Prayer in Schools

Here is an article on prayer in school, chronicling the kinds of stories we finished up with on Tuesday.  It's central thesis is that since the banning of prayer in school fifty years ago, it has returned in force, albeit in different situations.

In two landmark decisions – Engel v. Vitale on June 25, 1962, and Abington School District v. Schempp on June 17, 1963 – the Supreme Court declared school-sponsored prayer and Bible readings unconstitutional. The rulings provoked unprecedented controversy, says Melissa Deckman, affiliated scholar with the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington, D.C. "School boards got so paranoid about dealing with religion that they just said, 'We shouldn't do any of that at all,' " she says.

Schools struck religion from curricula, teachers avoided the topic, and children got the message that religion took place off campus. But then, Professor Deckman explains, people began "to say, 'Look, religion is part of who we are and our culture.' "

The article talks about all the places where prayer is appearing in schools, and some big question marks.  For example, the following practice does seem to be illegal:

Clubs fall under the Equal Access Act, which stipulates that they must be student-led, participation must be voluntary, faculty sponsors can only observe, and no outside adult can "regularly attend." They can take place during the school day during a designated "club time" or after class.

Notasulga High School is an Alabama K-12 school west of Auburn with a turbulent history of desegregation. Today, 99 percent of its 405 students are eligible for the free lunch program, and despite a dramatic turnaround in graduation rates and test scores, principal Brelinda Sullen says she fights every day to keep the district from shutting the doors. When Campus Life director Flannagan asked Mrs. Sullen whether students would be interested in a program, she jumped at the opportunity: "It's all about character building, and Campus Life helps us build character in our kids."

But she knows the law, she says, and "I know how far I can go." She restricts attendance to high school students and makes it strictly voluntary. In the absence of other student clubs, anyone not participating can use club time for study hall. Though all high school students currently participate in Campus Life, Sullen says, a few students in the past have bowed out.

This suggests Campus Life is a religious club. But because Flannagan attends and conducts virtually every meeting, it could fall afoul of rules for outside-led, after-school programs.

How should courts handle a case like this?  If this is the only club in the whole school (?!) and everyone attends, it would be easy to imagine a non-believer feeling coercive pressure from the school to attend, which runs contrary to religious freedom.  On the other hand, given the situation at the school, one could make a "student benefit" argument for allowing the club.  What do you think?

A good background article about Mormons and Politics

Nothing particularly controversial here, but this article provides a good overview of Mormon politics. Some seletected quotes:

Since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, Mormon voters have become more and more ensconced in the Republican Party, to the point that today they represent the most reliable, cohesive bloc of voters for the GOP of nearly any demographic.

 Surprisingly:

Romney actually garnered less of the Mormon vote — 77 percent — than George W. Bush did during his presidential campaign.

The article talks about why they are choosing the GOP for social value reasons, but this struck me as interesting:

The thing that really, for me, sticks out is when faced with a choice between their church and their political party, we find even very conservative Mormons will favor church leaders on political issues," Campbell said. "Here you have the church leaning left when the church membership might otherwise lean right.

Full article

Bill Maher on religion and violence

As you may know, Bill Maher is a popular comedian who takes strong political stances (to say the least).   He often criticizes religion (for examples, see his wikipedia page).  In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, he said all of you that claimed ISIS is an outlier among Muslims are wrong. 

MAHER: But most Muslim people in the world do condone violence just for what you think.

ROSE: How do you know that?

MAHER: They do. First of all they say it. They shout it.

ROSE: Vast majorities of Muslims say that?

MAHER: Absolutely. There was a Pew poll in Egypt done a few years ago -- 82% said, I think, stoning is the appropriate punishment for adultery. Over 80% thought death was the appropriate punishment for leaving the Muslim religion. I'm sure you know these things.

He also makes another claim, one that says you overlook evidence like what he offers because you are bigots.

MAHER: But I mean in Mecca where infidels, non-Muslims, are not even allowed in the holy parts of the city. I mean, right there, we don't have that example in other religions. They do behead people. Now if they were beheading people in Vatican City, which is the equivalent of Mecca, don't you think there would be a bigger outcry about it? So this is the soft bigotry of low expectations with Muslim people. When they do crazy things and believe crazy things, somehow it's not talked about nearly as much. 

How would you defend your positions against his accusations?

Longer Excerpt Here

Religious politics in the Persian Gulf

In today's class we talked about the continuing salience of religion in world politics.  One example of this is the continued divide within Islam between Sunni and Shia muslims.  Even in the tiny country of Bahrain, the religious division splits the country.  From a story at Foreign Affairs.

The question of reforms continues to divide its ruling family, anti-government protesters and security forces clash on a regular basis, and a prolonged deadlock between the ruling al-Khalifa regime and the opposition is further amplifying persistent sectarian tensions. And now the government’s main support base -- its small but pivotal population of Sunni tribal groups -- appears to be slowly leaving the country, locking Bahrain in a bitter dispute with its historical rival Qatar.

Bahrain’s authorities have good reason for concern. Although the country is dominated by the al-Khalifa family and its Sunni tribal allies, the citizenry is about 60 percent Shiite. More than two centuries of political and economic discrimination have fueled Shiite opposition to the Sunni-led regime, punctuated by intermittent rebellion.

Suggested by Phillip S.

Chick-Fil-A

The founder of Chick-Fil-A died today at age 93.  Apparently, the business he built now exceeds KFC in sales, even though it has fewer stores and isn't open on Sunday.  Here in Boone, surveys by my PS3115 students always find Chick-Fil-A at the top of student "favorite fast food" lists.  What does this have to do with religion?  According to a Washington Post story:

Chick-fil-A has gained a loyal fan base for all the ways it has said no: to working all weekend, to expanding too quickly, and to abstaining from the testy religious talk most big businesses avoid. When Cathy’s son, then-company president Dan Cathy, inspired boycotts over his “support of the traditional family” in 2012, the chain’s conservative base rallied as a show of support. As Ron Paul, the chief executive of the food industry consulting firm Technomic, said, “Customers rewarded Chick-fil-A after it stumbled over ‘family values.’ ”

Does the connection between politics and religion even extend to what restaurants we go to? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this. In addition, some PS3115 students this semester have started a research project to find out how big a factor religious issues are in App students' liking of Chick-Fil-A. Any predictions about what they'll find?

Because being "God-King" never gets old

Apropos of our discussion about what is a religion, check out the latest from Venezuela, where they're hard at work trying to create a Cult of Personality around the late dictator Hugo Chavez.

"Our Chavez who art in heaven, the earth, the sea and we delegates," red-shirted delegate Maria Estrella Uribe recited on Monday at the PSUV party Congress."Hallowed be your name, may your legacy come to us so we can spread it to people here and elsewhere. Give us your light to guide us every day," she said in front of an image of Chavez."Lead us not into the temptation of capitalism, deliver us from the evil of the oligarchy, like the crime of contraband, because ours is the homeland, the peace and life forever and ever. Amen. Viva Chavez!" she exclaimed to applause.

It's always hard to know how seriously to take these things, but those of us who study North Korea know that what seems silly to can be all to real to other people.

Story here.