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<DIV>Newsday columnist Ellis Henican profiled Chip Berlet in his May 1
column which dealt with the Open Center's conference "Examining the
Real Agenda of the Religious Far Right " Here are the first
paragraphs </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>Chip Berlet isn't the devil. He doesn't even look the part.<BR><BR>He's a
big, burly guy in suspenders and a sport shirt who was raised Presbyterian in
northern New Jersey. He's spent most of his adult life at the intersection of
journalism and community activism - in Colorado, Chicago and Boston. Over the
years, he's become one of America's leading experts on the steady rise of
conservative Christianity and its growing role in political life. He was onto
this long before George W. Bush came into the White House.<BR><BR>These days,
Berlet thinks of himself as an organizer, a researcher and a radical left-wing
Christian. Yet he counts among his friends quite a few people whom his other
friends consider whacked-out right-wing religious zealots.<BR><BR>"Actually,"
Berlet was saying on Friday afternoon, "I don't like those labels at all,
calling people 'religious extremists' or 'radical religious right.' You can't
have a conversation when you start that way. I want to talk to these people. I
want to engage them. ... I want to have a real discourse about religion and
politics."<BR><BR>Welcome to backlash against the latest scary rise of
America's Religious Right.<BR><BR>There's plenty of anger and exuberance and
outrage in the room. This is New York, after all, where skepticism is always
in style. But Berlet might be onto something here, something that could
actually work in the battle against religious extremists, by whatever name:
Don't insult them. Engage them. And don't back
down.<BR> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>For the rest <A
href="http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-nyhen014241269may01,0,3969000.column?coll=ny-news-columnists">http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-nyhen014241269may01,0,3969000.column?coll=ny-news-columnists</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Frederick Carlson, a participant, reports on the conference on his blog
</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.frederickclarkson.com/2005/05/ny-conference-on-theocracy-big-success.html">http://www.frederickclarkson.com/2005/05/ny-conference-on-theocracy-big-success.html</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Washington Times report</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050501-124025-3104r.htm">http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050501-124025-3104r.htm</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Stuart Elliott</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://newappeal.blogspot.com/">http://newappeal.blogspot.com/</A><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>