Ninth Circuit to Determine Whether “Spiritualist” Charter Schools Get Tax Dollars
CASE NOTE: 10-17720 Plans Inc. v. Sacramento City Unified School District
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals - San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – MAY 17, 2012 –
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing a case this morning on the issue of whether the Sacramento Unified School District is violating constitutional principles of separation of church and state in awarding Waldorf-method charter public schools tax-based funding.
In the case brought by People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools (PLANS), PLANS argues that Waldorf-method schools should not publicly funded because they are rooted in a spiritual philosophy called Anthrosophy, which was developed by Rudolf Steiner in the late 1800s. Proponents of Anthrosophy attempt to “extend the clarity of the scientific method to phenonema of human soul-life and to spiritual experiences.” This includes developing new concepts of objective spiritual perception.
In the lawsuit, PLANS contends that this is based on spiritualist beliefs such as reincarnation and combines elements of Hinduism, European occultism, Gnostic Christianity, and other religions.
In a website, WaldorfAnswers.org, Waldorf proponents state that, “anthroposophy strives to bridge the clefts that have developed since the Middle Ages between the sciences, the arts and the religious strivings of man as the three main areas of human culture, and build the foundation for a synthesis of them for the future.”
Waldorf proponents deny that Anthroposophy is a religion because it is open to people of any faith or no faith at all and that this openness in practice, leadership, and belief precludes it from being categorized as a religion. Members are not required to perform a specific form of spiritual practice, and there is no profession of faith.
According to OpenWaldorf.com, which features links to a variety of Waldorf materials but is not affiliated with Waldorf education, teachers in Waldorf schools are encouraged to read a variety of books on spiritual topics, including A Western Approach to Reincarnation and Karma.
Pacific Justice Institute attorney Kevin Snider, who is arguing the case on behalf of PLANS,states, “The record is replete with examples of Anthrosophy that cannot be described as anything other than religious. We cannot have a double standard where mainstream religions like Christianity and Judaism are excluded from public schools while the door is open for esoteric, occult beliefs.”
In 2003, the Ninth-Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that PLANS had tax-payer standing to pursue the case.
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Beren Academy boys hoops coach Chris Cole still hopeful TAPPS reschedules state semifinal to accommodate Sabbath | Dallas Morning News
EXCERPT:
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas agency has turned down a request by an Orthodox Jewish school in Houston to reschedule a championship game potentially involving its boys’ basketball team because the game time falls during the Sabbath.
The Beren Academy advanced to the semifinals in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’ 2A tournament with a 23-5 record and was scheduled to play Dallas Covenant at 9 p.m. on Friday.
Beren players observe the Sabbath between Friday night and Saturday night and won’t play basketball during those hours.
No, Ninth Circuit, the Relevant Law in C.F. v. Capistrano Unified School District Was Indeed “Clearly Established” – Evolution News & Views
http://www.evolutionnews.org/2011/10/no_ninth_circuit_the_relevant_052081.html
Apple Bids Adieu to ‘Jew or not Jew?’ iPhone App in France (CNN)
EXCERPT: “Jew or not Jew?”: That is just part of the question. An iPhone app bearing this name has been yanked from Apple’s App Store in France amid threats of a lawsuit and demands for its removal.
The app, still available elsewhere, pulls together a database of thousands of famous Jews – including movie stars, musicians, Nobel Prize winners and more – and offers insights into their backgrounds. Jewish mother? Jewish father? A convert? For $1.99 in the United States, app owners can know.
“I’m not a spokesman for all Jews, but, being Jewish myself, I know that in our community we ask ourselves often if this or that celebrity is Jewish or not,” he told the French newspaper. “For me, there’s nothing pejorative in saying publicly that this person or that person is Jewish. Instead, it’s something to be proud of.”
But no matter Lévy’s personal background or motivation, compiling details about peoples’ identities without their consent is against the law in France. And that was all Apple needed to know to swipe “Jew or not Jew?” from France’s App Store shelf.
Article18: Poland — Citizens March in Bialystok to Protest Antisemitism; Death Metal Singer Not-Guilty After Trashing Bible on Stage
By Martin Surridge – For much of the twentieth century, Poland served as a sort of punching bag for many of Europe’s strongest armies. Half a million Polish soldiers died in the First World War, the country was brutalized by the Nazis in the Second World War, and for the last half of the century, Poland was repressed by Soviet-inspired communists in Warsaw. Today, Poland is struggling with a completely different set of problems, many of which are common to Europe as a whole–immigration, the expansion of the E.U., and changes in cultural norms that accompany a demographic shift. In addition to these already vexing concerns, Poland is also grappling with the problem of where to draw the line in the case of free speech and offending religious sensitivities. 
This is Article18–RLTV’s weekly blog specifically dedicated to religious liberty issues in other countries around the world. Each week, we profile a different nation, and the struggles facing one of its religious communities. This week, Poland, where citizens in Bialystok protest against horrendous statements of antisemitism and a death metal singer is allowed to go free after ripping up a Bible during one of his concerts.
During the Second World War, what was arguably history’s most deadly and vicious assault on religious liberty took place in the unassuming countryside of Nazi-occupied Europe. Almost half of the Jews killed in the Holocaust were from Poland. That number is approximately three million. Ninety percent of Poland’s Jews were murdered in Nazi concentration camps, and today, in some towns, the only legacy of that tragedy is a plaque or a statue of remembrance. So last week, when local “vandals used green paint to spray a swastika and ‘SS’” on a monument dedicated to the hundreds of Jewish villagers who were burned alive in Jedwabne village during the Holocaust, protesters took to the streets demanding an end to the “wave of thoughtless hatred.”
Other hostile phrases such as “I don’t apologize for Jedwabne” and “They were flammable” were spray-painted onto the monument. The march was led by Sen. Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and the mayor of the city of Bialystok as well as other concerned citizens.
The AP reports that those attending “The ‘March of Unity’ walked in silence from the city center to a monument of Ludwik Zamenhof, a Jewish doctor born in Bialystok, who invented the Esperanto language. It occurred without violence or arrests, despite a counter-demonstration by people chanting nationalist slogans.”
Sadly, this is not an outlying incident–”Other recent anti-Semitic or racist attacks in Poland have targeted a synagogue in the village of Orla, a Muslim center in Bialystok, and the Lithuanian minority in the Punsk region.”
A lack of respect for the religious beliefs of others seems to be a common trend in Poland as of late. But in some scenarios, acts of religious intolerance fall within the bounds of free speech, as in the case of Polish death metal singer Adam Darski.
“Adam Darski, who goes by the stage name Nergal and is the frontman for the death metal band Behemoth, was charged after he ripped up the Bible during a 2007 concert in Gdynia, in the country’s north.” Three weeks ago, “a Polish judge found a death metal singer innocent of offending religious feeling, ruling that his ripping up of a Bible during a show was a form of artistic expression consistent with the style of his band.”
Poland is a strongly Roman Catholic nation, with almost 90% of the country identifying themselves as such. So when Darski ripped pages out of the Bible, tossed them to concert-goers and instructed them to burn them, he was charged with offending religious feeling. But after the court explained that it had no “intention of limiting freedom of expression or the right to criticize religion,” Darski celebrated the verdict on his website writing, “I’m so glad to see that intelligence won over religious fanatics in my home country [but] there’s still so much work to be done to make things right.”
The line between free speech and criminal defamation of a religious group can sometimes be rather thin and some insensitive hardliners in Poland will probably accuse the law of double standards. But surely there is a noticeable difference between these two incidents.
Matthew Kramer is a close friend of mine from college, an amateur entertainment journalist and serious fan of heavy metal. Along with Brad Kenyon, who created the logos for this blog, and RLTV contributor David Ranzolin, Kramer and I ran our college’s biweekly student newspaper. He saw Darski’s death metal group, Behemoth, in concert a few years ago and while nothing outrageously provocative occurred–other than the usual screaming and ear-piercing music–he explained what separates even the most offensive art from criminal, racist acts.
“There is a difference,” Kramer said. “When the Bible is torn up on stage some people are offended, just like with the Koran.”
“But vandalizing a Holocaust memorial is worse because of the associated pain. There are still people alive who had family members killed during that time.”
Article18 is a weekly blog written by Martin Surridge, Associate Editor of Religious Liberty TV. Article18 logo and other artwork created by Bradley Kenyon.
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Don’t forget to check out other recent Article18 entries.
Article18: Norway — Personal Reflections on the Origin of a Tragedy
Article18: Uzbekistan — Recent Incidents of Violence Against Christians Alarm Religious Minorities
California AB 889 Could Be End of Private Babysitting Services
California state Senator Doug LaMalfa writes the following here. The bill is significant enough that we are reprinting his post here. Further analysis of the liberty implications of this billing that could end private babysitting services to follow.
Editor
———-
Adventures In Babysitting: Nanny State To Sue For Rest Break?
By Senator Doug LaMalfa
How will parents react when they find out they will be expected to provide workers’ compensation benefits, rest and meal breaks and paid vacation time for…babysitters? Dinner and a movie night may soon become much more complicated.
Assembly Bill 889 (authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano of San Francisco) will require these protections for all “domestic employees,” including nannies, housekeepers and caregivers. The bill has already passed the Assembly and is quickly moving through the Senate with blanket support from the Democrat members that control both houses of the Legislature – and without the support of a single Republican member. Assuming the bill will easily clear its last couple of legislative hurdles, AB 889 will soon be on its way to the Governor’s desk.
Under AB 889, household “employers” (aka “parents”) who hire a babysitter on a Friday night will be legally obligated to pay at least minimum wage to any sitter over the age of 18 (unless it is a family member), provide a substitute caregiver every two hours to cover rest and meal breaks, in addition to workers’ compensation coverage, overtime pay, and a meticulously calculated timecard/paycheck. Failure to abide by any of these provisions may result in a legal cause of action against the employer including cumulative penalties, attorneys’ fees, legal costs and expenses associated with hiring expert witnesses, an unprecedented measure of legal recourse provided no other class of workers – from agricultural laborers to garment manufacturers. (On the bright side, language requiring an hour of paid vacation time for every 30 hours worked was amended out of the bill in the Senate.)
Unfortunately, the unreasonable costs and risks contained in this bill will discourage folks from hiring housekeepers, nannies and babysitters and increase the use of institutionalized care rather than allowing children, the sick or elderly to be cared for in their homes. I can’t help but wonder if that is the goal of AB 889 – a terrible bill that needs to be stopped.
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For more information on the current status of AB 889, please visit: http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/text.html?bvid=20110AB88994AMD
Article18: Kosovo — Muslim Headscarf Ban Upheld for Schools, Christians Required to be Buried in Islamic Graveyards
By Martin Surridge – Only a few years ago, the country of Kosovo, in Southern Europe, didn’t even exist. Like South Sudan in recent weeks, Kosovo became independent after the war-torn region declared independence because of a strong separatist movement that sought to break away from Serbia. While the country may be small, one of the smallest in Europe, there have been no short of dramatic moments in its young life, including battling for international recognition after Serbia refused to sanction its independence.
This is Article18–RLTV’s weekly blog specifically dedicated to religious liberty issues in other countries around the world. Each week, we focus on a different nation, and the struggles facing one of its religious communities. Our focus this week is on Kosovo, where the Parliament voted against potentially significant changes to the educational code regarding religious teaching and wearing of the hijab.
The AFP reports that a majority in the Pristina-based legislature did not approve an amendment to the educational code that would allow for religion to be taught in the classroom. The other failed motion was an attempt to lift the religious ban on the moderate Muslim headscarf for female students known as the hijab, a far less troubling item than the full length burqu or niqab which have been banned in many European countries. Both amendments were favored and lobbied for by local Islamic clerics, causing some to worry that such changes could “deepen divisions in the troubled region.”
Kosovo is one of the just two Muslim-majority countries in Europe, along with Albania and some may argue Turkey, and has had a difficult past due to such demographics. Ethnic cleansing and civil war hit the region hard in the 1990s and much of the aftermath is still being felt. Still struggling for international recognition today, Kosovo is only recognized by 80 countries, but this includes the United States as well as the majority of the European Union. Importantly, as Religion Clause points out, Kosovo has a tradition of moderate Islam, as made clear by such refusals in the legislature.
The AFP explains that “there have been several protests this year with hundreds of Muslims chanting anti-government slogans against the banning of the headscarf in school. There have been also widely published cases of girls barred from class for refusing to take off their headscarves.”
Additionally, the recently updated 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom for Kosovo shed some light on other problems that continue to affect the tiny nation.
“Religious leaders complained that they should have a special status apart from that of NGOs,” the report explains.
“Islamic leaders complained of a lack of legal status for their religion. Protestant leaders also emphasized this problem, noting that a Protestant church is compelled to use its tax identification number as the only proof of its legal status. Protestants complained that without formal and legal registration the community could not resolve many of the other problems it faced regarding land registration and obtaining building permits.”
It continues stating that “Protestants complained of not being allowed to register property in the names of their churches or establish a Protestant cemetery, frequently resulting in Protestants being buried in Muslim graveyards, with many instances of Muslim clerics performing funeral services for Protestants.”
“Protestants claimed that this was a violation of their right to be buried among those of their faith and an imposition of another religious tradition upon them.”
It seems that in some countries, like Kosovo, the fight for religious freedom is going on even after death.
Article18 is a weekly blog written by Martin Surridge, Associate Editor of Religious Liberty TV. Article18 logo and other artwork created by Bradley Kenyon.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Don’t forget to check out other recent Article18 entries.
Article18: Norway — Personal Reflections on the Origin of a Tragedy
Article18: Uzbekistan — Recent Incidents of Violence Against Christians Alarm Religious Minorities
Religious Liberty in French Romantic Poetry: Gérard de Nerval’s Verse Lends Space for Other Religions
By Lauren Peterson — While the number of topics in poetry is unlimited, poetry is commonly thought of as that which explores love and
Gérard de Nerval (1808-1855)
loss. When poetry is brought up, one may be quick to think of Shakespearean love sonnets or Emily Dickinson’s poems on death. Yet, poets, including the two just mentioned, had much to say on religious matters. One lesser-known poet, coming after Shakespeare and before Dickinson, directly addressed religious liberty in his work.
After three mental breakdowns, including at least one in which he was hospitalized, French poet Gérard de Nerval published one of his lesser-known works: a mythological poem entitled “Delfica.” One year later, in 1855, he hung himself from his window grating, having been known as a man of ambiguity and mystery. His pet lobster, which he would take for walks with a blue ribbon, had added to this reputation. He was a son of a doctor who had served in Napoleon’s army, and his mother died while accompanying him when Nerval was a meager two years old. Nerval later had even attended some medical classes, supposedly in order to appease his father. Ridding himself of a painful history, he created a family ancestry of grandeur during his first mental breakdown: one which connected him not only to German royalty, but back even to the Roman emperor Nerva. His imaginative and constructive abilities reflect some of the better-known Romantic poets, such as William Blake, who created and worshiped his own deities. Nerval continued to construct, religiously this time, with “Delfica.” There is no need to brush up on Greek mythology if this name is not familiar: Nerval constructed it as he had constructed his own name. For those with the ability to comprehend French, Nerval’s poem gently while firmly consoles Daphne, letting her know that her gods have not abandoned her forever:
Delfica
La connais-tu, Dafné, cette ancienne romance,
Au pied du sycomore, ou sous les lauriers blancs,
Sous l’olivier, le myrte, ou les saules tremblants,
Cette chanson d’amour qui toujours recommence ?…
Reconnais-tu le Temple au péristyle immense,
Et les citrons amers où s’imprimaient tes dents,
Et la grotte, fatale aux hôtes imprudents,
Où du dragon vaincu dort l’antique semence ?…
Ils reviendront, ces Dieux que tu pleures toujours !
Le temps va ramener l’ordre des anciens jours ;
La terre a tressailli d’un souffle prophétique…
Cependant la sibylle au visage latin
Est endormie encor sous l’arc de Constantin
— Et rien n’a dérangé le sévère portique.
For those not fluent in French (including myself), a translation begins with a trot, which is as bad as it sounds. A trot is a word-by-word translation of a poem, and for this poem, sounds something like: “They will return, these Gods you cry forever!” making it sound as if the speaker denounces Daphne’s crying habits. The translator’s job is to then turn this back into Nerval’s poem, which means looking for the poem’s main ideas. Nerval cleverly uses symbols and imagery that have, like him, an ambiguous nature. They are symbols claimed by multiple religions. For instance, many lay claim to the olive tree as a symbol within their religion. Could the speaker be alluding to multiple religions at once? The speaker acknowledges that Daphne’s gods are presently absent, though. Yet, he claims they will return. It appears that the speaker argues that there is a time for all religions, as if they go through a cycle, which gives space for them all.
My translation emphasizes the idea of tolerating multiple religions while trying to maintain the same rhyme scheme:
Daphne, Nymph of Plants
after Gerard de Nerval’s “Delfica”
Do you know, Daphne, that old romantic song,
Beside the Fleur-de-lis, or the Lotus from afar,
Above by the wise owl, or by a crescent-enclosed star,
That passionate melody that continues to long?
Do you remember temples with their mighty columns,
The bitter lemon you bit with your teeth,
And the cavern that hides its visitors’ defeat,
Where the dead dragon’s seed waits to blossom?
These gods whom you cry over will come back,
Time will place the ancient days on track,
The earth shakes with the news of their return.
Yet, the prophet remains stoic
and continues to see Constantine as heroic
– and the pillars at the entrance remain firm.
Having first made it big with his translation of Goethe’s Faust, I would like to think that Nerval would encourage the translation of his own works, even if some aspects are lost in the move.
Even though Nerval’s suggestion that religions go in a cycle may seem bizarre, the questions that both his poem and lifestyle raise are fascinating. What if multiple religions do have a time and place to exist? Since the symbols he used are shared by many religions, could it mean that we have some things in common? His poem has the ability to encourage great conversations and his lifestyle reveals, among the importance of not pressuring a kid into medicine, that diversity adds great richness.
Lauren Peterson is a senior English major at Walla Walla University and is planning to attend medical school after her graduation in June. In addition to studying literature, Lauren enjoys making lattes for her friends, swimming laps, and spending time with her two adventurous kittens–Lewis and Clark.
Count the Cost – The Hidden Dangers of School Vouchers
This year 42 state legislatures are considering creating or expanding school voucher programs. Private parochial educators face serious pitfalls with some of these programs that could eliminate the effectiveness of their religious mission.
In an ancient story of twin brothers, Esau, next in line for the patriarchal blessing, returns famished from a hunting trip. When he arrives home, he finds his brother Jacob, cooking stew. Esau tells his brother, “I’m starving! Quick, give me some!”
Jacob, the consummate negotiator, asks for a bargain that will change the course of a nation. “You can have some, but you must first give me your birthright blessing.”
Esau responds, “What good is my birthright if I die of starvation?”
Esau swears an oath to give Jacob the birthright and receives the stew and some bread. In return, he surrenders his position as the next patriarch.
As the U.S. economy continues to falter, many private religious elementary and high schools are feeling quite famished. There is simply less money. Parents have less money to enroll their children, and this has led to layoffs of teachers, inability to upgrade or even maintain buildings, and many schools feel that they are going to have to find funding somewhere or simply shut their doors.
This year alone at least 42 state legislatures have introduced legislation to either create or expand school voucher and scholarship tax credit programs in response to pressures from parents and private schools.
Private education credit programs tend to differ with some simply providing a tax credit to parents. Others impose significant eligibility requirements on the schools that could change the very character of religious private schools. In at least one “choice scholarship” program, there are specific requirements that will require participating schools to allow the government to evaluate the make-up of the school board and employment and admissions policies, review the school curriculum, and would require schools to provide opportunities for parent to opt-out of devotional programs and activities. The schools will also be required to abide by all civil-rights anti-discrimination laws except for religion.
While these requirements might seem unreasonable, or even onerous, some religious elementary and secondary schools facing Hobson’s Choice, are claiming that they are fully eligible and are clamoring for the opportunity to obtain the state funding. And if the schools are not presently eligible, they may be willing to make whatever changes are necessary to become eligible in the eyes of the state.
If the religious background of a school allows it to segregate its secular life from its sacramental life, then it might be possible to participate in such a program. I am concerned, however, that schools from my own faith tradition be very cautious about getting involved in this funding scheme. Seventh-day Adventist education has taken a holistic approach that does not allow for secular education to be separated from spiritual education. To cite the CIRCLE (Curriculum and Instruction Resource Center Linking Educators) website, located at circle.adventist.org, “Adventists have embraced the philosophy that education should be redemptive in nature, for the purpose of restoring human beings to the image of God, our Creator. Mental, physical, social, and spiritual health, intellectual growth, and service to humanity form a core of values that are essential aspects of the Adventist education philosophy.”
In a reasonably predictable hypothetical situation, let’s assume that an Adventist school accepts vouchers and promises to follow the rules. Because of the excellent education offered, secular students soon swell its ranks. The school is better off financially than it has ever been and even takes out a mortgage for a new science building. Several parents choose to opt-out of religious instruction and file a complaint with the state when the science teacher, who is part of the “secular” part of the campus, teaches creationism. The school is investigated by an accreditation team that determines its science curriculum is too religious. The school must now decide whether it will confine creationism to the chapel or forego eligibility for the scholarship funding that it now relies upon for its survival.
In Adventist Education, October-November 1989, Dr. George Akers who was the World Director of Adventist Education wrote, “Distinct from extant educational philosophy is the idea that earthly study and growth move on to eternity and that, through the grace of God, building character fit for admission to eternity is the big business of life. It is a cooperative effort between home, school, and student. This special dimension of faith-nurture is stressed throughout the Ellen White writings which indicate that teaching and learning should take place in the context of a special sensitivity to the cosmic struggle between good and evil. Accordingly, Ellen White lifted up the Bible as a great source of spiritual enlightenment that should illuminate all subject matter. Conversely, the study of subject matter should illustrate Biblical principles. This integration of faith and learning was to be the ligature of Christian education and the special expertise of a Christian teacher.”
Through this philosophy the Adventist school system has grown to the largest Protestant educational system in the world. In the North American Division alone, there are over 1,049 elementary and secondary schools in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda with 65,000 students enrolled. Globally, the church operates approximately 7,548 educational institutions. So, just to be clear, the issue of who controls the curriculum and who gets to choose the teachers is extremely important to the church.
There are Establishment Clause considerations about public money going to finance religion, financial arguments that public school systems will be drained to the benefit of private education, and many other arguments that people are using to dispute these types of voucher programs.
But my concern is for the integrity of the private parochial school system. Schools could, by operation of their own agreement to accept requirements for scholarships, be regulated to the point that they have nothing unique to offer the world. That one school accepting a local requirement might subject other affiliated schools in the region, or even nationally, to extended liability because of statements they may make in order to obtain this money. For this reason, a national approach to this issue is called for, and each program should be vetted to ensure that it will not involve undue regulations or impose liability on other institutions under the larger umbrella organization.
In the quest for survival, these schools might end up selling their birthright as holistic centers of learning andvoluntarily waive the very reason for their existence. When it comes to deciding whether to participate in these programs, it is imperative that parochial schools look further ahead and count the cost of surrendering key advantages for the “stew” of government money.
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Note: People often wonder why it is possible for religious colleges and universities to receive public funding but not elementary schools and high schools. In Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672(1971), The Supreme Court found several distinctions between colleges and universities to uphold the statutory scheme, including the fact that colleges do not have as their primary goal the indoctrination of students into a particular religion and the that college students are much less impressionable.
The American voucher scholarship programs, where separation of church and state is a clearly defended constitutional principle, are markedly different than programs in other countries, and comparisons between successes and failures internationally may not apply here.
Appeals Court Lifts Ban on Texas Graduation Prayer (AP)
EXCERPT: Public prayer will be allowed at a Texas high school graduation after a federal appeals court on Friday reversed a ban won by an agnostic family that claimed ceremony traditions such as invocations were unconstitutional.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency appeal filed by the Medina Valley Independent School District. Its San Antonio-area high school was ordered by a federal judge earlier this week to forbid students from asking audience members to join in prayer or bow their heads during Saturday’s graduation.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Christa and Danny Schultz, who said watching their son receive a diploma this weekend would amount to forced religious participation. The Castroville parents argued that traditions such as invocation and benediction excluded their beliefs.