Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is an advocacy group in the United States which promotes the separation of church and state, a legal doctrine derived from the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Jump to: navigation, search The separation of church and state is a concept and philosophy in modern thought and practice, whereby the structures of state or national government are proposed as needing to be separate from those of religious institutions. ... Jump to: navigation, search It has been suggested that Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment be merged into this article or section. ...

The group was founded in 1947 as Protestants United for Separation of Church and State (later changing its name to the current one) and has both religious and non-religious members, as well as members of multiple political parties. Its current executive director is Rev. Barry W. Lynn, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ [1] [2] [3], and its headquarters are in Washington, DC. [4] Jump to: navigation, search A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ... Jump to: navigation, search Reverend Barry W. Lynn is the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and one of the leaders in the American religious left. ... Jump to: navigation, search The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States, generally considered within the Reformed tradition, and formed in 1957 by the merger of two denominations, the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

The group opposes:[5]

• "Electioneering" by non-profit churches and religious groups
• The faith-based initiatives of the Bush Administration
• Religious content in official ceremony such as the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency and the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
• Religious education, mandatory prayer, and Bible reading in the public schools
• Educational vouchers which may be used to direct government funds to private religious schools
• The Federal Marriage Amendment, because it privileges religious groups that do not sanction same-sex unions over those that do.
• The presence of religious symbols on public property, for example, the posting of the Ten Commandments in government buildings
• It opposes the teaching of creationism in public schools. It is currently involved with the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case which involves the teaching of intelligent design.
• The agenda and activities of what it calls the "Religious Right"

The group supports:[6] The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (FBCI) is an department under the Office of the President of the United States established during the presidential administration of George W. Bush. ... In God We Trust on the twenty dollar bill In God We Trust is a national motto of the United States of America. ... Jump to: navigation, search Dorothea Lange photograph of Japanese-American students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance is a promise or oath of allegiance to the United States, and to its national flag. ... Prayer is an effort to communicate with God, or to some deity or deities, or another form of spiritual entity, or otherwise, either to offer praise, to make a request, or simply to express ones thoughts and emotions. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Bible (sometimes The Book, Good Book, Word of God, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, plural of βιβλιον, biblion, book, originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this... Jump to: navigation, search Public education is schooling provided for the general public rather than the privileged few. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would define marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Ten Commandments on a monument in the grounds of the Texas State Capitol This 1768 parchment (612x502 mm) by Jekuthiel Sofer emulated 1675 decalogue at the Esnoga synagogue of Amsterdam The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, is a list of religious and moral imperatives which, according... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the Abrahamic belief; creationism can also refer to origin beliefs in general or, centuries earlier, to an alternative to traducianism. ... The term public school has two contrary meanings: In England, one of a small number of prestigious historic schools open to the public which normally charge fees and are financed by bodies other than the state, commonly as private charitable trusts; here the word public is used much as in... Jump to: navigation, search Kitzmiller, et al. ... Jump to: navigation, search Intelligent Design (sometimes abbreviated ID) is the controversial assertion that certain features of the universe and of living things exhibit the characteristics of a product resulting from an intelligent cause or agent, not an unguided process such as natural selection. ... Sensei-98 states: The term Religious Right, is a very broad label applied to a number of political and religious movements and groups. ...

• The free exercise of religion
• The right of each religious group to define marriage on its own theological terms.
• Judicial nominees that strongly support separation of church and state

See also

• Christian Right
• Christian Left

Christian Right is a term collectively referring to a spectrum of conservative Christian political and social movements and organizations characterized by their strong support of traditional social values in the United States and other western countries. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Christian Left encompasses those who hold a strong Christian belief and share left-wing or socialist ideals. ...

External link

• Americans United official website