Bob Brigante wrote: > > Most people are under that impression, that the court said TM is a > religion, but that is not the case. What the court said was that SCI > courses in New Jersey public schools amounted to an establishment of > religion -- TM in itself was found to be a secular practice.
Huh? Now *I'm" confused. I thought the New Jersey court case, Malnak v. Yogi by name, did indeed conclude that TM was of a religious nature. Here's a pithy summary a Google search turned up, from http://tinyurl.com/6lvan. A. Establishment Clause Issues The Establishment Clause to the First Amendment prohibits government practices which advance a particular religion. Although the courts have found it difficult to define the term "religion," for public school First Amendment issues that term has included affirmation of a belief in a supreme being and reading verses from the Bible. (Malnak v. Yogi 592 F.2d 197, 199 (3d. Cir. 1979).) The court in Malnak concluded that the Science of Creative Intelligence- Transcendental Meditation was a religious activity in the New Jersey public high schools in violation of the First Amendment. The concurring opinion in that case stated that the record revealed nothing other than an effort to propagate TM, SCI, and the views of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The concurring opinion in the Malnak case referenced three factors to consider in determining whether a particular belief system constitutes a religion for purposes of the Establishment Clause: (1) Does the belief system address fundamental questions, or areas of ultimate concern [e.g., theories of man's nature or his place in the universe]? (2) Does the belief system proffer a comprehensive systematic series of answers to these fundamental questions? (3) Are there any practices that may be analogized to accepted religions [e.g., formal services, ceremonial functions, existence of clergy etc.]? Patrick again: These words are part of a larger argument against Waldorf education in a public charter school. For people who'd like to read the ooga-booga highlights of Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy, visit the link above. - Patrick Gillam To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
