The measure, sponsored by Rep. Ernest J. Istook (R-Okla.), was drafted by a coalition of Religious Right groups last year but has been repeatedly altered. The latest version would require government to give tax funding to religious groups, reinstate mandatory religious worship in public schools and permit government to endorse and support religion in various other ways. The new version has been scheduled for mark-up in the House Judiciary Committee's Constitution Subcommittee.

"Far from a 'religious freedom' amendment, this is a full frontal assault on the separation of church and state," said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "It would usher in a dark era of taxpayer-supported religion and would saturate public institutions with whatever religion dominates in the community. This amendment promotes religious tyranny, not religious freedom or diversity."

Lynn charged that the amendment is "a blatant payoff to Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition, which directly helped elect many conservative Republicans to Congress in 1994 and 1996."

Speaking at a closed-door session to Christian Coalition state leaders in Atlanta September 13, Robertson stated that enactment of the "Religious Freedom Amendment" remains the top goal for his organization.

Said Robertson, "Christians are not second-class citizens; we're going to fight for our rights. And if we have to get a constitutional amendment to do it, we'll do it. It's not that hard once you get Congress to vote. We just tell these guys, 'Look, we put you in power in 1994, and we want you to deliver. We're tired of temporizing. Don't give us all this stuff about you've got a different agenda. This is your agenda. This is what you're going to do this year. And we're going to hold your feet to the fire while you do it.'"

Author Robert Boston, whose 1996 book describing The Most Dangerous Man in the America?—Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition, has explained how Pat Robertson has built one of the most powerful religious-political movements in American history. His Christian Coalition's empire extends across the nation, encompasses nearly every media form, has legal and educational outlets, and is now so influential that presidential hopefuls court its favor.

Despite this, says Boston, many Americans are unaware of Robertson's extremism or his theocratic agenda. Government under Robertson's control would regress to a point where freedom for gays, women, and even those Christians who do not espouse Robertson's own brand of fundamentalism would be virtually non-existent. And with the Christian Coalition's current hold over the Republican party, the author wrote, Robertson himself would not have to be in the White House to have control.

Americans United is a 50,000-member public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., that works to defend religious liberty by supporting the separation of church and state. Founded in 1947, the group this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.