Justice Thomas in Newdow

[FRAP428 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/18/04 5:02:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
stuartbuck at msn.com writes:

The "lunatic fringe" certainly seems to include a lot of intelligent 
scholars:
 
As human beings so frequently demonstrate, intelligence (is there a pun in 
here somewhere?) can certainly be misused in the service of "bad" ends.

And, Jim Henderson, your sarcasm does little to advance your argument.

"Actually, with respect to the pledge. . . perhaps the Supreme Court 
retrenched and I missed that case.  .  . .  But I'm left to shrug my shoulders and 
give a constitution-bound sigh."

What I find lacking, especially in those who would argue for a weak 
Establishment Clause, is any honest attempt to put into practice some of what I 
consider the two related but fundamental religious/moral principles: "Do onto others 
as you would have them do onto you" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." Both 
of which exhort us directly or indirectly to empathize with/put ourselves in 
the position of the person not like ourselves. And incidently I find are 
related to Rawls' notion of "design a legal system as if you didn't know your place 
in society."

I often wonder how many who argue for a weak Establishment Clause/the 
discarding of any Establishment Clause test other than coercion (and that with 
coercion narrowly defined)/making the Establishment Clause inapplicable to state 
governments (a la Judge Roy Moore) are members of minority religions or 
nonreligious themselves. It is a great irony that the Baptists argued so fiercely for
separation of church and state when their faith was weak and they were 
outsiders now that they are in a position of strength argue against the very 
separation that allow their churches/denomination to flourish--see The Churching of
America.  I write this with the knowledge that some Baptists continue in 
their denomination's historic opposition to government "entanglement" with 
religion.

In the context of religion clause jurisprudence "do onto others" and "love 
your neighbor," mean that religious people actually put themselves in the shoes
of adherents of minority religious or in the shoes of the nonreligious 
individuals, which is even more difficult, and look at the law, policy, or practice 
through their eyes.  It means truly and honestly making a good faith effort 
(not merely paying lip service) to put oneself in the place of the person unlike 
yourself and consider the effect of the law, policy, practice on you in your 
new persona.

Frances R. A. Paterson, J.D., Ed.D.
Associate Professor (school law)
Department of Educational Leadership
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698

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