Certainly Paul and others are free to see attempts to convert
them to another religion as "offensive." Likewise, others are free to
see various political views -- or even the celebration of Russianness,
Greekness, Canadianness, or what have you -- as offensive. I'm not wild
about going into Ben & Jerry's, because of what strikes me as its
self-righteous and corny environmentalist propaganda. Still others are
free to see people's complaints about the offensiveness of attempted
conversion as offensive (much as some of us might be offended by
attempts to prohibit or even socially marginalize our expressions of our
views).
What I don't see is why the offensiveness of attempts at convert
people to a religion should lead us to find that such attempts are
constitutionally unprotected. (Perhaps if they involve persistent
unwanted one-to-one solicitation, such as in Rowan v. Post Office Dep't,
they may be restricted, alongside attempts to say other things to
people; but we're not speaking here about that.) If anything, it seems
to me that if the Christian-themed skating park evening is being
restricted because of its offensive ideological message, that only
strengthens the constitutional case against the restriction. The
stronger case for the restriction, I would think, would have to argue
that the restriction has nothing to do with the content of the message.
Eugene
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul
> Finkelman
> Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 9:10 AM
> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
> Subject: Re: "Christian" Skating Time
>
>
> Bookstore would not be a "public accommodation" the way a
> skating rink
> might be; in addition, isn't there a context issue here; might be
> factual matter for a judge or jury to determine. But, living
> surrounded
> by many people who in fact use "Christian" to exclude others
> and who are
> openly hostile to those of us who are not Christian, I have a
> sense that
> Christian skate time migth be very different than Polish
> Sausage night
> at the ball park. Again, I do no imagine anyone trying to
> convert you to
> be Polish; since I live in a world where I regularly face
> unwanted and
> offensive intrusions on my life by people who want to convert me, I
> perhaps see the Christian skate night as far less innocuous
> than Polish
> night.
>
> The other difference, of course, is that one IS religious and
> the other
> is not. It was not "Catholic night" at the ball park and I bet there
> were few priests bringing their sunday school class in for "Polish
> Catholic" night.
>
> Steve Sanders wrote:
>
> > Quoting Paul Finkelman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> >
> >> Isn't there a difference between holding an "ethnic theme" -- food,
> >> music, etc.at the ball park -- and having an event that implies
> >> people of only one religion are welcome? Hard to imagine what the
> >> food and music would be of a Christian Theme night at the
> ball park
> >> or the skating rink?
> >
> >
> > Amy Grant and tuna casserole, perhaps?
> >
> > Seriously, Paul, I'm not sure I really see the difference. Both are
> > designed to celebrate the identities and cultures of particular
> > groups. If someone not in that group wants to feel it
> excludes them,
> > it's hard to know what to do, assuming that there is no
> actual effort
> > by the private entity to exclude in violation of the civil
> rights law.
> >
> > While I suspect that the Christian Skating Time crowd would
> not be my
> > idea of a fun time, I'm hard pressed to understand why the rink
> > management isn't within its rights to offer it -- again, providing
> > they are not actually excluding non-Christians. I wouldn't feel
> > particularly welcome shopping Hollister, Victoria's Secret,
> or Hip Hop
> > Closet, but that standing alone doesn't mean I could accuse them of
> > age, gender, or race discrimination.
> >
> >> It doesn't take much of an imagination to understand that the ball
> >> park "theme" is about celebrating and ethnic culture, and the
> >> "Christian skate" is about creating a climate of
> exclusivity based on
> >> belief.
> >
> >
> > By this logic, wouldn't it be illegal to run a Christian book store?
> >
> >> I doubt anyone at Comisky Park was asked about their
> "Polish beliefs"
> >> or anyone tried to convert them to "become Polish."
> >
> >
> > True, the worst they would have faced was being accosted by drunks
> > wearing "Kiss Me, I'm Polish" t-shirts.
> >
> > Steve Sanders
> > 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals
> > _______________________________________________
> > To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
> > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see
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> >
> > Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be
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> > private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read
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>
>
>
> --
> Paul Finkelman
> Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law
> University of Tulsa College of Law
> 3120 East 4th Place
> Tulsa, OK 74105
>
> 918-631-3706 (voice)
> 918-631-2194 (fax)
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
> After July 21, 2006 my address will be
>
> Paul Finkelman
> President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
> Albany Law School
> 80 New Scotland Avenue
> Albany, New York 12208
>
> 518-445-3386 (office)
> 518-605-0296 (cell)
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password,
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>
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>
_______________________________________________
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