NYT Op-Ed on PPP, June 9, 2020
“The Demise of the Wall Between Church and State”, by Nelson Tebbe (Cornell Law School), Micah Schwarzman, and Richard Schragger (U. Virginia School of Law).
Author: admin
Annual Meeting April 6 was Online
The County Libraries have cancelled all meetings in their facilities and so we didn’t have a place to meet. Furthermore, meetings as large as ours would be banned in the region, anyway. We instead met online in a super-secret ZOOM session. Our meetings are generally open to anyone, but there isn’t a way to do that at this time.
NYT Commentary by Katherine Stewart
Ms. Stewart’s commentary in the Sunday, March 8 paper was titled “Don’t Let Trump Pay Back Evangelicals Like This”. The link is: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/opinion/sunday/trump-evangelicals.html.
Lecture on Church/State February 20
Professor Greg Magarian of WU Law School spoke to a group of 40 of us at a meeting at The Ethical Society. His topic was “The Law and Politics of Religious Accommodations”. It was a privilege to have a real expert to explain the ins and outs of RFRA, its history and weaponization. 
Professor Magarian teaches and writes about U.S. constitutional law, with emphasis on the freedom of expression. His first book, “Managed Speech: The Roberts Court’s First Amendment”, was published in 2017 by Oxford University Press.
Presentations drawing on the talented faculties of local universities have been quite with our members, and we will surely do more of that. Members are welcome to suggest speakers: mail prez@stlau.org
Did You Miss the Holiday Party?
AU members in the St. Louis region were invited by mail to our annual Holiday Party on January 2, 2020. It was an opportunity for members to meet the Board, convey their ideas about future programs, and volunteer for activities. A generous Board member generously provided the venue. Hope you were there – if not, next year!
Religious Crusaders at the Supreme Court’s Gates
Pulitzer Prize – winning journalist Linda Greenhouse recently wrote about the church/state issues likely to come up in the next Supreme Court session. Read her column that appeared in the September 12 edition of the New York Times. Very informative, but scary.
Annual Picnic was September 15!
Our annual picnic at the South Shelter of Shaw Park in Clayton on Sunday, September 15, was a big, hot success! Our distinguished speaker was Ken Warren, Professor of Political Science at St. Louis University, who spoke about the 2020 election: “Religion and Politics, 2020: Russians Aren’t the Only Threat!”. President of The Warren Poll, he has polled for the media, government, private clients and politicians throughout America and has served as a political analyst for local, national, and international media for more than 30 years.He has appeared in The New York Times, The London Times, The Wall Street Journal and the New Republic, and on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN,FOX, MSNBC, PBS, CBC, BBC, NPR, and on numerous foreign print and electronic media outlets in Europe, the Middle East, Far East, and Australia.
Post-Dispatch Letter to the Editor June 8, 2019
Our former Board member, Helene Sherman, had her Letter to the Editor published today. Here it is:
Within guidelines, students are allowed to pray in school
Regarding “Prayer in school would solve many problems” (June 2): The letter writer made some factual errors.
Students are, in fact, legally allowed to pray in school because of a 1962 Supreme Court ruling (Engel v. Vitale). However, because a founding principle of this country is the separation of church and state, schools may not prohibit students from praying voluntarily as long as it is done silently, does not disrupt others, and does not subject other students to peer pressure. Teachers may not proselytize to their students for any religion during the school day.
There also is no evidence that student prayers help prevent uncivil behavior. The roots of such behavior are complex, deep and wide ranging. Certainly, schools face multiple challenges today in terms of student learning, but asking students to pray is not a proven cure. Teaching students more history, problem solving, reasoning skills, government and scientific facts are worthwhile goals that more effectively contribute to the betterment of everyone in our society.
Helene Sherman Creve Coeur
Outing to see “Hail Satan?” Saturday, May 18
Only a large handful of us went to see the documentary “Hail Satan?” at the Tivoli Theater on Saturday, May 18. Afterward, some of us went over to Blueberry Hill to share our reactions to this unusual film. None of us wee previously knowledgeable about the Satanic Temple, whose activities raise serious questions about the separation of church and state, and especially the support for religion by installation of monuments to the Ten Commandments on public land. Try comparing the theological tenets of the Ten Commandments to the Tenets of the Satanic Temple. Which would you prefer to endorse by the government? This is a provocative movie, and we may try to arrange to show it at a Movie Night when it is no longer being shown commercially.
We Were At Earth Days 2019
We had a booth at this year’s Earth Days celebration, Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28 at the Forest Park lower MUNY entrance. Many people came by to say hello, encourage us, and sign up for our mailing list.