Rallies planned against constitution rewrite
Editor's note: Notice the alarming reason for Constitutional
Reform - threat to freedom and an attempt to advance a radical anti-family, feminist agenda . . . . . .
Help us protect our freedoms from tyrants
by supporting C.R.C.R.
THOMAS SPENCER
News staff writer
"Here's the one that is really scary," said Sandra Lane Smith, executive director of the Association
for Judeo Christian Values.
She's looking at a proposed amendment to the Alabama Constitution of 1901, one that would rewrite that constitution's
declaration of rights. To the author of the proposed amendment, the changes clarify, update and shorten the article.
To Mrs. Smith, the amendment is a threat to freedom and an attempt to advance a radical anti-family, feminist agenda.
"They want to take away our rights," said Mrs. Smith, whose group plans to hold meetings on the steps
of courthouses in all 67 counties to rally opposition to rewriting the Alabama Constitution.
The association is a nonprofit educational organization. Mrs. Smith also heads Value PAC, a political action committee
that donates to candidates. Value PAC's main contributor has been the Alabama Farmer's Federation. Alabama Chief
Justice Roy Moore also gave to Value PAC, which then produced campaign advertising for him. Moore has attended
association events.
The association's first rally is Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. on the steps of the Elmore County Courthouse in Wetumpka.
On some issues, the association's views are in line with concerns by other conservative Christian groups that a
rewrite could threaten the state's constitutional ban on gambling and could lead to increased taxes.
On other issues, the association goes a step further. Examining state Rep. Jack Venable's proposed revision of
the declaration of rights, Mrs. Smith finds sinister implications in the change from "All men are created
equal" to "All men and women are created equal."
"Man" is a term of natural law that encompasses both men and women, Mrs. Smith said. The older term also
recognizes that biblical understanding of the role of men and women under which man is head of the household and
the family unit.
Mrs. Smith, who recently married for the fifth time, said adding "women" gives feminists an opening for
further attacks on the traditional family.
"There is an agenda out there, a very liberal agenda," Mrs. Smith warned.
Venable, D-Tallassee, said he was surprised to find that his proposed amendment that takes state boundaries out
of the constitution and puts them in a state law raised the suspicion of association supporters.
Mrs. Smith said of the boundaries, "Without them, we would no longer be considered Montgomery, Alabama. Nationally
we have a big move to take away the boundaries of the states."
Dan Casey, a researcher with the Alabama Committee to Get US Out of the United Nations, said during an April seminar
sponsored by the association that constitutional reform would aid Agenda 21, a global strategy of the United Nations
to do away with private property and state lines and instead to establish population centers under the control
of regional planning commissions.
Venable said most states establish their boundaries by law, not in their constitutions. The state boundaries have
changed because of shifts in the courses of rivers since the description written into the constitution in 1901.
Three of the four contiguous states do not have their boundaries in their constitutions, Venable said.
"I really haven't noticed the U.N. running those states," Venable said.
© The Birmingham News
