LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

I get regular emails from an excellent newsgroup called "Jews on First", and they have reported that the Chaplain of the Senate, Rev. Barry Black, has decided not to attend an evangelical conference called Reclaiming America for Christ.

More information at The Advocate.

U.S. Senate chaplain Barry Black has canceled his scheduled appearance at a Christian evangelical conference after he was pictured with columnist Ann Coulter and other prominent conservatives in a brochure promoting the event. Black told Senate majority leader Harry Reid he wouldn't be addressing next month's "Reclaiming America for Christ" conference because his appearance wouldn't uphold the Senate chaplain's "historic tradition of being nonpolitical, nonpartisan, nonsectarian," Meg Saunders, a spokeswoman for the chaplain, said Thursday.

Reclaiming America is a very aggressive organization who purports to 'reclaim your community for Christ'. Their brochure is very overtly dominionist:

Reclaiming America for Christ 2007 is coming and "evil" is counting on you.

That's right. The only thing evil requires for its triumph is for Christians to say and do nothing..

...Reclaiming America for Christ 2007 offers you the tools and training, ideas and energy you need to change America for the better.

Please join us for two wonderful days, as we come together to be informed and equipped in the campaign to reutrn America to her godly heritage. This is your chance to learn, grow, and go -- to better understand the issues we face and to take you pleace -- great or small-- in the grand task of reshaping America's future.

And Jews on First shares my own puzzlement as to why Black had agreed to appear in the first place:

It is not clear what prompted Black to agree to participate in such a blatantly dominionist event. His spokeswoman told the Associated Press that he decided to withdraw before he received a letter from the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Rev. Barry Lynn objecting to his participation. Americans United learned of Black's involvement from a brochure picturing the chaplain with Ann Coulter and Rev. D. James Kennedy.

Kennedy, whose media operations and Florida megachurch both go by the name Coral Ridge, is infamously upfront about his theocratic ambitions. He was recently hospitalized with a major heart attack.

The AP quoted the center's executive director Gary Cass saying that military chaplains have appeared at past reclaiming conferences to encourage attendees to consider becoming military chaplains.

And there you can see the little puzzle pieces fitting together. Lots of other people who ought to know better (and maybe some who don't care) have also appeared at their gatherings, including one current presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He made a speech there about following Christ's teachings, which included caring for the poor and the outcast. His speech received no applause at all, which should tell you a lot about this organization.