July / August 1998

Letters

NEUTRAL VALUES

"This statement is false."--Epimenides

All This Talk About a Christian America Is Wrong.
An Unbiased Look at History Proves That the
United States Was Founded as

Rebuilding Free Exercise Rights in America

Prisoners are not a popular group. They don't have much political clout. Many people view them as having given up, by their conduct, the rights and privileges of society. Prisoners also tend to be a litigious lot. With time being one of their few assets, they spend a good deal of it thinking up creative and often time-consuming lawsuits. It is not surprising, then, that many state RFRAs are targeted by amendments to exempt prisoners from their coverage. Such exemptions are profoundly misguided.

Can Campus Religious Groups Be Required to Admit Practicing Homosexuals as Members or Even Leaders? After the Demise of RFRA, the Answer Seems to Be Yes.

The Futile Quest for Religious Neutrality

One objection to the preceding analysis might suggest that the analysis mistakenly treats neutrality as an all-or-nothing matter. To be sure, we might argue, complete or absolute neutrality is unattainable. But surely it may appear that some governments or positions are "more neutral," or perhaps "closer to being neutral," than others. A proposal for the establishment of interdenominational Christianity is not neutral, but it may seem more neutral than an argument for the establishment of one particular Christian sect; and a position favoring accommodation of "religion" generally-or even more broadly, of "conscience" -seems more neutral still. Thus it might be argued that although government can never be fully neutral in matters of religion, the Constitution requires government to be as neutral as it possibly can be.

PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY SCHIZOPHRENIA