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Site Of Cross Makes Jewish Lawyer Sick - Will Sue The Boston Channel.com 4-4-3 FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- A Jewish lawyer and newspaper columnist who voted in a Methodist church that serves as his precinct's polling place, has sparked a heated debate over holding elections in religious buildings, which he says violates the separation of church and state. Robert Meltzer, 37, of Framingham, said he will sue the town this week in federal court. He said he has tried to persuade local officials to move polling stations from the church and a Catholic school to secular sites. But Selectmen have refused, arguing that the practice is widely accepted and that the church is the most convenient site for the polls. Meltzer said he voted in the Wesley United Methodist Church last year, standing in a voting booth directly below a large cross. Afterward, he vowed never to return, and has since voted by absentee ballot. "In order to vote, you basically had to bow before the cross," Meltzer said. "I was sick for a week." Voting in churches has long been a common practice throughout New England, and is permissible under state law. Some 60 communities -- including Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, Somerville and Worcester, Mass., -- hold elections in houses of worship, according to the secretary of state's office. "The law is silent on the subject," said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for the office. "Asking a feminist to vote in a Roman Catholic Church is like asking a black man to vote in a KKK hall. You are being told to go somewhere that espouses beliefs that are antithetical to your own." Meltzer's precinct voted at a public school until the 2000 census required Framingham to create a new precinct. Wesley United Methodist Church volunteered its space free of charge, Framingham Town Clerk Valerie Mulvey said. "It's a find for the town," she told The Boston Globe. "Of course, we looked at schools first, but this fell into our laps. We'd take a temple too, if they'd take us." Meltzer said Hebrew scripture prohibits Jews from entering churches for fear of "idolatry," and "worshipping false divinities." Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, acknowledged that scripture forbids Jews from entering churches, but added that few Jews adhere to it. http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/2074787/detail.html Disclaimer Email This Article MainPage http://www.rense.com This Site Served by TheHostPros Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutra <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
