I have been following the story of the Wellesley Mass 6th-grade school class trip to a local Mosque where some of the children  participated in Islamic prayer.  A video surfaced showing the children engaging in prayer setting off a firestorm of controversy.  A chaperone on the trip claims the prayer was voluntary.

Contrary to popular belief, prayer during school time and school sanctioned activities is not completely prohibited.  It is when the school proactively involves itself and endorses a non-secular message that it gets dicey.  In the case at hand, there is no question that this was a school sanctioned and controlled field trip to the Mosque. This trip was by all accounts however was secular in purpose.  The next issue becomes to what extent the school participated if any in the decision of the students to engage in prayer. The students were certainly free to do it on a voluntary basis without any teacher input without running afoul of the Establishment Clause.  As has been stated time and time again, students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door.  The free-exercise and free speech clauses protect a student’s right to engage in religious speech, including prayer, even 6th graders.  Where the line is drawn is when the school is seen as controlling and endorsing the message.

The prayer taking place at the Mosque was not school sanctioned.  It also does not appear that the field trip was arranged with the intent of promoting any type of religious message or with the intent of the students participating.  It appears if anything, to be poor judgment on the chaperone’s part as the mere appearance of constitutional impropriety in such “Islamically sensitive” times would certainly inflame passions regardless of the benign and innocent nature of the act.  If this was a Christian house of worship and the students had specifically told the teacher they wanted to participate in prayer and the teacher refused to allow it  would we be complaining of the students right to free exercise of religion?

It is perfectly acceptable legally for a school to take students on a field trip to a house of worship as long as the purpose of the trip is secular. I can envision many secular reasons to visit a house of worship.  Learning why different religions do what they do isn’t non-secular, it is education. That is a good thing. That aside, many religions have rich histories of art work and such that are displayed in their worship establishments.  Another secular reason to visit.

Now some of the parents are screaming about suing the school district for violating the constitutional/ civil rights of their children by forcing them to participate in the field trip to the Mosque claiming that trips to any house of worship violate their “civil rights”  As reported in the Boston Globe:

“A lawyer for the Wellesley mother who allegedly recorded five sixth-grade boys participating in an Islamic prayer service during a school field trip is arguing that taking students to any house of worship violates their civil rights.”

The lawyer in this matter has referenced “Civil Rights”.  That choice of term seems unusual to me but this guy may be a whole lot smarter than I am.  Religious discrimination is certainly prohibited under federal law and probably under Mass.state law.   Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on religion in public primary and secondary schools.  It is however, unclear to me how any of the students were discriminated against based on their religion.

Is he claiming that somehow “forcing” children to go to on field trips to any religious institution in general discriminates against the practice of their chosen religion?  Not that it matters in the ultimate analysis but didn’t the parents consent here?  Maybe I will learn something new but I see no basis for any type of civil rights claim.  If anything, I would argue it the other way around. If the school had prohibited these students from voluntarily engaging in religious expression there may be a Civil Rights Act issue.  I will be interested to read the petition when and if a lawsuit is filed.

I am a Jewish lawyer.  I consider myself to be a fairly complex individual having positive and negative qualities.  I however, was shocked to learn that I also represent a “stock character”, and a “anti-Semitic” stereotype.  I can thank Jimmy Wales and the editors of  Wikipedia for educating me on what I really represent in society as a Jewish lawyer.  Had I not read the Wikipedia entry “Jewish Lawyer” I would have never known.

‘A Jewish lawyer is a stock character and common antisemitic stereotype of Jews, with Jews and Jewish lawyers depicted as clever, greedy, exploitative, dishonest, and engaging in moral turpitude and excessive legalism.’

Wow.  I thought that more often than not,  a Jewish lawyer is just a “Jewish lawyer”.  There are good Jewish lawyers. There are bad Jewish Lawyers. There are greedy Jewish lawyers and there are benevolent Jewish lawyers.  Just like  all the other religious and ethnic makeups of the legal profession.  I did not know that as a Jewish lawyer I deserved a category all my own.

Let’s give Wikipedia a break here.  Maybe all ethnic/religious makeups of attorneys have their own sections on Wikipedia. I looked hard but I could not find sections on “stock character”  stereotypes for Christian lawyers, Muslim lawyers, Irish lawyers, Asian Lawyers, Hispanic lawyers or any other classification.  What an honor!  What love to hear from Jimmy Wales or his editors and be told what I, as a Jewish Lawyer have done in my life to deserve such an entry in Wikipedia.

Let however not let Jewish Lawyers grab all the Wikipedia fame in the use of ethnic and racial stereotyping as supposed “legitimate categories”.  We can also read about  “Black Athletic Superiority“.

I do not know everything Wikipedia claims to be or what founder Jimmy Wales envisioned but we should certainly not leave out its role as a major propagator of religious, racial and ethnic stereotypes.   I hope Jimmy is proud of his child.

Many thanks to the JIDF for alerting me to these issues.

President Obama Declares September 2010

‘National Prostate Awareness Month’

ZERO’s Summit to End Prostate Draws Worldwide Involvement from Researchers, Advocates, Lawmakers, Survivors of the Disease and Their Families to Washington D.C.

Dallas, TX- On August 31, President Barak Obama signed a presidential proclamation designating September 2010 as ‘National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month,’ stating : “Until we find a cure for this disease, my Administration will continue promoting awareness of this illness and supporting prostate cancer research and treatment…”

Over 30,000 American men will lose their lives this year to prostate cancer.  Arthur Woods Sr. became one of those men on September 9th of this year.  In 1996, Norman Madison was another casualty lost to this terrible disease. The source for shared loss of life has brought their granddaughter, Liberty Madison, to the capitol to speak in partnership with ZERO (zerocancer.org), Prostate Cancer Foundation, Prostate Health Education Network and Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program for the “Advance On Washington” press conference.

Liberty Madison is a young philanthropist, entrepreneur, film and TV producer, living in Dallas, TX.  In an effort to raise rates of prevention, increase cases of survival and eradicate the disease entirely, she is traveling to Washington D.C. to discuss the affects that prostate cancer has on the entire family.

“It is imperative that men are screened for prostate cancer.  We as women encourage men to do so many things, why not encourage them to live?  Let’s get them tested,” Ms. Madison has stated.  Her prior and ongoing work with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Circle of Promise (BeautyNeverFadesTour.com) and Curls 4 The Cure (Curls4TheCure.com) have allowed her to impact lives by raising awareness and funds for both girls and women battling cancer.  She will join several other prestigious speakers this week in focusing a very bright and serious light on prostate cancer, crusading for the future survival of thousands of men each year. “All men should be tested for the disease, especially African American men.”  African American men have the highest death rate of any demographic afflicted by prostate cancer.

Events of note:

Tuesday, September 14th

10:00 AM – Washington Hilton:  “Advance on Washington” Press Conference

5:30 PM – Room 385, Russell Senate Office Bldg.:  Prostate Cancer Awareness Reception on Capitol Hill

Wednesday, September 15th

7:30 AM – 6:00 PM – L’Enfant Plaza Hotel:  The Summit To End Prostate Cancer on Capitol Hill

Thursday, September 16th

Prostate Cancer Lobby Day

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To learn more about the discussion and events taking place, please visit ZeroCancer.org and LibertyMadison.com

Twitter.com/ZeroCancer

Twitter.com/LibertyMadison

Book burning is any context is never a pleasant thought. It is a time honored tool of intellectual and religious subjugation and oppression used around the world and yes, right here in the United States.  The Dove World Outreach Church has publicized that they will be burning copies of the Qur’an to commemorate the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. The are calling it “International Burn A Koran Day”.

I put their constitutionally protected antics(burning ordinances aside)  in the same arena of publicity whoring shock value as the anti-Semitic rantings of the Westoboro Baptist Church.  Even in an era of a troubling larger movement towards anti-Muslim bigotry, they are isolated.  A largely static fringe that for that most part does not inspire masses to action with their day to day activities.  What they count on is moments like this.  Right values, right book and right moment in time to stir us all into a frenzy whether that frenzy is condemning their actions or taking Islamaphobic pleasure in it..

We have been in these book frenzies before but not on the side of the angels. The United States is not far removed from the book banning hysteria of the Joseph McCarthy era in which books with were deemed to be pro-communist were banned from schools and public libraries. An era that in my opinion, Dove Outreach aside, we seem to be on a road towards repeating with changing attitudes towards Muslims.

The bottom line is that the fringe as it applies to Dove or the likes of Westboro Baptist Church are non-growth  We can  dismiss these  book burning nuts and recognize the static nature of their existence or react exactly as they want making making Nazi analogies and CNN pronouncements from our military leaders that play to our base fears but have no real basis in fact.

We can use our intellect in coming to our own conclusions. My intellect tells me that small groups of wackos who burn books whether its the O’uran or Catcher In The Rye do so not as forces of changes or the mouthpiece of public opinion but as simple attempts to offend the senses for the benefit of their own agendas. Mission accomplished. I am offended.  I will be no more or less offended when Westboro Baptist Church institutes their International Burn The Torah day on the next Jewish New Year.