Don't let the name of the contact organization scare
you; it's Brame and the fact that he could even be
considered for such a position in this nation which
ought scare you!
Pass this on, and please write letters (and encourage
others to do the same) to your senators and even the
man in the Oval Office against the selection of this
kind of a man to a position of power!
yours,
w.e.c.
=========================================================
For Immediate Release
November 29, 2001
Americans United for Separation of Church
and State
Contact: Joseph Conn or Rob Boston
202-466-3234 telephone
202-466-2587 fax
http://www.au.org
BUSH PREPARED TO NOMINATE 'BIBLICAL LAW' ACTIVIST
J. ROBERT BRAME TO NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
BRAME HAS TIES TO GROUPS THAT OPPOSE WOMEN'S RIGHTS,
REJECT DEMOCRACY AND BELIEVE GAYS SHOULD BE EXECUTED
According to media sources, President George W. Bush
appears ready to nominate J. Robert Brame III to
serve as a member of the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB), despite Brame's long-standing leader-
ship of religious-political extremist groups on the
farthest fringes of the Religious Right.
Brame has served as a top official of American Vision,
an Atlanta-based group that seeks to replace America's
secular democracy with a "Christian" regime based on
"biblical law," including enforcement of the harsh
legal code of the Old Testament. He has also served
as an advisor to the Plymouth Rock Foundation, a
Plymouth, Mass., group with similar views.
Brame recently resigned from the American Vision board
after the group's controversial agenda became public.
Though Brame served on the board since at least 1994,
he told The Wall Street Journal that he was unaware of
American Vision's extreme views.
American Vision has described democracy as "the first
step toward fascism," argues that women must be
subordinate to men and insists that the Bible requires
the death penalty for gays.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State,
a national church-state watchdog organization, said
Brame's service with these groups, which are
affiliated with the so-called "Christian Reconstruct-
ionist" movement, should disqualify him from a post
in government.
"Brame and his allies seek to impose a harsh Christian
theocracy on the nation," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn,
executive director of Americans United. "Someone with
such radical political views should automatically be
disqualified from holding public office.
"Once members of the Senate get a look at Brame's
record, his chances for confirmation will quickly
evaporate," Lynn added. "Brame's ties to radical
groups are indefensible."
To illustrate the radical nature of Brame's views,
Lynn pointed to the extremist positions of American
Vision (AV), which Brame has helped lead through long-
time service on the group's five-member Board of
Directors:
On theocracy: Christian Reconstructionists reject
democracy and advocate theocracy. In the June 1999
issue of American Vision's BiblicalWorldview magazine,
an AV representative wrote, "We've been told that
Christians cannot impose their religious beliefs on
others. Since heaven is at stake, we have no choice.
There is no hope outside of Jesus Christ."
On democracy: The June 1999 issue of AV's Biblical
Worldview magazine described democracy as "the first
step toward fascism."
On women's role in families: American Vision insists
that the Bible requires male leadership in society.
In the September 1999 issue of Biblical Worldview, an
AV author wrote that women fall between men and
animals in the "God-ordained order." AV places "God
above all, man joyfully under God, woman lovingly
under man, and the animals at bottom." AV has also
said that women should not serve in the military.
On women in the judiciary: The Plymouth Rock
Foundation, which Brame has worked with through
service on its advisory council, opposed Sandra Day
O'Connor's nomination to the Supreme Court because,
in their view, it is wrong for a woman to sit in
judgment over men.
On homosexuality and the death penalty:
Reconstructionist groups such as those Brame is
involved with maintain that under biblical law,
homosexuals must be executed. According to one
American Vision text, "The law that requires the
death penalty for homosexual acts effectually drives
the perversion of homosexuality underground, back to
the closet, to the dark realm of shameful activity."
Also, in October 2000, an AV publication called
homosexuality "a sin worthy of death."
On gays in Congress: In the September 1999 issue of
the group's Biblical Worldview, an AV author referred
to openly gay Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) as a
"lesbian Congressthing."
On non-Christian dissenters: American Vision argues
that once its worldview is enacted as government
policy, dissenters would have to submit to its
draconian version of Christianity. "Non-Christians
would not be forced to become Christians, but they
would have to obey laws that came from the Bible,"
according to one AV text. "This would mean that
homosexuality and abortion, for example, could not
be claimed as 'civil rights.' They would be crimes."
On Judaism: American Vision sells a book titled, "The
Days of Vengeance," which says, "The god of Judaism
is the devil." The book also describes Judaism as a
"demonic religion."
On American history: AV materials take a revisionist
approach to history, insisting that the United States
was founded as a "Christian nation." In one book, AV
asserts that the Constitution was designed to afford
protection to Christianity only and not other faiths.
"The First Amendment had the specific purpose of
excluding all rivalry among Christian denominations,"
the group says. "Other competing religions were not
protected by the First Amendment."
"Brame makes Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson look
liberal," said AU's Lynn, who wrote to Bush in
October, urging him not to nominate such a divisive
figure to the NLRB.
Concluded Lynn, "The groups Brame is associated with
seek to impose their version of 'biblical law' on all
of us, and they want to use the government to further
those goals. These views are so counter to American
ideals that it is difficult to imagine a proponent
of this radical philosophy serving in any important
public trust."
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group
based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the
organization educates Americans about the importance
of church-state separation in safeguarding religious
freedom.
__________________________________________________
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