RE: Floodwaters and Undermined Walls

[Dave Ball]

I'm with Frances, in terms of the Establishment Clause issue that Jim has raised.

In terms of the issue, this to me is just like the latitude that Bill Marshall has argued should be granted regarding post-9/11 religious observances.

 

To quote Bill's article, "The Limits of Secularism: Public Religious _expression_ in Moments of National Crisis and Tragedy," 78 Notre Dame L. Rev. 11 (2002) (the title really says it all):

"In the end, I suggest in this Essay that the tension between the constitutional commitment to anti-establishment and the societal need to engage in collective religious exercise can be accommodated by a doctrine that allows for government support for religion in limited and exceptional circumstances....  The constitutional value of secularism is in its instrumental role, not in its own orthodoxy.  As such, the adherence to secularism need not be absolute.  There may be moments of national crisis and grief when instrumental values pale and it becomes constitutionally permissible to pierce the secular veneer." 

 

Marshall, 78 Notre Dame L. Rev. at 33.

 

David T. Ball, Esq.
Associate Director
Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation
10 W. Broad St., Suite 950
Columbus, OH  43215
voice: 614-644-1582
fax: 614-728-3749
cell: 614-316-8222
www.olaf.org

 

---

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 1:11 PM
To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
Subject: Re: Floodwaters and Undermined Walls

Jim Henderson, you are beyond disgusting.  People are dying. They were gasping out their last breaths or cradling a loved one--a child, a mother or father--in distress as you wrote your post. Save your idelogical arguments for another time. I'm sorry, Eugene, but this is too much so don't bother to scold/reprove. Perhaps I no longer want to be part of this listserv when one of its members demonstrates such cruel indifference to human grief and suffering.

Frances R. A. Paterson, J.D., Ed.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Educational Leadership
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698

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