Is this a question of speech or a question of behavior? Am I wrong in concluding that each person has a right to express their religious beliefs, even if those beliefs include predictions or convictions that all non-believers are doomed or that a particular individual is destined to some undesirable end?
Am I wrong in concluding that the issue becomes thorny when it shifts to behavior? If someone calls Steve 20 times an hour all day and all night trying to persuade him to accept a lifeline, has not the expression of religious belief shifted into a zone of intolerable behavior? Would not government prohibition of that behavior safeguard the afflicted person without impinging on the right of the caller to express beliefs in a way that does not constitute direct harassment? Am I wrong in concluding that the issue becomes thorny when a person attempts to match their behavior to their religious beliefs? When a landlord refuses to rent to someone whose behavior offends or violates the landlord's religious beliefs, is that not where the tough questions reside? Does not religiously-motivated strife (or violence, to be more precise) arise when the application of religious beliefs to behavior clashes? After all, where's the strife in two people calmly telling each other once a week that they are so sad that the other one is doomed? Tiresome, but mutually aggravating. When they turn to fisticuffs because their theologies so require is when the matter becomes challenging. Does it really matter if someone expresses a belief that the listener is doomed? How does that differ from expressions with respect to fashion sense, sports team allegiances, hygiene, or something similar? Short of harassment, talk is, yes, cheap. Jim Maule Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law Villanova PA 19085 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://vls.law.vill.edu/prof/maule mauledagain.blogspot.com President, TaxJEM Inc (computer assisted tax law instruction) (www.taxjem.com) Publisher, JEMBook Publishing Co. (www.jembook.com) Maule Family Archivist & Genealogist (www.maulefamily.com) _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
