Freepreach.org - Protecting the Free Expression of All Religious Traditions
Foes admit, deny spying on churches
Roman P. Storzer
Not content with lobbying against free religious speech, the Mainstream Coalition/The Interfaith Alliance are now sending “assessment teams” into churches. The experiences of two of these “Assessors” in conservative Christian churches are described in The Wichita Eagle:
Rosenwach and Kadison sat, stood and applauded with the congregation, citing a need to blend in. They also took notes and listened intently to speakers during the 90-minute service. . . . The group tends to support issues such as gay rights and objects to overt attempts by any religious group to convert someone to another faith. . . . Among the group's complaints is the way dozens of conservative churches in Wichita lobbied state officials earlier this year to ban gay marriages in the Kansas Constitution.
No word yet on the Assessors’ efforts to spy on more liberal-leaning churches. The Religious Freedom Action Coalition has responded in a tongue-in-cheek effort called “Rat Out A Church,” for the stated purpose of “fight[ing] back against vicious left-wing attempts to silence conservative, Bible believing pastors.” Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State denies similar charges, but admits to collecting various religious materials at services:
"I have never recommended that anybody go to a church to scrutinize what the pastors are saying. Some AU chapters have visited to see if campaign literature was passed out the Sunday before the vote."
Is this really such a good idea?