but comments he made to the media after the controversy and a statement he issued May 16 to clarify his remarks made things worse.

Discussing the matter with the Associated Press May 16, Jordan continued belittling Islam and Buddhism. "Both of these religions aren't really religions," he said. "They're cults -- if you define a cult as someone who worships someone other than Jesus Christ. No one wants to be tolerant of us."

In an interview the same day with the Post and Courier, Jordan went on to heap more abuse on non-Christian religions. "A cult, from a Christian standpoint, is any religion that does not acknowledge the deity of Christ," he said. "And Buddhism worships a man, and Muslims worship Allah. Allah, if you go back to Babylon, is really the sun god, which is Lucifer."

Jordan also tried, unsuccessfully, to portray himself as a victim. In his written statement of "clarification," Jordan began by arguing that his rights had been violated, insisting he had been taped without his knowledge during an informal post-meeting discussion. He went so far as to accuse State Superintendent of Schools Barbara Nielsen of leaking the comments to the media and demanded an apology.

Nielsen was unfazed. "No one leaked this," she told the Associated Press. "But when you make these kind of controversial remarks, people are going to talk about it."

Nielsen's office also issued a statement disputing Jordan's version of events. The statement pointed out that Jordan made the inflammatory comments during the public portion of the meeting, not during informal banter afterwards.

"Dr. Jordan initiated the discussion regarding the Ten Commandments following item No. 7 of a 10-item agenda during an open meeting attended by several members of the public and representatives of other education organizations," Nielsen's statement insisted. "All of Dr. Jordan's comments were made during that portion of the meeting."

In his May 16 statement, Jordan launched a sweeping attack on public schools, outcome-based education and the alleged bias against Christianity in the schools.

Criticizing a "convoluted interpretation of separation of church and state," he charged that "Christianity is the only unwelcome religion in public schools today."

But he saved his harshest fire for Islam. Recalling his discussion with other board members, he said, "I then reminded them that Muslim theology and history demonstrate, teach and pledge the eventual overthrow of Christianity and Christian-based nations like the United States. A minority but vocal group of militant Muslims are pledged to a `Jihad' (holy war) to overthrow us by violent means if peaceful conquest is not successful. I then said, `We may be forced into killing them to defend ourselves.' This, too, while a hasty remark that I regret, should not be taken literally. But it does reflect both a theological and historical reality."

Jordan insisted that his duty on the school board is to represent the state's Christian majority. "As a Christian living in South Carolina, where some 80 percent of the population is Christian, I feel that my approach is both prudent as well as in the best interests of the vast majority of our people."

(Jordan seems to have a penchant for inflammatory statements. In 1988, while sitting as a member of South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control Board, Jordan proposed mandatory AIDS testing for all state residents. When the board rejected the proposal, he complained that "surgeons will be tested and queers won't be tested.")

Even with controversy swirling around him, Jordan remained adamant that he would not resign. Asked by The State if he would step down, Jordan remarked, "Not unless I get a fax from the Lord overnight. I have no intention of resigning."

Under pressure from South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Henry McMaster, however, Jordan on May 21 finally offered a formal apology. Speaking at a press conference in Columbia, the militant board member told reporters, "I'm here today to issue a formal apology, first of all, to the Muslim and Buddhist communities. Second, I would like to apologize to the Christian community."

Jordan asked for forgiveness and said, "What hurts more than anything else is this is a negative witness for Christ. I arrived at that change of heart on my knees."

Beasley, in accepting Jordan's apology, said he believes Jordan is "truly remorseful." The governor, who was elected in 1994 with heavy support from the Christian Coalition, added, "He's a repentant sinner, as we say in church. None of us is perfect, we all fall short.... That's what the Christian faith is all about."

Groups that had called for Jordan's resignation were not impressed. AU's Lynn pointed out that Jordan had not dropped his religious crusade and noted that he publicly stated plans to reintroduce the Ten Commandments proposal as soon as the flap dies down.

During a press conference following his apology, Jordan continued to press his religious agenda. He announced the formation of a voluntary panel of parents and educators that will monitor what he called instances of persecution and discrimination against Christians in public schools. The group will be called CARE, for Christian Advocacy Rights Effort Panel.

"I am instructing this panel to gather the examples of discrimination against both individual Christian students and teachers, and also situations or critical statements or harmful remarks about Christianity or Christian leaders and doctrines," Jordan said. He plans to present his findings to the state school board in September.

AU's Lynn said his organization will monitor continuing developments at the school board to see that the rights of all children, including religious minorities, are protected and church-state separation is not breached.

Jordan, said Lynn, is but the most glaring example of the Religious Right's impact on state and local school boards. He said the movement's accomplishments have often been negative, dividing communities and igniting bitter conflicts.

Lynn cited the following recent examples:

* Virginia: The state Board of Education voted in June to give local boards the authority to drop sex education classes and make guidance counselors for elementary schools optional. The state's conservative Republican governor, George Allen, has appointed several Religious Right activists to the board, including Michelle Easton, an anti-feminism crusader who sends her three children to private schools, and Kay Cole James, a dean at Pat Robertson's Regent University.

* Texas: The presence of six Religious Right activists on the Texas Board of Education has sparked nasty infighting and paralyzed the panel. Members of the Religious Right bloc have charged there is a conspiracy to "nationalize" public education and have attacked a statewide testing program and efforts to create education standards as part of a conspiracy to foist "outcome-based education" on the state.

* Arizona: A string of appointments by Gov. Fife Symington, a conservative Republican, has led to a board stacked with school voucher proponents. Symington's latest appointment, Janet E, Martin, is an activist with Concerned Women for America who once wrote that public schools recruit children as part of "Satan's scheme" to eliminate Christianity from society.

* Tennessee: Members of the state House of Representatives' Elementary Education Subcommittee voted against Republican Gov. Don Sundquist's candidate for state Board of Education last May. Marilyn T. Loeffel, who had strong backing from the Eagle Forum, founded a group called Family, Life, America and Responsible Education. She was also a member of Citizens for Excellence in Education.

* Elizabethtown, Pa.: A Religious Right-dominated board passed an antigay "pro-family" resolution earlier this year that divided the community and led to standing-room-only crowds at school board meetings. In the wake of the new policy, the band director announced he would tell the band to stop performing "YMCA" by the Village People for fear it would violate the policy.

* North Penn, Pa.: School Board President Donna Mengel and allied Religious Right activists on the school board have refused to allocate money for a new high school, leading to severe overcrowding. A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist reported, "There have been cutbacks in support services and the music and art programs. Teachers and administrators are demoralized." Mengel was accused in 1995 of saying during a closed-door meeting that she would go to heaven and hear "the snap, crackle and pop" of Jews burning in hell. She denied it, but an independent counsel later found that she did make the comment.

* Lee County, Fla.: The county's school board, dominated by three Christian Coalition supporters, is trying to add an elective "Bible history" course to the curriculum. The school board attorney and school superintendent, both of whom opposed the plan, have been ousted.

A citizen's committee is drafting the course outline, and Christian Coalition allies said a rabbi and other moderates were holding things up. According to The Washington Post, one member said opponents of the class were "Jews ... and others who you wondered if they had any religion at all."

Meanwhile in South Carolina, several Religious Right operatives are standing by Jordan, despite the intemperate nature of his remarks. Deborah Patton Choate, a Christian Coalition activist in Lexington County, rushed to Jordan's defense in a column published in a local weekly newspaper, The Dispatch-News. Choate insisted the country was founded on Christianity and the Ten Commandments and asserted that the controversy was part of a plot to discredit Jordan.

Without presenting any evidence, Choate charged that Nielsen was trying to "publicly discredit" Jordan because she fears he will take her job. Nielsen, said Choate, should apologize to Jordan for "taking one of his remarks out of context regarding Muslim's [sic] and Buddhist's [sic]."

Although Jordan was identified as a Christian Coalition activist in several news accounts, Roberta Combs, director of the South Carolina CC chapter, kept a low profile during the affair. Contacted by Church & State, Combs said her office had issued no statements but added, "I think he's apologized and regrets saying it. Hopefully everyone is over it and we can move on."

The Rev. Ray Moore, co-founder of the South Carolina Education Information Network, a statewide Religious Right group, criticized Jordan's choice of words but added, "The public school system is being used to teach ... all these cultic beliefs.... We're being persecuted. Why aren't the media concerned about the Christian children who are being brainwashed by all these New Age religions? And Barbara Nielsen is leading the charge."

The Rev. Robert Slimp, writing in the Christian News, an ultra-conservative Lutheran newspaper, praised Jordan as "an outstanding Christian layman who wants to defend his Christian faith on the school board."

Slimp, who wrote that he is personal friend of Jordan's, added, "I have also found that many Bible-believing ministers and the vast majority of people who call in to radio talk shows are backing Henry Jordan. It is another case of the people versus the media and the liberal elitists."

Ironically, even as Jordan's remarks were reverberating throughout the state, Religious Right activists in South Carolina pressed the issue of posting the Ten Commandments in government buildings and other public places.

In early May, Charleston County Councilman Tim Scott introduced a proposal to display a Ten Commandments plaque in the council chambers. Scott said he got the idea after council members in nearby Dorchester County passed a largely symbolic resolution calling on homes, businesses, schools and places of worship to post the Ten Commandments.

Scott seems to have a poor understanding of legal procedures. When County Attorney Arthur Rosenblum cited court decisions striking down government-sponsored religious displays at the seat of government, Scott suggested he be fired. Rosenblum, Scott said, should have looked around for legal opinions supporting the council's view.

"I give opinions based on what I think the law is," Rosenblum told the Post and Courier. "I don't know of any other way a competent, professional attorney can act."

Two weeks later the all-Republican council voted unanimously to approve Scott's plan. Scott's proposal called for a plaque to be donated to the council, but as Church & State went to press, no plaque had yet been erected. The South Carolina branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is threatening a lawsuit if one is put up, and Americans United's legal department is assisting in the matter.

The Ten Commandments frenzy is part and parcel of a larger, nationwide Religious Right crusade. Events in South Carolina were apparently sparked by an ongoing controversy in Gadsden, Ala., where Judge Roy Moore has been ordered to remove a Ten Commandments plaque from his courtroom wall and stop opening sessions with sectarian prayers.

The case is on appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, and Moore, who has said he will defy court orders to stop the prayer and remove the decalogue, has become the Religious Right's latest poster boy, held up as a hero for his defense of courtroom religion. In the wake of the Alabama controversy, Religious Right groups began pressing governmental bodies to endorse or post the Ten Commandments.

Sharon Robles, president of Americans United's South Carolina Chapter, said her state, anchored firmly in the Bible Belt, offers unique challenges to advocates of church-state separation.

"There is definitely a lack of tolerance here," Robles told Church & State. "People think in their minds that this is America and the majority rules. They think that since the majority of South Carolina is Christian, Christians should rule. They think that's logical. It seems like the American way. Dr. Jordan reflected that; it's a `to-hell-with-them' attitude."

Robles said Americans United members are keeping the pressure on Jordan by writing letters and making telephone calls to Beasley.

Americans United's Lynn said the controversy in South Carolina underscores the dangers of Religious Right extremists entering politics. "The leaders of Religious Right organizations tell us constantly that all they want is a place at the table," remarked Lynn. "But Dr. Jordan's intolerant invective reminds us that what some of their followers bring to that table is not very pleasant.

"All in all," concluded Lynn, "this unfortunate incident should serve as a telling reminder to the nation of the need for separation of church and state."