To: Johannes Pilch who wrote (56171 ) 7/13/1999 8:04:00 PM From: Neocon Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Okay, one more time...The principle is that there shall not be government establishment of religion. I object to the "entanglement" standard as being an overly broad ramification from the original, but I agree that "proselytizing" would be impermissible. I was content to argue that the majority should win on the 10 commandments issue as long as I could argue that posting it was innocuous, and did not amount proselytizing, although I suggested that there should be representation for substantial minorities within a school as a matter of policy. Then, Achilles made a good point about how someone might readily draw out the implication that being a good citizen meant that one had to adhere to a monotheistic religion, at which point, upon consideration, I amended my policy suggestion and said that I thought that it ought to be mandatory, when there are students of another faith in a school, to have more inclusive posting, in order to ensure against the drawing out of that implication, which would indeed put inordinate pressure on non- Jews/Christians/Muslims to conform. Saying that it is a local issue is insufficient, since the principle has by now been applied at all levels of government, and for good reason, I think...
