{"id":308,"date":"2010-09-22T11:07:30","date_gmt":"2010-09-22T11:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/the-two-days-i-could-not-find.html"},"modified":"2010-09-22T11:07:30","modified_gmt":"2010-09-22T11:07:30","slug":"the-two-days-i-could-not-find","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/the-two-days-i-could-not-find.html","title":{"rendered":"The Two Days I Could Not Find the Real Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jay, <\/p>\n

I couldn’t agree with you more – we should honor the Constitution every single day.
Unfortunately, the past two weekends I found myself surrounded by people who don’t seem to value the Constitution as much as I do. It was quite an unpleasant experience – but I suppose what goes around comes around.
 
You see, last year, I had to miss the big Religious Right conclave in Washington held each September because I was attending my son’s wedding.  In penance, I found myself at two Religious Right gatherings this year.  One weekend it was Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Conference; the next, the Family Research Council\/ Heritage Foundation\/American Family Association Values Voters Summit.<\/p>\n

These two weekends were a lot like many of the events I had visited going back nearly 20 years to gatherings of Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition.  For example, people still wanted to take pictures with me, to prove to the folks back home that even though their trip to Washington didn’t lead to a photo op with Barack Obama, they did get a snapshot or video with one of Satan’s imps.  After one such session, a   woman brought her 12-year-old son over and said: “now if you ever see Mr. Lynn on television, don’t believe a word he says.” I immediately told the youth: “listen to your mother.”  The subtlety of that response (that is, don’t believe me when I say you should listen to your mother) may have been lost on mom.<\/p>\n


\nWhat really bothers me about these events dripping with claims to
\nrecapture America, defend the Constitution, and stop over regulation of
\nAmerican life, is the bizarre spin they give on what “values” they are
\ntrying to recapture. They talk about “freedom” and “liberty” and the
\n“Constitution” but are devoid of any reference to things that most of
\nus care about.  That was clear from what former Speaker of the House
\nNewt Gingrich had to say, which I discussed<\/a> on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” Friday, Sept. 10. <\/p>\n

It
\nwas also clear in a speech given by Delaware Senatorial candidate
\nChristine O’Donnell, who warned of over regulation of toilets
\n(restrictions on water use) and light bulbs (presumably, municipalities
\nthat insist on purchases of “green” light sources).  Several speakers ominously prophesied of military hospitals soon
\nbeing required to pay for sex change operations.   I discussed<\/a>  all this on another episode of “The Ed Show,” on Fri., Sept. 17.<\/p>\n

Both
\nof these events featured strong efforts to link the demands of the old
\nReligious Right (prayer in the schools, school  vouchers, anti-LGBT
\npolicies) with the economic principles of the Tea Party crowd.  These
\nmovements are not synonymous, but there is enough overlap to be
\nconcerned that their goal of seizing power across the political
\nspectrum might be achieved, which I discussed<\/a>
\nwith NPR, also on Fri., Sept. 17.  There are pure “libertarian” strains
\nin the “tea parties” that certainly hate what they call “big
\ngovernment” but  are also appalled at the prospect that “big religion”
\nwill try to regulate them from birth to death. The message from the
\npast two weekends is: take control and we’ll sort out our differences
\nlater. Whether this marriage of convenience between these two
\nideological strains is long lasting or short-lived remains to be seen.  <\/p>\n

However,
\nit is dispiriting to many of us to see the Constitution which has
\nserved us so magnificently for over 200 years reduced to a buffer to
\nprotect against the excessive regulation of light fixtures. If that’s how these people want to “honor” our Constitution, so be it. But it is hard
\nto believe that the founders of this nation, a nation truly established
\nby the blood of heroes, could look at such an interpretation without
\nblanching at how fraudulent the new definitions of “liberty” and
\n“freedom” are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jay, I couldn’t agree with you more – we should honor the Constitution every single day. Unfortunately, the past two weekends I found myself surrounded by people who don’t seem to value the Constitution as much as I do. It was quite an unpleasant experience – but I suppose what goes around comes around. You see,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,361,124],"tags":[366,392,400,365,51,269,67,362,91,394,367,363,364],"class_list":["post-308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constitution","category-constitution-day","category-religious-right","tag-christine-odonnell","tag-constitution","tag-constitution-day","tag-faith-and-freedom-coalition","tag-news","tag-newt-gingrich","tag-politics","tag-ralph-reed","tag-religious-freedom-2","tag-religious-right","tag-tea-party","tag-tony-perkins","tag-values-voter-summit"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Two Days I Could Not Find the Real Constitution - 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\/the-two-days-i-could-not-find.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Two Days I Could Not Find the Real Constitution - Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jay, I couldn’t agree with you more – we should honor the Constitution every single day. Unfortunately, the past two weekends I found myself surrounded by people who don’t seem to value the Constitution as much as I do. It was quite an unpleasant experience – but I suppose what goes around comes around. You see,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/09\/the-two-days-i-could-not-find.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-22T11:07:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rev. Barry W. Lynn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Two Days I Could Not Find the Real Constitution - Lynn v. 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An accomplished speaker and lecturer, Lynn has appeared frequently on television and radio broadcasts to offer analysis of First Amendment issues. News programs on which Lynn has appeared include PBS's \"NewsHour,\" NBC's \"Today Show,\" Fox News Channel's \"O'Reilly Factor,\" ABC's \"Nightline,\" CNN's \"Crossfire,\" CBS's \"60 Minutes,\" MSNBC's \"Countdown with Keith Olbermann,\" Fox News Channel's \"Hannity & Colmes,\" ABC's \"Good Morning America,\" CNN's \"Larry King Live\" and the national nightly news on NBC, ABC and CBS. On the radio, Lynn serves as host of \"Culture Shocks,\" a daily look at various issues affecting society and the culture. In the 1990s he served for two years as regular co-host of \"Pat Buchanan and Company\" and after that did a weekly syndicated radio program, \"Review of the News,\" with Col. Oliver North. Lynn is a regular guest on nationally broadcast radio programs, including National Public Radio's \"All Things Considered,\" \"Morning Edition\" and \"Talk of the Nation,\" as well as having appeared on national networks such as CBS Radio, CNN Radio, ABC Radio and AP Radio. Lynn began his professional career working at the national office of the United Church of Christ, including a two-year stint as legislative counsel for the Church's Office of Church in Society in Washington, D.C. From 1984 to 1991 he was legislative counsel for the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2006, Lynn authored Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault On Religious Freedom (Harmony Books). In 2008 he coauthored (with C. Welton Gaddy) First Freedom First: A Citizen's Guide to Protecting Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State (Beacon Press). Lynn writes frequently on religious liberty issues, and has had essays published in outlets such as USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Nation. Lynn also has op-eds published frequently by the McClatchy and Scripps-Howard newspaper chains. A member of the Washington, D.C. and U.S. Supreme Court bar, Lynn earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978. In addition, he received his theology degree from Boston University School of Theology in 1973. 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