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by William O. Einwechter

A highlight of this year's National Reform Association annual conference was supposed to be the appearance of two legislators to address the conference. The problem is that neither of them showed up, each cancelling their appearance a mere 3 days before they were to speak. Why would they do such a thing after they had accepted the invitation?

The chain of events that led to the cancellation of U.S. Representative Joseph Pitts (Republican, Pennsylvania) began when Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) became aware of Pitts' scheduled appearance. Lynn wrote a letter to Pitts on November 12 urging him "to withdraw from the event this weekend and issue a public statement repudiating the extreme views of the National Reform Association." This letter was followed up by an AU press release on November 13 entitled: "Americans United Urges Pennsylvania Congressman to Drop out of Religious Extremist Conference." The release's subtitle was: "House GOP Liaison to Religious Right Scheduled to Share Podium with Speakers Who Favor Executing Gays and Abortion Providers." The speakers identified by Lynn were Gary DeMar and William Einwechter. The press release claimed that the National Reform Association is a "radical group that seeks to impose 'biblical law' on the nation"; that we advocate "extreme policies that run counter to o ur Constitution and the American way of life"; that the NRA has a "dangerous" and "bizarre agenda" that favors "scrapping democracy in America and establishing a 'Christian' religious state according to their interpretation of the Old Testament's legal code"; and that we "are so extreme" that we "would make the mullahs in Iran blush."

What impact Lynn's letter or the AU press release had on Pitts, we do not know. But we do know that the story was picked up by the Associated Press in Washington. On November 13, the same day as the AU press release, we received a call from Pitts office saying that he was canceling his appearance because of the extreme views of Gary DeMar and William Einwechter (the two men named in the AU press release). Directly after the call from Pitts' office, I received a call from AP reporter Lara Jakes Jordan asking for my comment on Pitts' withdrawal from the conference. Later that same day, I received a call from Pennsylvania State Representative Samuel Rohrer informing me that he was also canceling his appearance at the NRA conference. The reason he gave was his theological differences with the National Reform Association. When I asked him if he was aware that Joe Pitts had also canceled, he replied that he was. He also indicated that he had talked with Pitts' office prior to his call to me.

The Associated Press in Washington released on their news wire a story by Lara Jakes Jordan on Pitts' cancellation. This story appeared in various newspapers in the districts that Pitts and Rohrer represent (it also appeared in the Washington Post ). The front page of the Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA, November 14) ran the headline, "Pitts cancels speech in front of radical religious group." The article began, "U.S. Representative Joseph R. Pitts abruptly canceled an appearance at a religious conference in Ephrata this weekend after learning Wednesday that members of the group sponsoring the gathering support executing homosexuals and abortion providers and stoning disobedient children." The story, which drew heavily on the AU press release for its substance, quoted Pitts' spokesman Gabe Neville as saying, "Congressman Pitts doesn't believe in stoning anybody," in confirmation of Pitts' cancellation. Jordan's article also included a quotation from the AU press release where Lynn called the National Reform Association "so extreme they would make the mullahs in Iran blush. Their bizarre agenda should be repudiated, not endorsed by a member of congress." The article indicated that Rohrer had also confirmed that though he was invited to address the conference, he "would not attend."

The conference went forward as scheduled with our primary speakers, Gary DeMar and Stephen McDowell. On Saturday, two reporters were on hand to cover the conference. One of them wrote a balanced and favorable article that appeared on the front page of the Lancaster Sunday News (November 17). The title was: "No casting of stones at Ephrata," with the subtitle, "Instead, group seeking biblical principles in government, defends its beliefs."

In this issue of The Christian Statesman, two responses to the false and slanderous characterizations of the National Reform Association by Barry Lynn and Lara Jordan are printed. The first is a response to AU and Barry Lynn by incoming NRA president John Fielding, which was delivered as his inaugural address during the time frame vacated by Pitts (what John had to say surpassed anything the congressman might have said). The second is a response that I wrote to Jordan's AP story--a condensed version of which appeared in the Lancaster papers.

If our readers are interested, they can access the AU press release concerning the conference at:

http://www.au.org/press/pr021113.htm

and the AU press release on Pitts' cancellation at:

http://www.au.org/press/pr021114.htm

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