Religion and Law in American Society

Leaving aside jurists, attorneys, legislators, and other lawmakers along with political philosophers and other thinkers, the most vocal experts in the field are often pundits and activists leading major organizations with an agenda.  Two major activists on church-state relations are listed below.

• Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Executive Director, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
  Lynn holds degrees in theology from Boston University and in law from Georgetown, along with an undergraduate degree from Dickinson.  He is an ordained minister in the Church of Christ.  During the 1970s and 1980s, Lynn worked with the Church of Christ.  In 1984, he joined the ACLU as a legislative council, working frequently on church-state issues for seven year.  In 1992 he joined Americans United as their executive director, where he has been working since.  Lynn frequently appears on network news and debate programs as a representative of the religious left and an expert on church-state relations.
• Dr. Jay Alan Sekulow, Chief Council, American Center for Law and Justice
  Sekulow graduated cum laude from Mercer University and holds a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate of jurisprudence.  He also earned a doctorate from Regent in American legal history.  Sekulow has spent the past fifteen years as a legal and political advocate for religious interests in government.  He has argued several cases before the Supreme Court, including one that resulted in the recognition of the rights of students to form religious organizations in public schools.  He has also applied his legal expertise to legislative disputes, including an advisory role for the Florida governor during the Schiavo dispute in 2005.  Sekulow, like Lynn, appears frequently as an expert on news and debate programs on church-state relations and constitutional law.