RE: Religious history school projects
See Leebart v.Harrington,327 F33d 134(2d Cir 2003);Altman V. Bedford CSD, 245 F3d 49(2d Cir. 2001);Skoros v. City of NY (EDNY 2004);Brown v. Hot, Sexy and Safe, 68 F.3d 525(1st Cir 1995).To these should be added the long list of cases rejecting parental objections to particular textbooks and assigned readings. Marc Stern -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of Marty Lederman Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 7:50 PM To: Law Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: Re: Religious history school projects See generally Kent Greenawalt, Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools, 18 J.L. Pol. 329 (2003); Jay D. Wexler, Preparing for the Clothed Public Square: Teaching About Religion, Civic Education, and the Constitution, 43 Wm. Mary L. Rev. 1159 (2002). - Original Message - From: Will Linden To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 3:49 PM Subject: Religious history school projects On another list, folk were bitching about reported attempts to indoctrinate students in Islam. Another contributor wrote about a fourth-grade class which had an assignment to make a model of a babylonian ziggurat...accurate down to the the altar and accutrements used to worship the Babylonian gods...including human sacrifice, etc... The teacher failed him on the project when he refused to do it because the material scared him. When the mother asked if the child could be allowed to do some other project, the teacher refused, and assigned the child a zero. This is, of course, anecdotal. However, it drew yet another post noting that In California the 4th graders have to do a California Missions project, and often they go on a field trip to see a Mission. I have never heard of anyone of refusing to build a Mission project on religious grounds. Since the Missions, like the Ziggurats, are part of the history curriculum, it would be an interesting question. I agree that it would, and herewith ask opinions of the list on whether the Mission unit raises First Amendment issues. (And yes, I have permission to cite it here.) ___ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw ___ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
Re: Religious history school projects
The First Amendment issue would seem to turn on subjective intent here. Mission architecture, and the missions themselves are an important part of the history of California. So if the intention is to make students more aware of architecture and architectural influences of the missions on modern California, that is ok. Likewise for history. If the intent is to make students Catholic, or even generic Christian, that would be a violation. If the intent is to make students aware of particular religions, in this case Christian generally and Catholic specifically, then it seems a closer question. But given the legitimate motives, or at least the availability of them, I don't see much of a problem here in the abstract. But some teacher could certainly take it over the line. Like a creationist one of my sons had for social studies around 8th grade who defined religion in a way that excluded all but Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and marked other answers on the multiple guess question wrong. Any legitimate purpose for a good aim can be perverted. Steve On Thursday, March 11, 2004, at 03:49 PM, Will Linden wrote: However, it drew yet another post noting that In California the 4th graders have to do a California Missions project, and often they go on a field trip to see a Mission. I have never heard of anyone of refusing to build a Mission project on religious grounds. Since the Missions, like the Ziggurats, are part of the history curriculum, it would be an interesting question. I agree that it would, and herewith ask opinions of the list on whether the Mission unit raises First Amendment issues. -- Prof. Steven D. Jamar vox: 202-806-8017 Howard University School of Law fax: 202-806-8428 2900 Van Ness Street NW mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Washington, DC 20008 http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:19-21 ___ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
Re: Religious history school projects
See generally Kent Greenawalt, Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools, 18 J.L. Pol. 329 (2003); Jay D. Wexler, Preparing for the Clothed Public Square: Teaching About Religion, Civic Education, and the Constitution, 43 Wm. Mary L. Rev. 1159 (2002). - Original Message - From: Will Linden To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 3:49 PM Subject: Religious history school projects On another list, folk were bitching about reported attempts to "indoctrinate students in Islam". Another contributor wrote about a fourth-grade class which had an assignment to "make a model of a babylonian ziggurat...accurate down to the the altar and accutrements used to worship the Babylonian gods...including human sacrifice, etc... The teacher failed him on the project when he refused to do it because the material "scared him." When the mother asked if the child could be allowed to do some other project, the teacher refused, and assigned the child a zero." This is, of course, "anecdotal". However, it drew yet another post noting that "In California the 4th graders have to do a California Missions project, and often they go on a field trip to see a Mission. I have never heard of anyone of refusing to build a Mission project on religious grounds. Since the Missions, like the Ziggurats, are part of the history curriculum, it would be an interesting question." I agree that it would, and herewith ask opinions of the list on whether the "Mission" unit raises First Amendment issues. (And yes, I have permission to cite it here.) ___To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw ___ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw
