Stanford's "Warning" about Religion

[Mark Tushnet]

In connection with Rick's question, you might want to look around your 
campus for posters/signs with headlines like "Stop Psychiatric Abuse," 
and for tables with banners like "Stress Management" or "Stress 
Reduction."  Also, this story -- Andy Newman, "Bumping Up Against Subway 
Regulations, New York Times, March 29, 2005 -- may be instructive.  (Of 
course, I may be particularly sensitive to this sort of thing because I 
teach at an institution that obviously has a pastoral mission with 
respect to its students.)

Rick Garnett wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> In the course of looking into something having nothing to do with 
> law-and-religion, I came across a web page, provided by Stanford 
> University's Office for Religious Life, entitled "A Word of Warning."  
> Here is a link:
>
> http://religiouslife.stanford.edu/sar/warning.html
>
> Here is the text:
>
>
>     A Word of Warning
>
> Maintaining and nurturing your spiritual life during college and 
> graduate school is one of the best ways to keep perspective on your 
> studies and to avoid the isolation that is too often a part of 
> scholarly pursuits.  The Deans for Religious Life and members of SAR 
> are committed to providing opportunities for spiritual growth, 
> rewarding friendships and intellectual inquiry into matters of faith 
> in a supportive environment.
>
> Unfortunately, not every religious group has your best interests at 
> heart. Groups to avoid have some or all of the following characteristics.
>
>     * Pressure and Deception: They use high-pressure recruitment
>       tactics or are not up-front about their motives when they first
>       approach you. SAR members are required to identify themselves on
>       all News and Publications and to be clear and forthright about
>       their motives.
>     * Totalitarian Worldview: They do not encourage critical,
>       independent thinking. The first goal of higher education is to
>       enable you to think for yourself. Be aware of groups or leaders
>       who try to control your life or who claim to possess the truth
>       exclusively.
>     * Alienation: They want to choose your friends for you. While all
>       religions have moral guidelines, watch out for groups that
>       encourage you to sever ties with close friends and family who
>       are not members. They are manipulative and extremely dangerous.
>     * Exploitation: They make unrealistic demands regarding your time
>       and/or money. If participation in a group takes away from your
>       study time, beware. A group or leader that cares about you
>       understands that your studies-your future-are your first
>       priority as a Stanford student. SAR members are strictly
>       forbidden to require dues from student participants.
>
>
> If you feel you are being pursued aggressively or manipulated by a 
> group or leader, contact any of the Deans for Religious Life or call 
> 723-1762.
>
> * * *
>
> Now, it strikes me as reasonable and appropriate for a University like 
> Stanford to provide (perhaps) paternalistic guidance to students on 
> all sorts of matters involving their "personal" lives, including 
> involvement with religious groups and activities.  (I would hope that 
> a University's willingness to provide "warning[s]" to students about 
> the dangers posed by some religions to "critical, independent 
> thinking" would indicate a willingness to warn about similar dangers 
> posed by, say, political or identity-related groups).  I imagine that 
> reasonable people will disagree about what, exactly, "counts" as 
> "claim[ing] to possess the truth exclusively" or "[dis]courag[ing] 
> critical, independent thinking," but put that problem aside.  I 
> wonder, do any members of this list have any thoughts or views on how, 
> if at all, the First Amendment would constrain the issuance by a 
> state-run university of a "warning" like Stanford's?  Or, approaching 
> the matter from a broader, "religion and liberal democracy" 
> perspective, what would we think about this "warning"?
>
> Best,
>
> Rick
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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