Re: High School Student's Religious Objection to Wearing RFID Chip Badge for Student Locator Program

2012-11-22 Thread Sanford Levinson
I must say that this seems to be an easy case for any civil libertarian to support even (or perhaps especially) in the absence of a free exercise claim. The RI is absolutely correct that this is socializing students to be docile citizens within a surveillance society. Sandy - Original

RE: High School Student's Religious Objection to Wearing RFID Chip Badge for Student Locator Program

2012-11-22 Thread Sanford Levinson
Message- From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw- boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Sanford Levinson Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2012 10:00 AM To: 'religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu' Subject: Re: High School Student's Religious Objection to Wearing RFID Chip Badge

RE: High School Student's Religious Objection to Wearing RFID Chip Badge for Student Locator Program

2012-11-22 Thread Sanford Levinson
I agree with Eugene's statement, but it's important to inculcate in children from a young age that they are entitled to an explanation from government for the laws it imposes on individuals (especially if, like children, they are without voting power), and that a failure to persuade might,

RE: High School Student's Religious Objection to Wearing RFID Chip Badge for Student Locator Program

2012-11-22 Thread Sanford Levinson
For what it is worth, at a Thanksgiving table discussion of the issue, which included my daughter Meira, who has taught in the public schools in Atlanta and Boston and who now teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (and who has written a terrific book of her own on civic education,

RE: Court Rejects Religious Liberty Challenges To ACA Mandate--interpreting substantial burden

2012-10-03 Thread Sanford Levinson
I really don't understand Mark's argument here: If one accepts a (strong version of) Romans 13:1 re the legitimacy of magistrates and therefore feels impelled to obey them (as Scalia has suggested he does), then why is it a burden at all, since by definition what the magistrate (appointed by

RE: Court Rejects Religious Liberty Challenges To ACA Mandate--interpreting substantial burden

2012-10-01 Thread Sanford Levinson
Must the prison supply kosher meat (and build a kosher kitchen) or is it enough that it supplies nutritious vegetarian food, even though other prisoners get meat? sandy From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of hamilto...@aol.com Sent:

Re: Court Rejects Religious Liberty Challenges To ACA Mandate

2012-09-30 Thread Sanford Levinson
With genuine respect to Tom, I don't think that one can really generalize from Thomas. Burger did say what Tom says he said, but it simply can't be the case that the First Amendment allows highly idiosycratic religious believers effectively to torpedo important programs, especially when there

Re: German circumcision decision

2012-07-01 Thread Sanford Levinson
As a matter of fact, I'm quite certain the case involved a botched Moslem circumcision. And I strongly suspect there is more anti-Islamic sentiment than traditional anti-Semitism (directed at Jews) in contemporary Germany. Indeed, the decision offers an opportunity for Jews and Moslems to

Re: German circumcision decision

2012-07-01 Thread Sanford Levinson
I'm not clear why Paul puts cruel in scare quotes. It seems clear--see Temple Grandin's lifework--that it IS less humane than other possible means of slaughtering. Perhaps it has to be tolerated, but we shouldn't avoid the truth. Sandy From:

RE: Court upholds prison no-pork policy against EstablishmentClause challenge

2012-04-12 Thread Sanford Levinson
Nick Kristoff has an interesting piece in today's NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/opinion/kristof-is-an-egg-for-breakfast-worth-this.html?_r=1hp decrying the treatment of chickens by egg factories. (One of my own feeble gestures, presumably predictable by reference to my economic

Re: Cabbies vs. lawyers

2012-03-07 Thread Sanford Levinson
Prof. Jamar asks an important question. Is it relevant, though, that the US has not adopted the cab rank rule. I wonder--a genuine question--how often elites are forced into the genuine dilemmas posed by being a common carrier. The cabbies have far fewer career options than any reader of this

RE: Cabbies vs. lawyers

2012-03-06 Thread Sanford Levinson
For what it is worth, I find the arguments made by Eugene, Greg, and Doug (among others) convincing. My one caveat: If the cabbies, as is common, live in a city with an artificially restricted number of licenses, and if devout Muslims comprise a (surprising?) percentage of those legally

RE: The religious exemptions in the new NY same-sex marriage law

2011-06-26 Thread Sanford Levinson
Query: Can Orthodox Jews who run assisted living facilities deny that Reform or Conservative Jews are co-religionists (because, among other things, they ordain gays and lesbians and allow same-sex marriage), or are they stuck with us, whether they like it or not? sandy From:

RE: The religious exemptions in the new NY same-sex marriage law

2011-06-25 Thread Sanford Levinson
I take it that this doesn't change anything re family service agencies and adoptions by same-sex couples, for example, and the like. sandy From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Ira Lupu Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2011 4:33 PM To: Law

RE: Religious accommodation and accomplice objections

2011-04-26 Thread Sanford Levinson
I think Eugene is correct that it is fruitless to discuss the driver's views in the language of reasonableness-unreasonableness. His example of kashruth and the prohibition of mixing chicken and milk is dispositive! So it really does boil down to a utilitarian calculus of the costs to the

Re: Settlement or extortion? and antidiscrimination law (and tort law) more generally

2011-04-26 Thread Sanford Levinson
Art is certainly on to something, but I would emphasize the extreme unlikelihood that most Texas communities would make the same settlement if the plaintiff had put a pro-choice message on his/her desk. To put it mildly, neutral principles does not seem to be the mantra of most Texas politicos.

Settlement or extortion?

2011-04-25 Thread Sanford Levinson
This just in from the Austin American-Statesman. Bus driver who refused to take women to Planned Parenthood gets $21K in settlementhttp://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2011/04/25/driver_who_refused_to_bring_wo.html By Steven

RE: Settlement or extortion?

2011-04-25 Thread Sanford Levinson
I am curious whether there will be any public outrage about this, in the way that I suspect there would be if, say, the city paid out $21,500 (in order simply to avoid litigation that could undoubtedly be won) to an atheist who made an equally dubious claim. (I confess I see no circumstances

RE: Settlement or extortion?

2011-04-25 Thread Sanford Levinson
assembling M-1 rifles, even if accurately assured that fewer than 1 in 1000 ever fires a shot that hits a person? Art On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 7:30 PM, Sanford Levinson slevin...@law.utexas.edumailto:slevin...@law.utexas.edu wrote: I wonder why Mark believes that a reasonably high percentage of women who

RE: Settlement or extortion?

2011-04-25 Thread Sanford Levinson
OK. Should a UPS driver, who knows that (s)he is delivering a package containing chemicals to be used in capital punishment, have a protected right to refuse to make the delivery? Should UPS be expected to “settle” for (only) $21,500 upon reminding its drivers that they are not being hired to

RE: Settlement or extortion?

2011-04-25 Thread Sanford Levinson
of conscience. Mark From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Sanford Levinson Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 4:56 PM To: Law Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: Settlement or extortion? OK. Should a UPS driver, who knows that (s)he

Re: N.J. public transit employee fired for blasphemy

2010-09-16 Thread Sanford Levinson
I'll bite: the argument against prohibition is prudential, ie, the social costs are too high (as with drugs and, argably, guns), not because there is a constititional right to drink or, even after Heller, possess a habdgun outside one's home. Sandy From:

Re: N.J. public transit employee fired for blasphemy

2010-09-16 Thread Sanford Levinson
I basically agree with Art. As Dworkin argues, it is the very meaning of taking rights seriously that one is willing to accept very real costs (which go beyond simply the cost, however real, of feeling demeaned or insulted). My point was simply that the very likely costs of allowing the burning

Re: Perry v. Schwarzenegger - Effect of Religious Beliefs

2010-08-09 Thread Sanford Levinson
An extremely basuc question: who exactly will be appealing? Surely not the Attorney General or, seemingly, the defendant governor. And, even more surely, not the plaintiffs. I apologize for asking such a dumb question, but inquiring minds want to know Sandy

Re: Perry v. Schwarzenegger - Effect of Religious Beliefs

2010-08-09 Thread Sanford Levinson
It's entirely question begging to say that the AG abdicated his responsibility, which is, after all, thanks to Article VI of the US Constitution, to be faithful to that Consatitution. Sandy - Original Message - From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu

RE: A real-life on-campus example

2010-05-11 Thread Sanford Levinson
I can't figure out exactly why religious groups deserve to be treated differently from, say, the young Democrats or Republicans or the Sierra Club. The Constitution says not that we have to treat religion differently, but, rather, that we have to keep engaging in an endless conversation about

RE: A real-life on-campus example

2010-05-11 Thread Sanford Levinson
. It's all comers rule is egregiously unconstitutional as to political groups as well as to religious groups. Quoting Sanford Levinson slevin...@law.utexas.edu: I can't figure out exactly why religious groups deserve to be treated differently from, say, the young Democrats or Republicans

RE: A question about the must give religious exemptions to the same extent as secular exemptions theory

2010-05-11 Thread Sanford Levinson
For what it’s worth, I agree that a parent-teachers conference policy must extend to all schools and not only public schools. Am I correct that Rick wouldn’t believe that businesses would have to accommodate adult children who needed to attend a conference with their aged parents’ doctors

RE: A question about the must give religious exemptions to the same extent as secular exemptions theory

2010-05-11 Thread Sanford Levinson
University of Nebraska College of Law Lincoln, NE 68583-0902 And against the constitution I have never raised a storm,It's the scoundrels who've corrupted it that I want to reform --Dick Gaughan (from the song, Thomas Muir of Huntershill) --- On Tue, 5/11/10, Sanford Levinson slevin

Re: Using religion for government purposes

2009-03-27 Thread Sanford Levinson
May I respectfully suggest that one difference between Lincoln and perhaps) all of his successors is that he was a profoundly serious man who was not using religion for crassly instrumental low-political purposes. Sandy From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu

Re: Using religion for government purposes

2009-03-27 Thread Sanford Levinson
...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Sanford Levinson Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 9:37 AM To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu Subject: Re: Using religion for government purposes May I respectfully suggest that one difference between Lincoln and perhaps) all of his

RE: JOHN LOFTON / Question, Please -- Jurors....

2008-04-24 Thread Sanford Levinson
I suppose the technical legal question could revolve around the propriety of asking any potential juror who gives evidence of being deeply religious (whatever exactly that means) if he/she is willing to enforce laws (and put people in prison) even if he/she believes that the law is not only

RE: Romney Delivers Important Speech On His Religious Beliefs

2007-12-06 Thread Sanford Levinson
Isn't there a fairly obvious contradiction between an ostensibly principled refusal to discuss any theological doctrine associated with Mormonism and Romney's ostentatious proclamation that he (and presumably Mormonism) considers Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind? Is sit

RE:Market-protecting chaplains and the First Amendment

2007-09-13 Thread Sanford Levinson
There is a fascinating story in today's NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/movies/13dhar.html?ref=artspagewanted =print, about a documentary on an Alabama prison whose lifer inmates engaged in a Buddhist meditation program. It was a voluntary program, so I assume there are no First

RE: Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up

2007-09-07 Thread Sanford Levinson
Is it close-minded to say that one is simply mystified by the notion of revealed religion, whether the reference is to the (purported) experience at Sinai, the annunciation to Mary, or the dictation of the Koran to Mohammed? I suppose I'm open-minded enough to say that although I see no reason

RE: Mormon Student

2007-09-06 Thread Sanford Levinson
So let me review the bidding: Someone who wants to engage in a year of community service spreading the word about the Ku Klux Klan is entitled to take the year off (to say no would be to engage in forbidden viewpoint discrimination), but a student who invoked the 5th Commandment to take off a

Re: Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up

2007-08-30 Thread Sanford Levinson
Doesn't the question boil down to whether the school can put ANY restraints on the desire to take a couple of years off? If, argendo, it can, then I don't understand why the Mormon gets special solicitude, given that it's not an obligation, as distinguished from Sherbert. Whether the school's

Re: Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up

2007-08-30 Thread Sanford Levinson
Although I always hesitate to disagree with my (sadly) former cilleague Doug, I confess I'm with Eugene (and, I think, Michael McConnell, on the basis of past threads), on this one. I see no relevant difference between going to Mongolia to spread the word about the Book of Mormon and a belief

RE: Church is not an option

2007-08-19 Thread Sanford Levinson
I'm very sympathetic to the student in this case (assuming there are no surprises in the facts as they come out), but I do think that the Rust v. Sullivan chickens may be coming home to roost in this case. If the doctor had no first amendment right to mention abortion, why in the world would

RE: Church is not an option

2007-08-19 Thread Sanford Levinson
an employee. That makes the Est. Clause argument the key. I wonder whether the plaintiff pled a violation of the Establishment Clause? Mark Scarberry Pepperdine From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Sanford Levinson Sent: Sun 8/19/2007 12:35 PM To: Law Religion issues

RE: Falwell: Not Necessarily The Person That You Think

2007-05-16 Thread Sanford Levinson
On this one I tend to agree with Will (unless we want to get into a discussion of Falwell v. Hustler, one of the shining lights of our contemporary jurisprudence!). sandy From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Will Linden Sent: Wed 5/16/2007 8:57 PM To: Law

Re: FW: 75% of Minneapolis airport taxis refuse customerswithalcohol

2006-09-29 Thread Sanford Levinson
magazines. The answer is yes, and I don't recall that Eugene disagreed. Sandy - Sanford Levinson (Sent from a Blackberry) ___ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http

Re: FW: 75% of Minneapolis airport taxis refuse customerswithalcohol

2006-09-29 Thread Sanford Levinson
. Sandy - Sanford Levinson (Sent from a Blackberry) ___ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note

RE: Rep. Harris (R-Fla.) on Church and State

2006-08-26 Thread Sanford Levinson
So what will the Bushes do? Is she going to be the second Republican senatorial candidate to be disowned? But the Democratic candidate is scarcely so compatible to Republicans as Joe Lieberman. Incidentally, given her apparent belief that God casts the relevant vote in all elections,

RE: Fox News Forgets Fact in Christian Graduation Speech Story

2006-08-01 Thread Sanford Levinson
I much appreciate the video. I think it IS relevant inasmuch as it raises the whole issue of pre-approval of valedictorians speeches. The video rightly suggests that such a practice is itself dubious. I share Bob Nagels view that valedictorians should be allowed to say anything and

RE: Religious hate speech?

2006-05-22 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Message The following materials are an "appendix" of sorts to an article in yesterday's Washington Post on textbooks in Saudi Arabia. It notes, though, that they are also used in certain Saudi-financed schools in the United States. So the question is this: Do any of thematerials

RE: Kosher slaughter

2006-03-10 Thread Sanford Levinson
From today's NYTimes (comments at conclusion) March 10, 2006 Inquiry Finds Lax Federal Inspections at Kosher Meat Plant By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. An internal report from the Agriculture Department has found that one of the nation's leading kosher slaughterhouses violated animal cruelty

RE: New yORK Lawsuit

2006-02-10 Thread Sanford Levinson
I think that one can limit the "practice of one's faith" to a refusal consciously to be photographed. (This, obviously, arises in the drivers' license cases.) I am not persuadedthat a serious art or news photographer must get the consent of everyone he/she surreptitiously photographs,

RE: Pilgrim Baptist Church

2006-01-15 Thread Sanford Levinson
I think the issue of historical restoration and preservation is a tricky one, precisely because of the potential for strategic mispresentation. I would feel much better if the decision had been made by a professional board of architects (who would no doubt be completely credible in claiming

RE: From the list custodian RE: Alito/The Constitution

2006-01-12 Thread Sanford Levinson
I can see what Eugene is getting at, but it seems to me that one question raised by John Lofton's comment is the meaning of an oath. The oath, after all, is to be faithful to the Constitution, which some of us argue functions, for better and distinctly for worse, as the centerpiece of American

RE: Dover Case

2005-12-21 Thread Sanford Levinson
I must say that I think for most people professor rates as a higher honorific than Dr. But the pattern *is* odd. sandy -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Monsma Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 2:10 PM To:

Re: Silent Night controversy

2005-12-15 Thread Sanford Levinson
iconic. Sandy - Sanford Levinson (Sent from a Blackberry) ___ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw

RE: Can a murderer ever be redeemed?

2005-12-12 Thread Sanford Levinson
I much appreciate Jim Henderson's thoughtful posting below. About 30 years ago, when I was in law school, I remember very vividly giving a talk to the Menlo Park (or Redwood City, I forget which) Lions Club against the California referendum to reinstate the death penalty. The principal

Re: Kansas Anti-ID Prof Apologies

2005-12-02 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Re: Kansas Anti-ID Prof Apologies I think this comes under the category would that my enemy write a book (or in this case an email)! Sandy - Sanford Levinson (Sent from a Blackberry) ___ To post, send message

RE: The Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its Name

2005-11-28 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Message For what it is worth, I often say "Mazel Tov" to Christian friends precisely because the term, to my knowledge, has no religious meaning at all. It is a way of saying "congratulations." (I think that it literally means "Happy day." I am unaware of any prayer in the Jewish

Re: The shrimp cocktail analogy

2005-11-28 Thread Sanford Levinson
I'd be a bit irked if it ended in Jesus' name. All of this being said, I do think this has turned into a discussion of manners rather than of law. Sandy - Sanford Levinson (Sent from a Blackberry) ___ To post, send message to Religionlaw

RE: Kansas and Intelligent Design: A Twist

2005-11-22 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Re: Kansas and Intelligent Design: A Twist Imagine that a religion commits itself to a phlogistonistic view of chemistry. Surely the chemistry department can teach that it is false. Would anyone seriously believe that the Establishment Clause would prevent that? Perhaps ID isn't

RE: Social Notes from All Over

2005-11-07 Thread Sanford Levinson
people? From: Sanford Levinson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sanford Levinson Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 1:41 AM To: Law Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: Social Notes from All Over Rick writes: It seems to me that inviting

RE: Social Notes from All Over

2005-11-05 Thread Sanford Levinson
As a matter of fact, they were there. Perhaps this is why it was at lunch, rather than dinner, because they had to leave for Argentina. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sat 11/5/2005 3:08 AM To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu Subject:

RE: Social Notes from All Over

2005-11-04 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: RE: Alito Views SCOTUS Doctrine as Giving Impression of Hostilityto Religious Expression Today's Washington Post includes the guest list for yesterday's lunch at the White House honoring His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and his new wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles (Windsor,

RE: FYI: An Interesting See You at the Pole Case

2005-11-02 Thread Sanford Levinson
Tom Berg writes in his very interesting post: Moreover, although there are plenty of political issues on which official Catholic teaching tends to lean more to the left than to the right -- for example, active government involvement in poverty and welfare programs -- many of these are not

RE: Air Force sued over religious intolerance

2005-10-09 Thread Sanford Levinson
. Now as law professors,as teachers of our future leaders,will you actually teach your students thatgovernment should agree with them,and side with Mr. Weinstein and Yale Divinity, and enter the Protestant Chapel to silence the chaplain's speechwith military policemen? Sandy? Paul? Chip?

RE: Air Force sued over religious intolerance

2005-10-09 Thread Sanford Levinson
I'm not sure how important ownership is. The question is what kind of forum is made available to chaplains on what reasonable terms. Though I suppose it is an interesting side question if the military at Camp Lejune, e.g., could prohibit members of the armed forces from attending churches

RE: Air Force sued over religious intolerance

2005-10-08 Thread Sanford Levinson
As some of you know, I have rather strong political views. Yet I have argued in my constitutional law classes that it would be perfectly constitutional (and perhaps desirable to boot) if a condition of my employment were that I could not wear campaign buttons in my classes or otherwise make

RE: Hostility

2005-08-23 Thread Sanford Levinson
For what it is worth, I find much to agree with in Rick's thoughtful posting below. The most fundamental question is at what point a society becomes so "pluralistic" and fragmented that it can no longer really be viewed as "our society," but, rather, a congeries of increasingly isolated

RE: Religious Polygamy

2005-08-21 Thread Sanford Levinson
Rick writes: The only possible crime (assuming all parties are consenting adults)is adultery, and criminal adultery laws probably don't survive Lawrence (or do they?). I'm not sure why adultery laws wouldn't survive Recall that Blackmun, in his Bowers dissent, took care to

RE: Religious Polygamy

2005-08-21 Thread Sanford Levinson
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Rick Duncan Sent: Sun 8/21/2005 1:15 PM To: Law Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: RE: Religious Polygamy Does Sandy now agree with me that male on male anal sodomy is victim-causing behavior? I don't think it

RE: No Secular Purpose

2005-08-21 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Re: No Secular Purpose Francis Beckwith writes: . Motives, after all, are types of beliefs that causally contribute to bringing about certain actions. But beliefs are off limits, according to the Courts Jeffersonian tradition. So, if you accept that tradition, religious motives can

RE: No Secular Purpose

2005-08-21 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Re: No Secular Purpose Frank writes: . But I think that fact shows that in both EC and FE contexts beliefs are protected absolutely (actions and practices, of course, are a different matter), which means that they cannot be the basis for restricting a citizens liberties. But, of

RE: UFOs

2005-08-21 Thread Sanford Levinson
This story will be in tomorrow's Boston Globe. So the question is this: Should school boards be able to require to treat UFOs as a real possibility in those courses in which such information might conceivably be relevant (perhaps physics)? Is the evidence for UFOs really weaker than for ID?

RE: Findings on Hostility at Smithsonian Noted in NRO Article

2005-08-20 Thread Sanford Levinson
tomorrow's NYTimes will have a very interesting story on the Discovery Institute. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/national/21evolve.html?ei=5094en=88f0b94e7eb26357hp=ex=1124596800partner=homepagepagewanted=print Among other interesting quotes is the following: "All ideas go through three

RE: Findings on Hostility at Smithsonian Noted in NRO Article

2005-08-19 Thread Sanford Levinson
Let me put the question this way for Sandy and Mark: Do they really believe it would violate the EC for a public school to assign, say, Behe's Darwin's Black Box for a high school science class? Is this really the same thing as wanting to teach "malevolent design" or "the Protocols of the

RE: Findings on Hostility at Smithsonian Noted in NRO Article

2005-08-19 Thread Sanford Levinson
I believe the only proper response of a biologist or physicist is that the question of whether there is any "meaning" or "point" to life, either in general or in particular, is the subject of a different course. A physician qua physician simply has no professional competence to say, "I'm

RE: Findings on Hostility at Smithsonian Noted in NRO Article

2005-08-19 Thread Sanford Levinson
I don't think the Establishment Clause requires that labelling; I think that respect for science requires it. Indeed, I think it might violate the EC to force teachers who reject ID to present it as "serious science" instead of theology masking as science. I have no objection at all to

RE: Findings on Hostility at Smithsonian Noted in NRO Article

2005-08-19 Thread Sanford Levinson
There are all sorts of ways to provide comfort. But a nonbelieving physician would simply be lying if he/she said "I'm sure you're son is in heaven." S/he could say, "I have some sense of how you feel because my own child/parent/sibling died recently," or "I can only dimly imagine the grief

RE: Findings on Hostility at Smithsonian Noted in NRO Article

2005-08-19 Thread Sanford Levinson
Rick writes: Whether it is good science or bad science is forelected officialsin charge of the schools--not federal courts--to decide. This is actually quite a bizarre notion. It may be, as a matter of constitutional law, that public school officials have the legal right to make all

RE: Cupertino case dismissed

2005-08-16 Thread Sanford Levinson
I am reading an absolutely terrific manuscript by Columbia historian Richard Bushman, a biography of Joseph Smith, which is extremely illuminating on LDS theology. (Not the least interesting feature of the manuscript is Bushman's threading the needle with regard to the ontological status of

RE: Increase in No Religion?

2005-08-07 Thread Sanford Levinson
Can't both hypotheses be true? I.e., some people are undoubtedly moving from "mainstream" churches to more Evangelical ones (which are, of course, becoming the new mainstream) because of what are perceived as defects. At the same time, precisely because "to be religious" is increasingly

RE: Increase in No Religion?

2005-08-07 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Re: Increase in No Religion? Frank Beckwith writes:In any event, it seems to me that it is not clear how the public good is served by the state using its coercive power to force Catholic Charities to fund what it does not believe is moral, and which is part of a well-established

RE: Increase in No Religion?

2005-08-07 Thread Sanford Levinson
Frank writes: All that I am suggesting is that religious claims are of a wide variety, some depending on revelation (as you correctly suggest) and others that depend on arguments whose premises do not appeal to such notions. What I am saying is that a religious claim should not be

RE: demographics of religious identification

2005-08-06 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: RE: What causes more religious strife: Government bodiespostingtheTen Commandments, or courts ordering their removal? There is an interesting poll at http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/client/act_dsp_pdf.cfm?name=mr050805-1topline.pdfid=2747 Most of it tests popular support for George

RE: Pres. Bush Supports Intelligent Design

2005-08-03 Thread Sanford Levinson
I know that I should simply forbear from comment, but when Rick writes: We humans--whether evolved or created--don't know much about what happened even yesterday. It is hubris to pretend that we know what happened 10,000 or 10 billion years ago I cannot help but wonder why in the

RE: Pres. Bush Supports Intelligent Design

2005-08-02 Thread Sanford Levinson
At one level I don't understand what the problem is with the Santorum Amendment, which could easily be interpreted as a mandate to teach students the difference between analysis founded on genuine science (e.g., evolution) from analysis that is, from a scientific perspective, simply and

RE: Pres. Bush Supports Intelligent Design

2005-08-02 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Message Dan Gibbens asks, In this context, who can argue with this W quote: I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought, Bush said. Youre asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes. Does this

RE: The Faith Of John Roberts

2005-07-26 Thread Sanford Levinson
for Law Academics Subject: RE: The Faith Of John Roberts What is the name of the book? Barnes and Noble has nothing by Tanhanaha. Marc Stern -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sanford Levinson Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 1:26 PM To: [EMAIL

RE: The Faith Of John Roberts

2005-07-26 Thread Sanford Levinson
recuse himself or resign rather than enforce an unjust law; it's likely that all of us would have limits, were we judges, beyond which we too would recuse ourselves or resign. Mark S. Scarberry Pepperdine University School of Law -Original Message- From: Sanford Levinson [mailto:[EMAIL

RE: Is Roberts a Strict Constructionist?

2005-07-25 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Is Roberts a Strict Constructionist? Marty quotes a passage from Roberts's casenote accept the Blaisdell majority's description ofthe Contracts Clause as one of the Constitution's "general clauses, which afford a broad outline" and therefore require "construction . . . to fill in

RE: inJohn Roberts' America.....

2005-07-23 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Re: inJohn Roberts' America. I share Jean Dudley's views,, but isn't the legal problem that overruling Roe would be justified by the compelling interest in protecting fetal life--I assume, especially after Lawrence, that the Court would concede that a liberty interest is at

RE: Assaults on the England language

2005-07-22 Thread Sanford Levinson
Rick writes: To answer Paul's question about Roe and the abortion liberty, I don't believe the Constitution even remotely speaks to a liberty to kill a child in the womb. So certainly Roe should be reversed and the issue left to the democratic branches. Am I correct ininterpreting this

RE: The Test Oath and Confirmations

2005-07-21 Thread Sanford Levinson
Shameless self-promotion: I wrote about some of these issues in "The Confrontation of Religoius Faith and Civil Religion: Catholics Becoming Justices," 39 DePaul L. Rev. 1047 (1990), reprinted in Levinson, Wrestling With Diversity (2003). Roberts is Catholic, and the Church is increasingly

RE: Chaplains and public funds

2005-07-12 Thread Sanford Levinson
I'm curious what Rick (and others) would think of a chaplain OR a military officer who said, just before a patrol went off to take up a position, say, along the Baghdad airport highway, Any of you could be killed today, and I hope that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,

RE: Free speech for chaplains

2005-07-12 Thread Sanford Levinson
Rick asks: By the way, am I too sensitive or do I perceive a certain animus toward evangelicals in this discussion? Not surprisingly, perhaps, my initial posting was generated by an evangelical memorial sermon, presumably an "official" activity on the Navy ship where it occurred,that

RE: Free speech for chaplains

2005-07-12 Thread Sanford Levinson
Rick writes: If I were on a road heading for a cliff, I would want to be told that the road I was on was bad and that another road was good. The same is true of the spiritual roads I travel. If Iwere heading for Hell, I would not want a chaplain to comfort me and tell me that everything

RE: Government criticism of the Supreme Court onreligion-relatedmaterials

2005-07-12 Thread Sanford Levinson
Assume that Cohen v. California had gone the other way, with Justice Harlan in dissent. For Eugene and others who defend the city in this thread: Could I constitutionally stand in front of the courthouse with a copy of the opinion plus a) a jacket saying Fuck the Draft or 2) a highly enlarged

RE: Government displays protesting against the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence

2005-07-08 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: Re: Government displays protesting against the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence Please allow me to make the obvious point that the Constitution does not "designate" a particular body to give definitive interpretations of the Constitution. sandy From: [EMAIL

RE: Religious freedom and child support

2005-06-17 Thread Sanford Levinson
With regard to Eugene's fascinating post, the following comes to mind: If we are genuinely concerned that people are in effect prevented from changing jobs from high-salary to low-salary ones, then why shouldn't we offer everyone, and not only the religious, the opportunity to make 13th

RE: balance in university programming

2005-06-17 Thread Sanford Levinson
Mark Scarberry writes: As I said in a later post, the Establishment Clause has been understood to prohibit government endorsement of religious (or anti-religious) views. But this understanding of the Establishment Clause simply can't be correct when applied to state universities. As Robert

RE: balance in university programming

2005-06-17 Thread Sanford Levinson
Theh following story appears in today's New York Times, about what some might call the persecution by the US of a young Moslem woman: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/nyregion/17suicide.html?pagewanted=4themc=th My questions are as follows: 1. Does the FBI's scrutiny of her religious

RE: balance in university programming

2005-06-17 Thread Sanford Levinson
Eugene writes: I sympathize with Sandy's point, but why is it limited to universities? Surely this is even more so as to K-12 public schools, no? This is, of course, correct. One simply cannot understand *any* system of education, public or private, without realizing that there is

RE: Public university sponsorship of conference onExamining the Rea l Agenda of the Christian Right

2005-06-16 Thread Sanford Levinson
Title: RE: Public university sponsorship of conference onExamining the Rea l Agenda of the Christian Right I can't help but ask what the response would be to a public university sponsoring a conference entitled "Why Darwin (Suitably Modified) was Right and Intelligent Design Is Wrong"

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