Slog - Comments on Prayer in the State House, Cocaine in the Ass, Bigots in High School http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the There have been a series of interesting federal Circuit Court decisions this past week. The 7th Circuit ruled that a group of taxpayers in Indiana did not have standing to challenge the Indiana state legislature's Prayer of the Day, in which different clergy members—mostly Christian, but occasionally a Muslim, Jew, or Buddhist— would come and give an invocation. The plaintiffs argued that tax dollars—they quantified them— were being spent on promoting specific religions. The Court disagreed, saying the money wasn't a specific budget line item, and so the the plaintiffs lacked standing. (There's an excellent dissent beginning on page 34... Copyright 2008 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:45:10 -0800 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:03:07 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Chris in Tampa Hey, it looks like the courts are using your beloved Tinker case for something, even if it is for a completely unrelated reason, and also totally wrong!

I wonder when people will stop buying into the the whole, "You're being intolerant of my intolerance" bullshit.

]]> Chris in Tampa http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837212 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837212 News Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:27:08 -0800 Comment by An Interested Party I think the opening prayers qualify as ceremonial deism. I have resigned myself to such things. Personally, I hate the ceremonies themselves more than the tokens of religion attached.

]]> An Interested Party http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837273 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837273 News Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:09:55 -0800 Comment by Josh Feit Chris @ 1,
Yes, the Tinker case is wide open for the religious right to say students religious rights can't be squashed in the school. If that's simply a matter of allowing kids to pray at lunch, have clubs, and insult people they don't like ... I don't have a problem with it.
If it's used to chip away at separation of church and state, until the meaning is twisted so that official school curriculum, functions, and events promote and favor religion, then it becomes scary... and inconsistent with Tinker.

]]> Josh Feit http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837298 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837298 News Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:26:32 -0800 Comment by Gay Seattle Funny, back when I was in high school I was not aware we had any constitutional rights. Safety & discipline trumped everything. But now its OK as long as you want to pick on the queers.

]]> Gay Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837473 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/prayer_in_the_state_house_cocaine_in_the#c837473 News Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:03:07 -0800