Marty and I have a very different way of identifying the important issues in Davey.
First, I didn't suggest any school would lie to certify their theology program. In fact, I said I myself would have certified Josh Davey's eligibility in perfect good faith, because in my opinion he was pursuing an academic course of study, not a devotional course of study. I think the meaning of "devotional" theology is not as clear as Marty seem to think it is. Theology is a rigorous academic discipline and even the most devout colleges teach it as such. For example, at most conservative Christian colleges, the students are already believers and the purpose of the theology program is therefore not to "induce religious faith" but rather to help people who already have faith to master the skills of a theologian--the foreign language and translation skills, the analytical skills, the Bible knowle!
dge
skills, historical knowledge, cultural knowledge, counseling skills, etc.
I started this thread with a factual question, because I suspect that theology majors at many religious colleges in Washington have not been excluded under the Program. No one seems to know the facts first hand, but I would bet the house that many eligible Promise Scholars are majoring in theology at their respective religious colleges because the school has certified in perfect good faith that the program is "non-devotional."
I don't know how theology is taught at Gonzaga, but I would bet that it is not taught from an agnostic perspective. I'm sure it is a rigorous Catholic academic course of study, one that takes as a given that God exists, that Jesus is His Son, and that Jesus died to cover the sins of humanity. Are Gonzaga students ineligible for Promise funds if they major in theology. I d!
on't know
for sure--does anyone on the list?--but I would bet they are receiving the scholarship money.
If it turns out that theology majors from many religious colleges are eligible for funding under the Program, and if the reason for this turns explicitly on the viewpoint from which these religious colleges teach religion, how can this not be denominational discrimination? Now maybe Larson is no longer good law, and maybe denominational discrimination is no longer considered a violation of the clearest command of the EC, but if this principle is still law then Washington has clearly violated it.
Nothing goes more to the idea of denominational inequality than a regulation about the teaching of theology that allows some denominations funding for the thological training of their clergy while denying other denominations funding for the training of their clergy. Am I wrong about this?
Rick Duncan
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Rick: You continue to try to make this much harder than it is in fact. The test in Washington is whether the required courses for the major involve instruction aimed at inculcating religious belief in the doctrine of a particular religion -- or disbelief. Are they devotional in nature or designed to induce religious faith or promote a particular religious truth? If so, they're ineligible. Or, perhaps more to the point: Could the courses be taught by a *public* university in Washington?
There's no denominational discrimination in those criteria -- they apply to all religious schools alike, and would apply to an atheist school, too (i.e., one that inculcates disbelief). The fact that the state does not itself oversee the classes, but instead trusts the schools themselves t! o certify whether they meet the criteria, is also not constitutionally problematic. Your post suggests that such a deferential system favors "denominations" that would lie to the State about the content of their courses. I suppose that's correct. But don't you think it's fair -- and constitutionally unproblematic -- for the State to assume, as I do, that religious schools *won't* dissemble in official certifications?
Rick Duncan
Welpton Professor of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
Welpton Professor of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
Lincoln, NE 68583-0902
"When the Round Table is broken every man must follow either Galahad or Mordred: middle things are gone." C.S.Lewis, Grand Miracle
"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered." --The Prisoner
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