Howard Friedman of the Religion Clause has interesting news from North Miami Beach, Florida. Apparently their "multicultural committee" issued a recommendation to the full city council regarding council proclamations of religious holidays.
Ok, let's just stop right here and acknowledge that it already sounds like a dumb idea. Think of all of the issues that could possibly come up, and then compare those to the minimal benefits. What good does a city council proclamation of a religious holiday actually do? All I can see is the possibility that it will give city employees the day off. But why not just give everyone a certain number of personal days they can use for religious holidays or other purposes?
But I digress. Back to the story. What was the subcommittee's brilliant solution to deciding which of the many possible holidays they would decide to "proclaim?"
But, of course, the subcommittee didn't want to leave only one horrible problem with their recommendation for me to blog about. They wanted to give me two.
Also, they're going to run up against an interesting First Amendment issue if they try to exclude "cults." As far as I know, "cults" have the same First Amendment protections as everyone else. Maybe the council's saving grace will be that the proclamations are pointless and therefore cannot be considered, in any meaningful way, state establishment of religion.
Ok, let's just stop right here and acknowledge that it already sounds like a dumb idea. Think of all of the issues that could possibly come up, and then compare those to the minimal benefits. What good does a city council proclamation of a religious holiday actually do? All I can see is the possibility that it will give city employees the day off. But why not just give everyone a certain number of personal days they can use for religious holidays or other purposes?
But I digress. Back to the story. What was the subcommittee's brilliant solution to deciding which of the many possible holidays they would decide to "proclaim?"
Yesterday's Miami Herald reports that under the proposal, council would issue an official proclamation for only one holiday for each religion.Yep, that's a mature and sensible way to handle the problem. Every "religion" (however you define that) gets one official holiday proclamation. The old question (what's your favorite holiday?) has taken on an entirely new meaning.
But, of course, the subcommittee didn't want to leave only one horrible problem with their recommendation for me to blog about. They wanted to give me two.
The report generated some controversy however because it provides that proclamations should be issued fairly, for holidays of "all legal recognized religions." Committee chairman, Thomas Pinder, says this means no proclamations should be issued for religions considered to be cults or known to practice illegal acts as part of their ceremonies or worship.Really? We have "legal recognized religions" now? The committee chairman's explanation of the language doesn't even pass the laugh test. "All legal recognized religions" refers to...you guessed it. Religions that are "recognized." If they wanted to exclude "religions considered to be cults or known to practice illegal acts as part of their ceremonies or worship," they would have written "all religions that are not cults and that do not practice illegal acts as part of their ceremonies or worship." They would not have said "all legal recognized religions."
Also, they're going to run up against an interesting First Amendment issue if they try to exclude "cults." As far as I know, "cults" have the same First Amendment protections as everyone else. Maybe the council's saving grace will be that the proclamations are pointless and therefore cannot be considered, in any meaningful way, state establishment of religion.
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