FW: descriptive scholarly accounts of religious identityandjudicial behav...

[Richard Dougherty]

An excellent question.  I think one answer that many people give (not my answer) is that a government that is indifferent or hostile to religion fosters a society which is worse than one that favors it.  And that argument has been made by many secularists as well as believers.Richard J. Dougherty
-----Original Message-----
From: "Finkelman, Paul <paul.finkelman at albanylaw.edu>" <Paul.Finkelman at albanylaw.edu>
Sent 4/23/2010 11:51:00 PM
To: "Hamilton02 at aol.com" <Hamilton02 at aol.com>, "nebraskalawprof at yahoo.com" <nebraskalawprof at yahoo.com>, "conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu" <conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu>
Subject: RE: FW: descriptive scholarly accounts of religious identityandjudicial behav...To Rick's comment below, we might respond:  "No one's liberty is harmed by remoing a religous display from public property.  If you want the monument then put it up on your property; you have liberty to do that.  In fact, Rick, my liberty is harmed when you take my tax dollars and the political power of my country, and use it to support anyone's religion, whether it is yours or mine.  BUt, if you put the monument on your land than it affects no one's liberty.  I am simply don't comprehend the argument that your religious liberty depends on using public land and public money to promote your faith.  This is precisely what the First Amendment is designed to prevent. More to the point, why would anyone who takes religion seriously want to have the government putting up religious monuments?  Do you want your religous values subject to who wins an election?*************************************************Paul Finkelman, Ph.D.President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of LawAlbany Law School80 New Scotland AvenueAlbany, NY 12208518-445-3386 (p)518-445-3363 (f)paul.finkelman at albanylaw.eduwww.paulfinkelman.com*************************************************No one's liberty is harmed by a passive religious display_______________________________________________
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