{"id":307,"date":"2010-09-21T13:05:42","date_gmt":"2010-09-21T13:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/every-day-should-be-constituti.html"},"modified":"2010-09-21T13:05:42","modified_gmt":"2010-09-21T13:05:42","slug":"every-day-should-be-constituti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/every-day-should-be-constituti.html","title":{"rendered":"Every Day Should be Constitution Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>Barry,<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><\/span>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><\/span><span>Like you, I always enjoy speaking before a college or university&nbsp;audience.&nbsp; And, I am always impressed by the quality of questions asked by students.&nbsp; My remarks at Hamilton College in New York coincided with <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/legislation\/FedRegister\/other\/2005-2\/052405b.html\">Constitution Day<\/a>.&nbsp; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>The truth is that every day should be Constitution Day.&nbsp; But September 17th is a special day.&nbsp; On that day in 1787, the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution &#8211; a day that changed the course of history.<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>Constitution Day provides us with an opportunity to focus directly on what I believe to be one of America&#8217;s greatest strengths &#8211; the Bill of Rights &#8211; specifically celebrating the freedom of religion and freedom of speech.<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>You and I debate this topic regularly in this space, and now more than ever, this topic seems to be on the minds of Americans &#8211; students and adults alike.<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.firstamendmentcenter.org\/news.aspx?id=23384\">The First Amendment Center<\/a> has issued a new public opinion poll&nbsp;on church\/state issues.<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>Among the results:<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>75% of those polled said students should be able to speak about their faith at public school events.<\/span><span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>80% think student speakers should be allowed to offer a prayer during public school events.<\/span><span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>76% support Congress or the President declaring a National Day of Prayer. <\/span><span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span>During my remarks at Hamilton College I was reminded that these academic settings really are the marketplace of ideas &#8211; where there is diverse opinion.&nbsp; As we discuss the ongoing debate on church\/state issues in the public arena, let&#8217;s not forget the important role that our nation&#8217;s colleges and universities provide &#8211; an ideal setting to discuss and debate all beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><\/span><span><\/span>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span><font color=\"#000000\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><span><span><span><font color=\"#000000\"><span><font size=\"3\"><span><font size=\"3\"><font face=\"Times New Roman\"><span><span><span><font size=\"3\"><font face=\"Times New Roman\"><span><span><font face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"5\">To subscribe to &#8220;Lynn v. Sekulow&#8221; click <\/font><a href=\"http:\/\/www.feedburner.com\/fb\/a\/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2290560\"><font face=\"Times New Roman\" size=\"5\">here<\/font><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span><font color=\"#000000\"><\/font><\/span>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barry, &nbsp; Like you, I always enjoy speaking before a college or university&nbsp;audience.&nbsp; And, I am always impressed by the quality of questions asked by students.&nbsp; My remarks at Hamilton College in New York coincided with Constitution Day.&nbsp; &nbsp; The truth is that every day should be Constitution Day.&nbsp; But September 17th is a special&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[361,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constitution-day","category-free-speech"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Every Day Should be Constitution Day - Lynn v. Sekulow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/every-day-should-be-constituti.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Every Day Should be Constitution Day - Lynn v. 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Sekulow","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/every-day-should-be-constituti.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Every Day Should be Constitution Day - Lynn v. Sekulow","og_description":"Barry, &nbsp; Like you, I always enjoy speaking before a college or university&nbsp;audience.&nbsp; And, I am always impressed by the quality of questions asked by students.&nbsp; My remarks at Hamilton College in New York coincided with Constitution Day.&nbsp; &nbsp; The truth is that every day should be Constitution Day.&nbsp; But September 17th is a special&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/every-day-should-be-constituti.html","og_site_name":"Lynn v. Sekulow","article_published_time":"2010-09-21T13:05:42+00:00","author":"Jay Sekulow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/every-day-should-be-constituti.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/every-day-should-be-constituti.html","name":"Every Day Should be Constitution Day - Lynn v. 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Sekulow","description":"A debate blog about church, state, faith and politics with Jay Sekulow and Barry W. Lynn","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/d09bc4c4bba2ac87034ee529f100fbaf","name":"Jay Sekulow","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/574\/574bc7f1605fea9a78a1b3bac65ceb15x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/574\/574bc7f1605fea9a78a1b3bac65ceb15x96.jpg","caption":"Jay Sekulow"},"description":"Jay Alan Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional law.&nbsp; He is also Chief Counsel of the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ). Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.&nbsp; As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.&nbsp; In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.&nbsp; In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.&nbsp; And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.&nbsp; Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.&nbsp; The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.&nbsp; In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.&nbsp; Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"&nbsp; Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.&nbsp; In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).&nbsp; He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).&nbsp; The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.&nbsp; Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.&nbsp; Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.&nbsp; He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.&nbsp; Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.&nbsp; In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}